Events large and small help to shape ULM

Originally published in The News-Star newspaper, November 5, 2006

I love lists - AFI best films, top 100 album covers, the World Almanac, Schott's Miscellany ... all kinds of lists. In that spirit, I thought I would share a miscellaneous list of things about the University of Louisiana at Monroe. In no particular order:

• In 1943, classes on the second floor of the library (now Bry Hall) were frequently interrupted by low flying aircraft from Selman Field.
• The price paid for our original 38 acres was $22,860. Our location was decided by one vote (over a west-of-the-Ouachita location).
• What is now T.O. Brown Hall was built and equipped at a cost of $328,000.
• President Colvert (who also served as dean when the college became part of LSU) built a student center, a football stadium, a library building, a fine arts building and a dean's home from 1938 to 1940.
• Coach Jim Malone produced national championship teams in 1935 and 1937. In 1937, the team was the highest-scoring team among junior and senior colleges with 303 points; in 1935 only six points were scored on that team, another national record. In 1937, also coached by Malone, the NJC boxing team, consisting of Bobby Hand, Sparky Spaugh, Snyder Parham, Freddy Logsdon, John Porter, Malcolm Lightsey and Freddy Reagan, won National Championship Honors. John Porter was the only middle weight in the nation with an undefeated season.
• Coach Malone was also known for Labor Day goat barbeques. His recipe for sauce contained lemons, onions, chili sauce, chili powder, garlic and other ingredients. One former student described it as the best barbeque in the world (at least in 1941).
• By 1949 the PowWow had received 18 consecutive All-American Awards.
• From 1939 to 1944, NJC operated a War Training Service Flight and Ground School, one of the largest in the nation. From 10 students, the class grew to 200 and had a total cumulative budget of $350,000.
• In 1947, the "Excellent" rating of 97.98 for the NJC ROTC Unit was the highest of any in the nation among junior or senior colleges.
• In 1943, NJC moved to a quarter system to quicken the pace of wartime college work.
• There were more than 700 students and graduates of our college who served in World War II (at least 220 held degrees from OPJC, NC or NJC). Henry Florsheim was cited as one of the two best bombardiers of all Europe.
• The much larger Student Union Building, now undergoing renovations, opened Oct. 12, 1962, as an "addition" to the Student Center built in 1938.
• C.C. Colvert moved to the University of Texas to establish the foundation of junior college education in the United States, training 139 Ph.D.s in junior college administration.
• Returning World War II veterans engineered the appearance of Coca-Cola on campus ... after Dean Cline objected. Apparently the machine just showed up one day.

So many things, each and every one representing a life changed - sometimes in a small way, sometimes in a large way, but always significantly.

Have a great day at ULM.

Dr. John Knesel, ULM Professor