Indicted SUNO official leaves post

• By JORDAN BLUM
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: May 30, 2009 - Page: 11A

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An indicted former legislator is indefinitely stepping down from her administrative job at Southern University at New Orleans, the college said Friday.

The decision came one day after Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke out against the appointment of former legislator Renee Gill Pratt to the SUNO chancellor’s executive cabinet.

Pratt already was serving as SUNO’s director of recruitment, admissions and retention.

Pratt, who also is a former New Orleans City Council member, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury. She is accused of plotting with relatives of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money for charitable and educational programs.

SUNO announced late Friday that Pratt was immediately taking indefinite administrative leave of absence without pay.

In a prepared statement, SUNO Chancellor Victor Ukpolo said, “Due to personal matters, she has elected to leave the university as this time. We wish both her and her family well.”

In a prepared statement, Jindal said Pratt’s decision is good for SUNO.

“Our people deserve honest, dedicated leadership from their public officials and nothing less,” Jindal stated. “It is absurd that she would be appointed to a board of advisers at SUNO just a week after being indicted on federal racketeering charges.”

Southern University System Board of Supervisors Chairman Tony Clayton said Jindal is right.

“I’m glad she (Pratt) did the right thing for SUNO,” Clayton said.

The day of Pratt’s appointment to the SUNO executive cabinet, Ukpolo informed the university of 14 layoffs on campus because of pending state budget cuts to colleges.

Several SUNO alumni and laid-off employees protested the job terminations Friday at a Southern Board meeting in Baton Rouge. Some called the layoffs “retaliatory” against people who were not favored by Ukpolo.

Southern University System President Ralph Slaughter, who had signed off on the layoffs, decided Friday to pull back the reins on layoff and reorganization plans at SUNO and Southern University at Shreveport.