Southern University

Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

Former names	Southern College
Type	Public flagship university HBCU Land grant
Established	April 1, 1880 (1880-04-01)
Parent institution	SU System
Academic affiliations	TMSF ORAU APLU
Endowment	$9.6 million
Provost	M. Christopher Brown II
President-Chancellor	Ray Belton
Administrative staff	1,600
Students	6,152 (Fall 2016)
Location	Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. 30°31′29″N 91°11′24″W / 30.524674°N 91.190034°W / 30.524674; -91.190034Coordinates: 30°31′29″N 91°11′24″W / 30.524674°N 91.190034°W / 30.524674; -91.190034
Campus	Urban; 512 acres (207 ha)
Colors	Columbia Blue and Gold
Nickname	Jaguars & Lady Jaguars
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I FCS – SWAC
Website	www.subr.edu

Southern University and A&M College (often referred to as Southern University, SUBR or SU) is a historically black college in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The campus is on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section of the city. The campus encompasses 512 acres, with an agricultural experimental station on an additional 372-acre site, five miles north of the main campus. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the flagship institution of the Southern University System.

At the 1879 Louisiana State Constitutional Convention, African-American political leaders P.B.S. Pinchback, Theophile T. Allain and Henry Demas proposed founding a higher education institution "for the education of persons of color." Louisiana before the American Civil War had an established class of free people of color, who were often property owners and educated; they kept that tradition for their children.

In April 1880, the Louisiana General Assembly chartered what was then called Southern College, originally located in New Orleans. Southern opened its doors on March 7, 1881 (1881-03-07) with 12 students. The school was held for a time at the former Israel Sinai Temple on Calliope Street, between St. Charles and Camp streets.

In 1890 the legislature designated Southern as a land grant college for blacks, in order to continue to satisfy federal requirements under the land grant program to support higher education for all students in the state, despite having a segregated system. It established an Agricultural and Mechanical department. Because of continued growth and a lack of land for expansion, in 1914 the university moved to Scotlandville, along Scott's Bluff facing the Mississippi River and north of Baton Rouge. Now absorbed into the capital, this area is included as a historic destination of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.