SHREVEPORT — Southern University Chancellor Kofi Lomotey warned board members Friday that the school’s athletic budget problems are endangering its division status.
The Southern Board of Supervisors on Friday approved a nearly $6.9 million athletics budget for Southern’s main Baton Rouge campus. But the budget comes with a projected $769,000 deficit attached.
Lomotey expressed concern that he has not received a commitment from the private, nonprofit Southern University System Foundation to fill the budget hole with additional Bayou Classic football game revenue as has sometimes been done in the past.
Lomotey also said he wants the Baton Rouge campus to have more oversight over the Bayou Classic budget, as opposed to the foundation and Southern System office, which control the budget now. It is the Baton Rouge campus’ football team that plays the game.
“My concern is that the campus does not have substantial oversight,” Lomotey said after the board meeting, adding that the issue will “no doubt” be resolved by the end of the 2009-2010 school year.
The Bayou Classic is played each November against Grambling State University in the Louisiana Superdome. The game is arguably the most prominent sporting event nationally involving historically black colleges.
Because of state budget cuts, Southern already has eliminated its men’s tennis and women’s golf teams, leaving Southern with 16 athletics teams. The state projects additional budget cuts through 2012.
In a letter to the Southern Board, Lomotey wrote, “We cannot (further) reduce the number of sports, because of NCAA regulations. We cannot reduce the number of employees as we are at a minimum now. … Unless we make the decision to move to Division II, we are saddled with the current budget.”
As with every other college athletics department in the state except LSU, Southern operates at an initial deficit, with state funds used to fill in the gaps. But, unlike other schools, Southern has the Bayou Classic to help offset state support.
Interim Southern System President Kassie Freeman said the Baton Rouge campus is getting more oversight over the Bayou Classic. She pointed out that Southern Athletic Director Greg LaFleur is a new Bayou Classic co-chairman.
Several Southern Board members expressed concern about approving an athletics budget that still had question marks attached to it, especially when they were informed that approving budgets with deficits can be grounds for board removal.
The Southern Board ultimately approved the athletics budget pending the anticipated receipt of additional Bayou Classic revenue.
