Originally published in The News-Star newspaper, August 20, 2006

Since January, we have learned a great deal about the founding of the University of Louisiana at Monroe and the various people - some might say heroes - who shared, nurtured and expanded the vision of T.O. Brown to members of the Kiwanis Club then to the other civic clubs and then to the surrounding community and parishes.

One can only imagine the conversations that went on among these unsung heroes of our university. In all kinds of places, one can see the names of some of these men. Names like T.O. Brown and Joe Renwick grace a building and a traffic circle on our campus, and of course the name of James A. Noe is well known to us all.

There are, however, others. In 1928 the Louisiana Legislature passed Act 173 known as the Junior College Bill that allowed parishes to tax their citizens in support of a junior college. Monroe was the focal point of this bill and quickly took advantage of its passage, funding what was to become the only junior college in Louisiana at that time. Some other places, like Homer and Haynesville, tried colleges but quickly retreated. Ouachita Parish Junior College opened in 1931 and now stands as the University of Louisiana at Monroe ... still pleased with her origins.

A leader in the Louisiana Legislature who seems to be the primary hero of this bill was a doctor from Monroe. Dr. Francis Clayton Bennett was a state representative from 1928-32. He was born in southern Indiana in 1870 and attended the University of Kansas to receive his medical degree. He moved first to Loring, a sawmill town near Zwolle, in 1900 as a general practitioner and then to Monroe in 1906. After moving to Monroe, he decided to specialize, traveling each summer to Chicago to study eye, ear, nose and throat diseases and their treatment.

He became the first specialist of this type in Monroe. According to his granddaughter and namesake, he appreciated education and apparently shared some of T.O. Brown's vision. He ran for the Legislature with the express purpose of pursuing a junior college for this area. We don't know for sure how many conversations in the Kiwanis Club or with T.O. Brown preceded this effort, but we do know that Bennett played a large role in passing Act 173.

Although his term ended in 1932, we also can feel certain that he continued his influence into the time of moving into the LSU system. He also was instrumental in establishing a fish hatchery on Bayou DeSiard near Monroe.

In 1947, Bennett, then Monroe's oldest doctor, passed away at the age of 77. His colleagues stated, "He was honest and he was good. In times when others thought only of themselves, he thought only of others. He represents every admirable quality as a doctor and as a man."

Perhaps Bennett's portrait (as well as many others) should join T.O. Brown's as we honor our founding fathers.

Have a great day at ULM.

Dr. John Knesel, ULM Professor

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