New Member To Skip SUNO/UNO Meeting

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal's new minority appointee to the Board of Regents won't be attending a meeting to discuss the racially charged, potential merger of Southern University at New Orleans with the University of New Orleans.

Albert Sam II, a black vascular surgeon from Baton Rouge, was named to the Regents by Jindal after the governor pushed out a longtime white member of the board amid complaints about the lack of diversity on the panel.

Sam's appointment comes days before Regents meet next week to hear a consultant's recommendations about whether to merge SUNO and UNO. But Sam won't be attending the meeting because of his surgery schedule, according to Regents spokeswoman Meg Casper.

A lawsuit has been filed against Jindal and the Regents, challenging the merger.