$6M gift: LSU announced it has received $6 million to expand a scholarship program for engineering students who are working their way through school. The gift from the late William Alfred “Bill” Brookshire’s family, one of the largest donations to the school designed for immediate use, means the program he founded can help more than 300 students a year for the next three years. See the announcement.
Possible hazing: The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity chapter at LSU has been suspended and police are investigating a possible case of illegal hazing after a student was hospitalized. Details have not been released, though Baton Rouge news outlets report that District Attorney Hillar Moore says the case appears similar to that of Max Gruver, an LSU freshman who died in 2017 after a night of coerced drinking at a fraternity house. Phi Delta Theta is banned from the LSU campus until at least 2033 because of the events leading to Gruver’s death. Read the full story.
ID cards: Louisiana’s requirement that people convicted of certain sex crimes carry a state-issued ID card with the words “SEX OFFENDER” printed on it in orange capital letters is unconstitutional, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The 6-1 ruling upholds a decision by a state judge in Lafayette who last year threw out a charge filed against a man who altered his card to remove the label. State attorneys had argued that the state had a legitimate interest in having the information on the ID card: to let law enforcement officers know the cardholder’s criminal history, but Justice James Genovese, writing for the majority, said there are less restrictive ways to inform law enforcement. Read the full story.
