| Louisiana College | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Deo, Veritati, Patriae (God, Truth, Country) |
| Established | October 3, 1906 |
| Type | Private coeducational university |
| Endowment | USD $27,064,817 [3] |
| President | Dr. Joe M. Aguillard |
| Students | about 1300 |
| Location | Pineville, Louisiana, United States |
| Colors | Orange and Blue |
| Nickname | Wildcats |
| Affiliations | Louisiana Baptist Convention Southern Baptist Convention |
| Website | lacollege.edu |
Louisiana College is a private institution of higher education located in Pineville, Louisiana, affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention, serving a student body of approximately 1,300 students. The college operates on a semester system, with two shorter summer terms. Although the college is affiliated with a group of Baptist churches, who make up the membership of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, students need not be a member of that denomination to attend.
The school's colors are orange and blue, and their athletics teams are known as the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats.
Louisiana College was founded on October 3, 1906, in Pineville, across the Red River from the larger Alexandria. Baptist clergyman and educator Edwin O. Ware, Sr., is considered to have been the principal founder of the institution. He was both the college's financial agent, 1906–1907, and its first president, 1908-1909. Louisiana College (often referred to as "LC") is the successor to two earlier Louisiana Baptist schools, Mount Lebanon College, sometimes called Mount Lebanon University, and Keatchie Female College. The first, a men's school founded in 1852 by the North Louisiana Baptist Convention, was located in the community of Mount Lebanon in Bienville Parish. The women's college, founded in 1857 by the Grand Cane Association of Baptist Churches, was located in the community of Keatchie in De Soto Parish south of Shreveport. After a history beset by financial difficulties, both schools came under the control of the Louisiana Baptist Convention in 1899. An Education Commission was selected by the state convention to administer the schools with the understanding that both would be succeeded by a more centrally located college as soon as a suitable campus could be selected. When Louisiana College was opened in 1906, Mount Lebanon College closed, followed by Keatchie a few years later. The enrollment of students in 1906 at the opening of the College was 19. Today, more than 10,000 have been graduated since the College was founded.
Until 1921, Louisiana College was administered by the Education Commission. The new charter established a Board of Trustees. The first administrative head of Louisiana College was W. F. Taylor, whose title was chairman of the faculty. Since its opening under President Edwin Ware, LC has had these seven other presidents: Dr. W. C. Friley, in 1909; Dr. Claybrook Cottingham, in 1910; Dr. Edgar Godbold, in 1941; Dr. G. Earl Guinn, in 1951; Dr. Robert L. Lynn, in 1975; Dr. Rory Lee, in 1997; and Dr. Joe M. Aguillard, in 2005.
In 1941, Hal Monroe Weathersby (1885–1965) served as acting LC president. From 1911-1914, he was professor of Greek and history. From 1914 until his retirement ifn 1965, he was the dean of Louisiana College. Weathersby graduated from Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi, and the University of Chicago. The Weathersby Fine Arts Building is named in his honor. He and his wife, the former Natalee Thompson, had three children, Hal T. Weathersby, Scott M. Weathersby, and Rose W. Norman. A Baptist, Weathersby died in Pineville and is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.[1]
In 1959, the Louisiana Historical Association was reorganized in a statewide meeting on the LC campus. Edwin A. Davis, head of the history department at LSU and author of a popular Louisiana history textbook, became the first president of the new association.
Among the benefactors of Louisiana College has been the family of Simon W. Tudor of Pineville, who founded Tudor Construction Company in 1946. Tudor coached basketball, football, and baseball at the college in the 1910s. The men's dormitory Tudor Hall is named for him. Tudor was also chairman of the board of trustees from 1943-1953.
