| University of Louisiana at Lafayette | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Fortiter, Fideliter, Feliciter (Latin) |
| Motto in English | Boldly, Faithfully, Happily |
| Established | 1900 |
| Type | Public |
| President | E. Joseph Savoie, Ed.D. |
| Academic staff | 747 |
| Students | 16,361[1] |
| Undergraduates | 15,564 |
| Postgraduates | 1,511 |
| Location | Lafayette, Louisiana, USA |
| Campus | Urban 1,227 acres (4.97 km2) |
| French name | l'Université des Acadiens |
| Colors |
Vermilion and Evangeline White |
| Athletics | Ragin' Cajuns |
| Mascot | Cayenne |
| Affiliations | Sun Belt Conference Southern Association of Colleges and Schools |
| Website | louisiana.edu |
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, or UL Lafayette, is a coeducational, public research university located in Lafayette, Louisiana, in the heart of Acadiana. It is the largest campus within the eight-campus University of Louisiana System and is the second largest university in the state of Louisiana.
Founded in 1900 as an industrial institute, the university developed into a four-year college in the 1920s and became known by its present name in 1999. Concurrently the university evolved into a national research and doctoral university as noted by its Carnegie categorization as a RU/H: research university (high research activity). It offers Louisiana's only PhD in francophone studies and the only industrial design degree. The university has achieved several milestones in computer science, engineering and architecture. It is also home to a distinct College of the Arts.
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Also centered in the main campus is Cypress Lake, a swamp-like microcosm of the nearby Atchafalaya Basin, home to alligators, turtles, birds and fish.
Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum
The Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum permanent collection consists of more than 1,500 works of art, including paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and photographs. This collection represents 18th, 19th and 20th century Louisiana, as well as the United States, Europe and Japan.[12]
Traveling shows featuring work from national and internationally known artists such as Mark Rothko, James McNeil Whistler, Andrew Wyeth, Christopher Rauschenberg, Robert Rauschenberg, Deborah Butterfield and Pablo Picasso have been featured regularly.[13] The museum also holds end-of-the-semester art shows featuring thesis work of graduating students of College of the Arts.[14]
KRVS radio station
KRVS 88.7FM is a listener-supported public radio station facility currently licensed to UL Lafayette. KRVS operates on campus, located in Burke-Hawthorne Hall and plays local music such as Cajun, Zydeco, Swamp Rock, Swamp Pop, Blues, Jazz, and a variety of other programs. KRVS currently broadcasts to 651,000 residents in the Acadiana area of Louisiana. KRVS also broadcasts live from Festival International every April in support of local art and music.[15]
The university is a member of the Southeastern Universities Research Association and is categorized as a Carnegie RU/H: Research University (high research activity).[16] UL Lafayette reported $51 million in external research funding from state, federal, private and self-generated funds for 2008.[17] The university was rated one of the top 100 public research universities in the nation according to a 2010 report by The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.[18]
The biology department has several distinguished professors who are contributing significantly to research on restoration of Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Several research projects are in partnership with the National Wetlands Research Center housed in the university's research park.
In 2006 the university inaugurated the $29M technology initiative LITE Center, which offers the largest known three-dimensional-immersive auditorium for visualization of fully interactive 3D models and data sets for seismic analysis, computer-aided modeling, product stress test analysis and a host of other applications that require visualization of large data sets for scientists. The center collaborates with students in the architecture, engineering, computer science fields as well as others, allowing use of its facilities to increase local business and furthering of the technological economy in Lafayette.[19] Some of the UL Lafayette research projects using or supported by LITE include:
UL Lafayette is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. All undergraduate programs at UL Lafayette that are eligible for accreditation by professional agencies are accredited.[20] The UL Lafayette Honors Program is an active member of the Louisiana, Southern Regional, and National Honors Councils.[21] The university graduates about 1,100 students each fall and spring.
The university offers 78 undergraduate degree programs, 27 master's degree programs, and 8 Doctor of Philosophy programs, which include applied language and speech sciences, biology, computer engineering, computer science, educational leadership, English, francophone studies and mathematics. UL Lafayette has 10 colleges and schools:
College of the Arts
The only Louisiana university with a separate College of the Arts, it combines architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts.[22] The college offers the only industrial design degree in Louisiana.[23]
B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration
Originally named the College of Commerce, it was established in 1952 and renamed the College of Business Administration in 1980. In 2003 it was renamed the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration after a donor to the college's endowment.
College of Education
College of Engineering
Graduate School
The school offers the only doctoral program in francophone studies in Louisiana.[24][25] The school's doctoral program in cognitive science is in the process of being phased out.[26]
College of Liberal Arts
College of Nursing & Allied Health Professions
Ray P. Authement College of Sciences
| University rankings (overall) | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Forbes[27] | 218 |
| U.S. News & World Report[28] | 203–268 |
| Washington Monthly[29] | 248 |
University press
The UL Lafayette Press is the largest academic publisher of Louisiana-related works and the second-largest academic publisher overall in the state. The press has been publishing since 1973 and previously imprinted under the Center for Louisiana Studies prior to 2009.[35]
Louisiana History
The journal Louisiana History is published quarterly through UL Lafayette by the Louisiana Historical Association. LHA was founded in New Orleans in 1889.
