Letter from SUSLA Chancellor

Greetings Jaguars and Welcome Home!

We’re excited to partner with the Shreveport Regional Arts Council for the inaugural Homecoming 2020 SUSLA / GSU Artists Reunion.

As Chancellor of Southern University at Shreveport, one of the most endearing qualities of our University is how faculty, staff, and students connect as a family. This is why this event is indeed a “family reunion.”

The Homecoming is significant for many reasons. Not only have you, our graduates, ventured out into the world to build careers with talent developed at our HBCUs, your returning to share that expertise with new generations of hopeful Artists will, no doubt, inspire them to reach back one day and do the same.

I am grateful to the Shreveport Regional Arts Council and the SUSLA / GSU Management team for working so hard over the past year to bring our Artists alumni home. The talent represented by these Artists and their body of work is immense. While the initial intent was to have these classes in person, these unprecedented times have caused the team to find new ways to reach our students and community. They have pulled off an incredible feat.

Through these “Masters of the Arts,” we have learned about the importance of the Negro Spiritual, songs created by slaves by people who could not read or write, to communicate vital messages to each other in the fields. We all now know that our walk is our rhythm. West African Dance is within us all, and dancing is an expression of multiple emotions. The Gospel Music Industry is, indeed, a business, which Artists must navigate to become a success. And, by the end of the Visual Arts master classes, people will leave with a portrait of Breonna Taylor, which is a fitting way to honor her life and for us to contribute to the current dialogue of racial inequality in our nation.

I am excited for the culminating events occurring at the end of October. The Visual and Performing Arts Exhibitions will be a time for us to gather, reminisce, and celebrate our alumni who contribute their richness to our culture and community. So, I want to thank you, the Artists, for sharing your talents, your time, and lessons learned. Most importantly, thank you for representing Southern at Shreveport with your continued belief in and contributions to the Arts.

Welcome Home! Dr. Rodney A. Ellis, Chancellor