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Background
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Seminaries
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Louisiana College is situated on an 81-acre (330,000 m2) campus in Pineville. The school has twenty-five academic and residential buildings, which include:
Louisiana College awards the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Social Work, and Bachelor of General Studies degrees and offers over 70 majors, minors and pre-professional programs. These programs are:
On September 1, 2010, Louisiana College announced that it is building in downtown Shreveport the Judge Paul Pressler School of Law, named for the former justice of the Texas Court of Appeals from Houston, Paul Pressler, a long-time leader of the theological conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention. J. Michael Johnson is the founding dean of the new institution.[3] The formation of the law school was originally announced in 2007. [4]
LC expects to place the law school in the former federal building named for the late U.S. Representative Joe D. Waggonner, Jr. Currently there is no law school within two hundred miles of the planned location. Johnson said that the school will "pursue academic excellence by use of a curriculum that directly acknowledges and embraces our Judeo-Christian heritage and the moral foundations of the American legal system. We want our students to learn and to study the history and philosophy of the law, but all of that will be grounded in what we call 'The Unchanging Foundation.' That is the motto of Lousiana College, and it will be for the law school as well."[3]
Johnson said that the curriculum will be grounded on the ideas of the Declaration of Independence: a Creator God with inalienable rights. The American Founding Fathers, said Johnson, "believed if we moved away from those truths, and the Natural law philosophy, we would be in trouble . . . So their admonition to us was to . . . interpret the Constitution very carefully and according to its original intent because if we fail to do that, we would drift away from the moorings. It is a perilous position, and that is where we find outselves today."[5]
A board of reference has been named to advise regarding the establishment of the law school, including the two area U.S. Representatives John C. Fleming and Rodney Alexander. Others on the board include Alveda C. King, founder of King for America, Inc.; Tim LaHaye of Tim LaHaye Ministries, Beverly LaHaye of Concerned Women for America, psychologist James C. Dobson, David Barton of the group Wallbuilders, former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Associate Justice Jeffrey P. Victory of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and Richard Land, the president of the SBC Liberty Commission.[6]
On December 15, 2010, the Louisiana College trustees received a $1 million contribution from an anonymous foundation in order to launch a divinity school at Louisiana College.[7] This is Louisiana College's third announced graduate school since 2008. The school is named the Caskey School of Divinity, after a Southern Baptist minister who "tirelessly worked and evangelized in Louisiana".[7] The founding dean for the school is Dr. Charles Quarles, who is currently serving as the Vice President for Integration of Faith and Learning and Research Professor of New Testament and Greek in the Christian Studies Division. Currently Louisiana College is able to grant up to the master's degree under Level 3 status of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The school began classes in Fall 2011. The school planned to initially accept up to one hundred students and will offer free tuition, something unprecedented.[8] Dr. Quarles explained the goals of the Caskey School of Divinity:
"Louisiana College will establish a Divinity School that will train coming generations of Christian leaders:
Student life at Louisiana College is vibrant and energetic. One of the things which sets LC apart from other schools is its commitment to promoting a Christian atmosphere. As a result of this commitment, LC provides a student life setting in which one is often surrounded with peers who love Christ and are active in the church.[9] Because LC is a small school it fosters a small community environment where most students are familiar with each other. On October 25, 2008 LC inaugurated a new football field which brought the first stadium to the campus in 40 years.[10] Since the new Wildcat Field students at LC have worked towards fostering new traditions centered around athletic/intramural events. Overall development amongst the student body is new and growing as the college grows larger and evolves. LC is still in a state of growth and expansion and has been experiencing record setting enrollment within the past few years.[11]
Louisiana College have several treasured traditions carried out by its students. While LC lacks a large variety of student organizations, traditions are handed down mostly through word of mouth. One of the first traditions learned about at LC is the marriage swing located in front of Cottingham Hall. Legend holds that if a couple sits on the swing at the same time they are destined to be married. This of course leads to apprehension to sit on the swing, although many take their chances. Several have even proposed at the marriage swing. Another tradition held is the annual rolling of Cottingham Forest during Mom's Weekend. Every year LC holds a Mom's Weekend event when girls and their moms share time together on campus. On the first night of this weekend the male students of LC collect toilet paper and use it to TP the trees immediately in front of Cottingham Hall. In the morning the girls awake to a white wintery wonderland. Another tradition is the fabled Moses statue in front of the Weathersby Fine Arts Building. Legend says that it holds the power of good luck. This power is conferred upon an individual when he/she rubs the top of his head. This phenomenon has been investigated by many, but few are able to offer sufficient explanations for it. Throughout the school year Louisiana College holds several annual events. Homecoming Honey is an event held during homecoming week; male students compete for the hotly contested title of "homecoming honey" by showing off their talents and personalities. The winner is then selected by panel of judges. Christmas Gala is a treasured tradition at Louisiana College. This is LC's equivalent of prom without a dance. Students bring a date to a formal dinner and enjoy well prepared meals. After the meal students file into Guinn Auditorium for a Christmas presentation put on by professors and students. During this presentation the Gala Court is announced and presented to the student body. Couchon De Lait is another event put on by LC's Union Board. Couchon is a campus-wide crawfish boil with all you can eat crawfish. This event is much anticipated and students' families often participate. There are often inflatable games and live music.
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