Centenary College of Louisiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other institutions of higher education using the name Centenary College, see Centenary College
|
|
| Motto | Labor Omnia Vincit (Work Conquers All) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1825 |
| Type | Private United Methodist |
| President | Kenneth L. Schwab |
| Staff | 228 |
| Undergraduates | 899 |
| Postgraduates | 107 |
| Location | Shreveport, Louisiana, USA |
| Campus | Urban, 117 acres (162,000 m²) |
| Athletics | 16 Division I varsity teams |
| Website | www.centenary.edu |
Centenary College of Louisiana is an independent United Methodist, primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is one of the founding members of the Associated Colleges of the South, a pedagogical organization consisting of 13 Southern liberal arts colleges.
Contents |
[edit] About Centenary College of Louisiana
Centenary College of Louisiana fosters a rich intellectual and social atmosphere. Students work within a strong community to create personalized, distinctive experiences. Building lives of integrity, our students explore the unfamiliar, invent new approaches to understanding, and connect their work and lives to the world at large. Centenary students enjoy a vibrant college life and achieve superior preparation for futures still unimagined.
Centenary traces its founding to 1825 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
[edit] Campus
Centenary is just south of downtown Shreveport, in the historic Highland Area. The campus is noted for its distinctive Georgian architecture and well-maintained grounds.
[edit] Major buildings
- Magale Library is the most visible landmark on campus.
- Hargrove Memorial Amphitheatre is a 2,000-seat band shell and host of traditional campus events, including the annual Summer Band Concert Series.
- Hurley Music Building is home to the Hurley School of Music.
- Anderson Choral Building houses a state-of-the-art auditorium and practice facilities designed for various ensembles, including the Centenary Camerata, a choir dedicated to high level performances of choral works from the middle ages to the 21st century, and the Centenary College Choir, an internationally famous choral group whose long history and rich tradition as "America's Singing Ambassadors" has allowed performances on 6 continents and 6 consecutive invitations to perform at the White House for 2 presidents.
- Feazel Instrumental Hall house state-of-the-art orchestral music space.
- The Marjorie Lyons Playhouse is home to the Department of Theatre and Dance and hosts several productions each year.
- Mickle Hall, constructed in 1949-50, has been renovated to offer cutting-edge science classrooms and labs.
- The Samuel Peters Research Center houses the only Jack London museum east of San Francisco, California.
- The geodesic Gold Dome sports arena is host to numerous events, including basketball, volleyball and gymnastics competitions.
- Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College offers exhibitions throughout the year and hosts area school children for morning visits and arts education activities.
- The Centenary Fitness Center contains a competition-size swimming pool, an indoor running track, gymnasium, exercise and free-weight equipment areas and racquetball courts as well as specially equipped rooms for dance, aerobics and classroom instruction.
[edit] Organization
The university offers 36 majors and 11 interdisciplinary minors in the traditional liberal arts and sciences, fine arts, and select professional programs in business administration, communications, education, and church leadership institute. Across all disciplines, Centenary stresses close interaction between students and faculty members. Undergraduate research is particularly emphasized.
Radio station KSCL 91.3FM broadcasts from the campus, a progressive community station dedicated to community events and alternative music, from college rock and jazz to local Acadian music and zydeco.
The Conglomerate, Centenary's independent press, is a weekly publication that circulates 20 issues per academic year. The paper is staffed entirely by students, and is paid for by student fees and advertisement. Originally called The Maroon and White, the paper changed its name to The Conglomerate in 1923.
[edit] Faculty and students
As of 2004, the university enrolled 905 undergraduate and 107 graduate students. 59% of the first-year students came from the state of Louisiana, while 3% came from outside the United States. The median composite ACT score of incoming students was 26. Full-time faculty numbered 96, 94% of whom held a terminal degree in their field.
[edit] Sports, clubs, and traditions
Centenary is a member of the NCAA Division I Mid-Continent Conference. It is the smallest Div I school in the country. It has historically had a strong soccer program for both men and women. The school is well-known for its basketball prominence in the late 1970s being the college for NBA great Robert Parish, and golf ability -- in the early 1980s PGA golfer Hal Sutton played there. The school mascot is the gentleman; the women's sports' mascot is the lady. Prior to adopting the Gentleman mascot, Centenary's football team was known as the Old Ironsides and had a reputation as a fearsome and powerful team with a penchant for playing rough. To clean up their image, they selected the Gentleman mascot.
