U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu said Governor Bobby Jindal has not been a friend of Grambling State University and higher education in Louisiana, turning his back on thousands who deserve better.
“I have never seen a governor turn his back directly on higher education,” state’s senior senator told a group of GSU alumni during a Saturday Bayou Classic breakfast event. “Legislators know this.”
During the event in the Versailles Ballroom at the Hilton Riverside Hotel hosted by the Grambling University National Alumni Association, Inc., Landrieu said the state is responsible for providing its citizens with a good education but this is the first time that the state’s governor has failed to fulfill that obligation. She said she’s worked with Democrat and Republican governors and none of them have damaged higher education as Jindal has.
“Part of the problem is how the administration has made a decision to make tax breaks more important than financial support for our universities,” she said.
Grambling State University President Frank G. Pogue stepped to the podium after Landrieu and said, “Thank you for telling the truth.”
“It’s one thing to lose (56) percent of your budget, but you must understand there are other challenges in this state,” said Pogue, referencing the Louisiana GRAD Act and other state laws that he said hamper institutions like Grambling State.