Could Southern University's board require a rotating campus seat for its student board member?

Plain-English summary

Southern University's Board of Supervisors had a bylaw rotating its student seat among student government and student bar association presidents from campuses in the university system. The Attorney General said Louisiana law assigned selection of that student member "by and from" the council of student body presidents. Without clear constitutional or statutory power, the board could not take that decision away from the council by adopting its own selection policy.

The opinion did not reject rotation itself. It said the council could adopt the board's rotational approach or another policy for periodic campus representation. The decisive point was which body chose the method and the member.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Was a rotating student seat forbidden?
No. The AG said the council of student body presidents could choose a rotation policy; the board could not impose one that displaced the council's statutory selection role.

Who had to select Southern University's student board member?
Under the statute the AG interpreted, the member had to be selected by and from the council made up of the system's student body presidents.

Why did the board's bylaw conflict with the AG's reading?
The bylaw prescribed selection on a rotating campus basis. The opinion said the statute left both the choice of person and the selection method to the council, absent clear authority for the board to override it.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion interpreted LSA-R.S. 17:1806.A.(1), as amended in 2001, against the board's bylaw. It compared LSA-R.S. 17:3121.1, which required the Board of Regents to establish a procedure for student representation, but did not confer the same power on Southern University's board. The available extract has a damaged date line, so this record leaves the exact issue date blank.

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 17:1806
• LSA-R.S. 17:3121.1
• Louisiana Civil Code Article 9, quoted in the opinion

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/02-0205

Original opinion text

~t~te ~ ~E~isi~n~
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Ma~n Street, Suite 600
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (225) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL
JUN 1 ~ 2002
OPINION 02-0205

22-B EDUCATION - Colleges and Other Institutions of Higher Learning

LSA-R. S. 1:3
LSA-R.S. 17:3121.1
LSA-R.S. 17:1806
LSA-R.S. 17:3201.A
LSA-R.S. 17:1806.A.(1)
La. Civil Code Art. 9

LSA-R.S. 17:1806.A.(1) states that the student member of the SU Board of Supervisors shall be selected "by and from" the body Mr. Winston G. DeCuir, Sr. composed of the SGA and SBA presidents from the universities 1961 Government Street in the Southern University System, Without clear constitutional or statutory power to do so, the SU Board of Supervisors cannot Baton Rouge, LA 70806 ignore LSA-R.S. 17:1806 by adopting a policy which would take the selection process away from the student body
Dear Mr. DeCuir: presidents from the universities in the Southern University System.

This office is in receipt of your opinion request regarding the method of selecting the student board member to the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College (hereinafter "SU Board of Supervisors").
Specifically, you questioned "whether or not the rotational method of selection of members from the council of student body presidents is legally allowable, or must there be an annual election by the council of presidents without regard to the campus which they represent."

The SU Board of Supervisors adopted in its By-Laws a policy for the selection of the student board member. That policy is found in Part I (C) and reads as follows:

(C) Membership. The Board shall be composed of two members from each congressional district of the State, and one member from the State at large, all appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, and one student member. The student member shall be selected on a rotational basis from the President of the Student Government Associations and the Student Bar Association of institutions under the supervision and management of the Board of Supervisors .... (Emphasis supplied)

According to information supplied to this office, the student board member that served on the SU Board of Supervisors always served on a rotational basis from the Student Government Association (hereinafter "SGA") presidents who were elected from Southern University - Baton Rouge, Southern University New Orleans and Southern University - Shreveport and Student Bar Association (hereinafter "SBA") president from the Southern University Law Center.

LSA-R.S. 17:3201.A., regarding the Application of Chapter 26 of Title 17 to systems of public education of the state, provides:

Page 2

Mr. Winston G. DeCuir, Sr.
OPINION No. 02-0205
Page 2

Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Chapter, the provisions of this Chapter shall apply in the same manner and to the same extent to the ..., the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, ... and any other board vested with the supervision and management of institutions of postsecondary education thereafter created.

As you noted in your letter to this office, LSA-R.S. 17:1806 is the statute that provides for the selection of a student board member to the SU Board of Supervisors as well as the other systems of postsecondary public education in the state.
LSA-R.S. 17:1806.A.(1), as amended through Act 93 of the 2001 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, states:

There shall be one student member on the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, on the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, and on the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. Each such student member shall be selected by and from the membership of a council composed of the student body presidents of the colleges, and universities under the management and supervision of the respective boards. (Emphasis supplied).

Louisiana Civil Code Article 9 states, in pertinent part:

When a law is clear and unambiguous and its application does not lead to absurd consequences, the law shall be applied as written and no further interpretation may be made in search of the intent of the legislature.

Further, the pertinent part of LSA-R. S. 1:3 reads as follow:

Words and phrases shall be read with their context and shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language .... The word "shall" is mandatory and the word "may" is permissive.

It is apparent from the clear language of LSA-R.S. 17:1806.A.(1), that one student shall be selected as a member of the SU Board of Supervisors. The student member shall be selected "by and from" the membership composed of the SGA and SBA presidents from the universities in the Southern University System (hereinafter "the council"). The Universities in the Southern University System consist of Southern University-Baton Rouge, Southern University-New Orleans, Southern University-Shreveport, and Southern University Law Center. Without clear constitutional or statutory power to do so, the SU Board of Supervisors cannot ignore LSA-R.S. 17:1806 by adopting a policy which would have the effect of taking the selection process away from the council.

Page 3

Mr. Winston G. DeCuir, Sr.
OPINION No. 02-0205
Page 3

As noted in your letter, the logic behind the SU Board of Supervisors’ policy is apparent. The SU Board of Supervisors’ policy ensures that each university in the Southern University System would have an opportunity to be represented on the board on a rotational basis. In fact, LSA-R.S. t7:3121.1 mandates that the Board of Regents "establishes a procedure for the election of the student member by the newly-elected council of student body presidents to assure representation from each management system under the board’s jurisdiction within a reasonable number of years .... " In other words, LSA-R. S. 17:3121.1 mandates that the Board of Regents establish some type of rotation system for the selection of their student board member. Therefore, the council could adopt the policy established by the SU Board of Supervisors, which provides that the student board member be selected on some type of rotational basis, or they may choose to adopt another policy, which would ensure periodic representation by each university in the Southern University System. Either way, LSA-R.S. 1806.A.(1) mandates that the decision on who to select and how that selection should be done belongs to the council.

In conclusion, LSA-R.S. 17:1806.A.(1) states that the student member of the SU Board of Supervisors shall be selected "by and from" the body composed of the SGA and SBA presidents from the universities in the Southern University System. Without clear constitutional or statutory power to do so, the SU Board of Supervisors cannot ignore LSA-R.S. 17:1806 by adopting a policy which would take the selection process away from the student body presidents from the universities in the Southern University System.

Very truly yours,

RICH.~,RD P. I~YOUB

By: I ////I/// ~
~’Or~c’a L. Howard
~ss istant Attorney General

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