Southern University announces semifinalists for system president’s job

Two Louisiana community college chancellors and a North Louisiana district attorney are among the six semifinalists for the Southern University System presidency, the search committee tasked with filling the post announced Thursday. 

The three in-state contenders to lead the state’s historically Black college system are: Willie Smith, chancellor of Baton Rouge Community College; Larissa Littleton-Steib, who holds the same job at Delgado Community College in New Orleans; and John Belton, district attorney in the 3rd Judicial District, which covers Lincoln and Union parishes.

The four out-of-state candidates are: Brian Bridges, New Jersey’s former higher education secretary; Jaffus Hardrick, previously president at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens; and Roscoe Jones, former dean of Drake University Law School. 

The six candidates will be invited to interview with the search committee Oct. 7, after which its members will recommend one or more candidates as finalists for the job. Those finalists will then do another round of interviews with groups of students, faculty and other stakeholders before the Southern University Board of Supervisors votes on who to hire. 

The search committee’s chairman, New Orleans City Councilman Jason Hughes, said the semifinalists were chosen from among more than 60 people who expressed interest in the job.

“They bring a wide range and diversity of experience,” Hughes said. 

Southern’s system presidency has been vacant since former Dennis Shields was fired late last year after serving in the position since 2022. Shields is now chancellor of the Camden, New Jersey, campus of Rutgers University, where former LSU President William Tate was hired as president in 2025. 

Southern AgCenter Chancellor Orlando McMeans has been serving as interim president since Shields’ departure. 

Littleton-Steib has led Delgado since 2019 and was previously chancellor of Baton Rouge Community College. Smith took the BRCC job after Littleton-Steib left, and he previously held several positions in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. 

Belton has served as a district attorney since 2014. He has prosecuted several high-profile defendants, including bringing a case against the state troopers involved in the 2019 death of Black motorist Ronald Greene, who died after being beaten by police and dragged along the roadside while handcuffed. 

Belton previously was a member of the Southern University Board of Supervisors from 1990 to 2005, serving as its chair from 2001-02. Another prosecutor, 18th Judicial District Attorney Tony Clayton, currently leads the Southern board.

Before becoming dean of Drake’s law school, Jones worked extensively in Democratic politics, including as chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, who’s now the state’s governor, and assistant chief of staff to former U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.

Hardrick served as president of Florida Memorial University from 2018 until he resigned in 2024 due to health concerns. Hardrick received his undergraduate degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 

Bridges had worked in numerous roles in both higher education policy and at academic institutions before becoming New Jersey’s secretary of higher education under former Gov. Phil Murphy. His most recent university job was as vice provost for diversity, equity and access at Ohio University.