Centenary hosts seven social fraternities and sororities. For the women there is the Iota Gamma Chapter of Chi Omega, the largest women's fraternal organization in the country, and Zeta Tau Alpha. For the men there is Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Order, Theta Chi, Kappa Sigma, and Tau Kappa Epsilon. The school hosts chapters of several academic honor organizations, including Sigma Alpha Iota, Omicron Delta Kappa, Alpha Chi, and Sigma Tau Delta.
Centenary has developed an honor code - the teachers may leave the room for exams and at the end of the test students write "I have neither given nor received any unauthorized information nor have I seen anyone else do so." If someone is seen cheating, the written statement would elaborate and say "with the exception of...". This is highly regarded and infractions are sent to the student-run Honor Court, a judicial review board. The Honor Code is also written on any paper that submitted for a grade.
[edit] History
Centenary College of Louisiana is the oldest chartered liberal arts college in the United States west of the Mississippi River. The lineage of the college dates back to 1825, when the College of Louisiana was opened in Jackson, Louisiana. The school enjoyed early success, but struggled financially until Centenary College of Clinton, Mississippi (founded 1839) agreed to merge with the Jackson campus, creating Centenary College of Louisiana in 1845. The college prospered until the beginning of the American Civil War. Three lines, written in a large bold hand, cover the entire page of the faculty minute-book dated October 7, 1861: "Students have all gone to war--College suspended, and God Help the Right!" During this time, the Jackson campus was used as a Confederate hospital, and was sacked upon arrival of Union troops in 1863. The old campus is presently operated and preserved as a state historic site by the Louisiana Office of State Parks.
Never regaining the footing it had in the 1840s and 1850s, the college moved to Shreveport in 1908 and immediately enjoyed success. President George Sexton outlined campus growth and prosperity in the 1920s and 1930s, including the architectural design that largely remains today. During that time, Centenary was a football powerhouse, whose fame included wins over Louisiana State University, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Notre Dame. The academic reputation of Centenary has remained strong since the 1920s. Centenary is now regularly found at the top of its category in the annual college and university rankings published by U.S. News and World Report magazine.
[edit] Notable alumni
- John Corrington - poet and author; one of the early television writing pioneers.
- Cal Hubbard - former professional football player, member of Baseball Hall of Fame and the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
- Michael Mann - innovator in Lasik surgery.
- Robert Parish - National Basketball Association Hall of Fame Center, nicknamed "The Chief."
- Hal Sutton - Professional Golf Association pro; captain of the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
[edit] Notable staff
- Bill Joyce - Creator of Rolie Polie Olie cartoon series; noted children's author and illustrator.
- Earle Labor - Official biographer of novelist Jack London; curator of the Jack London Museum in Shreveport.
- Jeffrey F. Trahan - Cornelius D. And Florence Gillard Keen Professor of Physics.
- Sam Shepherd - professor of History, former president of the Louisiana Historical Association
- Philip Barker - associate professor of Political Science
[edit] External links
| Private colleges and universities in Louisiana |
|---|
| Baptist • Centenary • Dillard • Holy Cross • Lady of the Lake • Louisiana College • Loyola • Notre Dame • Saint Joseph • Tulane • Xavier |
| Mid-Continent Conference |
|---|
| Centenary • IUPUI • Oakland • Oral Roberts • Southern Utah • UMKC • Valparaiso • Western Illinois |
Old Centenary College of Louisiana
 |
History | Geography | Politics | Economy | Education | Culture | Transportation | Shreveporters |
|---|---|
| Neighborhoods | Downtown | Riverfront District | Highlands | Shreve City | Anderson Island | Broadmoor | Shreve Island | Southern Hills | Jewella-South Park | Cross lake | LSUS-University Area | Greenwood | Blanchard | Texas Border |
| The Ark-La-Tex | Shreveport, Louisiana | Texarkana, Texas | Bossier City, Louisiana | Stonewall, Louisiana | Mansfield, Louisiana | Minden, Louisiana | Homer, Louisiana | Haynesville, Louisiana | Magnolia, Arkansas | Hope, Arkansas | Waskom, Texas | Marshall, Texas | Longview, Texas | Jefferson, Texas | Carthage, Texas |