Louisiana Center for Cultural & Eco-Tourism
The center's research division houses the world's largest collection of Cajun and Creole folklore, oral history, and folklife materials and some of the nation's largest microfilm collections of French and Spanish colonial records.[36]
CajunBot
In 2004, UL Lafayette students and faculty produced CajunBot, one of 25 autonomous vehicles that competed in the U.S. Department of Defense 2004 & 2005 DARPA Grand Challenges as well as the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. CajunBot, which was featured on CNN and on the Discovery Channel science series Robocars, used artificial intelligence and GPS positioning to navigate a designated route while detecting and avoiding obstacles.
CAPE
A group of UL Lafayette engineering students participating in the Cajun Advanced Picosatellite Experiment (CAPE) built a small artificial satellite, known as a CubeSat, that was launched into orbit from the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2007.
BeauSoleil
In January 2008, The UL Lafayette School of Architecture Design was selected to participate in the 2009 Solar Decathlon. The entry of the Louisiana Solar Home named BeauSoleil took first place in market viability and was awarded the "People's Choice".
UL Lafayette students represent 53 states and possessions. More than 700 students hail from outside of the U.S.
Student Organizations:
Young Professional Organization Chapters:
UL Lafayette offers a variety of young professional organizations associated with fields of study that routinely perform public services and interact with as well as promote local economic and environmental growth, public service projects or awareness.
Academic National Organizations
Vermilion Newspaper
UL Lafayette publishes a weekly newspaper, established in 1904, named the Vermilion Newspaper . The newspaper is run by a student staff with faculty oversight and features local stories on music, art, business and campus events. The newspaper also works closely with the local newspaper The Lafayette Daily Advertiser concerning printing of the publication. The newspaper has a running tradition of publishing an April Fool's edition in which humorous and parody stories are run as an Onion-like satire. The Vermilion has earned many SPJ journalist awards for published work since its inception.[37]
The Vermilion has changed formats many times in its inception, ranging from a magazine cover and layout, to a traditional newspaper format. It has also run various in-house projects chronicling the night life and cultural events in Lafayette in an attempt to connect students with the local culture.[38][39]
L'Acadien Yearbook
Instituted in the first years of the University, L'Acadien yearbook is an annual publication chronicling the events and student life on campus. The Yearbook is staffed by students with a faculty oversight. The staff then holds a "Yearbook Day" in the Student Union passing out free yearbooks as soon as they are published. The staff holds positions that include graphic designers and journalists, among others.
Greek life
UL Lafayette has several social, Greek-letter fraternities and sororities that date back to 1920.[40]
| Fraternities | National Pan-Hellenic Council | Pan-Hellenic Council |
|---|---|---|
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UL Lafayette's sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (I FBS for football) in the Sun Belt Conference. National sports media often refer to the university as Louisiana–Lafayette.
The Ragin' Cajuns compete in 16 NCAA sports teams (8 men's, 8 women's teams), including baseball, basketball (men's and women's), cross country (men's and women's), football, softball, women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's golf, tennis (men's and women's), and track and field (men's and women's, indoor and outdoor).
The athletic program formally began in 1904 with a track and field program.[41] In recent years, the softball team has been among the most successful of all Ragin' Cajun teams, having won nine regular season championships, nine conference tournament championships, and earning five appearances in the Women's College World Series. The baseball, men's tennis, men's basketball, and football teams have won conference championships.
UL Lafayette is home to many outstanding alumni who have held posts as business bellwethers, government and military leaders, Olympic and professional athletes, artists and entertainers. For example, from literature: James Lee Burke, Pulitzer nominee, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series; from entertainment Marc Breaux, choreographer of movies such as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Richard Simmons, TV fitness personality; from government: Kathleen Blanco, former Louisiana governor (2004–2008), John Breaux, former US senator (1987–2005), and Paul Hardy, former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana. Two military alumni Charles B. DeBellevue and Jefferson J. DeBlanc were recognized as flying aces; DeBlanc also was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Also several distinguished faculty members have taught at the university, such as John Kennedy Toole, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Confederacy of Dunces, Ernest J. Gaines, nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature and a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Paul Prudhomme, American celebrity chef, Elemore Morgan, Jr., internationally-known landscape painter, and Burton Raffel, poet noted for his translation of Cervantes's Don Quixote.
Several football alumni have played in the National Football League, including Jake Delhomme (Cleveland Browns), Brian Mitchell (retired), Brandon Stokley (Denver Broncos), Ike Taylor (Pittsburgh Steelers), Charles Tillman (Chicago Bears) and Richie Cunningham (retired). Several baseball alumni have played in the Major Leagues, including Ron Guidry, retired (New York Yankees), who won the Cy Young Award. Kim Perrot played for the Houston Comets, helping them to win two WBNA championships. Other alumni include Olympic track and field medalist Hollis Conway and world-title trampolinist Leigh Hennessy, who holds the record for winning the most US national championships for women. Two alumni were inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame: Chris Cagle and Weldon Humble.
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