Southern University and A&M College

Southern University and A&M College (often referred to as Southern University, SUBR or SU) is a historically black university (HBCU) in the Scotlandville area of 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 the largest HBCU in Louisiana, a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the flagship institution of the Southern University System. Southern University's 13 intercollegiate athletics teams are known as the Jaguars, and are members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in NCAA Division I. The Human Jukebox is a nationally renowned collegiate marching band that represents Southern University.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 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