Several nonprofits operating out of offices on the LSU New Orleans campus were told last month to clear out by October 31 so the university’s athletics department could move its coaches into the space, according to the groups’ directors. Project NOLA, Court Watch NOLA, Soul NOLA and Silence Is Violence all received notices to vacate the Training, Resource, and Assistive-Technology Center, a Lakefront campus facility historically used for disability and rehabilitation services.
As reported by NOLA.com, the tenancy termination notices went out September 28, giving the organizations roughly a month to pack up and move out. LSU New Orleans did not disclose how many nonprofits were asked to leave the building, but university officials told the outlet the space is needed to make way for athletics department offices. The TRAC facility has long housed training and evaluation labs, administrative offices, a conference center and lodging, and it provides services to people with disabilities, rehabilitation professionals, educators and employers.
Project NOLA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs a networked HD crime-camera program feeding footage to a Real-Time Crime Information Center on campus, held a month-to-month lease at TRAC, per the group’s own description on its about page. The nonprofit’s directors say they were initially told they could keep their month-to-month arrangements, with the university’s report characterizing the situation as one where nothing would change and new leases would be written when possible. Instead, the notice to vacate arrived. Project NOLA has since secured a prospective secondary location through a partnership with another university and plans to use that site as its new home base, the report notes.
Survivors’ Advocacy Group Says Services Were Interrupted
Silence Is Violence, which provides care and advocacy for survivors of violent crimes, had occupied space at TRAC for eight years, leasing six offices for four full-time and two part-time employees. Founder Tamara Jackson, who holds a doctorate in social work, requested a five-day extension so the organization could move into available space on November 5 — a request LSUNO denied. The displacement interrupted the group’s in-person services to survivors…