College Friend once a popular destination

Originally published in The News-Star newspaper, December 17, 2006

Just south of the main doors of Stubbs Hall lies the site of a landmark from our past.

It stood along Chauvin Avenue (whose original curb, to the delighted astonishment of some, still stands along Stubbs Hall). This landmark was a restaurant known as the College Friend.

It was pretty easy to find information about the College Friend just by reading ads from the 1930s and 1940s PowWows. On Sept. 23, 1938, we find an ad announcing its grand opening and original location one block west of campus. Soon, the restaurant moved to its final location on Chauvin where it remained for around 30 years and was a place where students and faculty alike gathered.

The ads are interesting and show "philosophy" of the place "Meet at the Most Popular Spot Off Campus"; "Meet your Friends at the College Friend"; "Just a Few Steps from Your Next Class." Prices reflected the times a plate lunch for 25 cents, hot dog for a nickel and hamburgers (the best in town) for 10 cents.

The College Friend was the place to gather for coffee, eat breakfast and lunch each day and socialize as well as listen to the day's latest music. There was even a dance floor at one time.

The most important story of the College Friend, however, centers on one man owner Jack Rushing. Colonel (an honorary title from Governor Bob Kennon) E.S. "Jack" Rushing was kind, generous, comical and witty and, apparently, a "father" to uncounted numbers of students.

He and his wife Lila lived upstairs in the College Friend before moving to Bon Aire Drive.

Coach Malone and his wife lived next door, and there is a story of Coach Malone coming in each morning to "prepare" breakfast for his wife. That is just one of the stories surrounding Rushing and the College Friend.

There are so many others, from the many, many letters from students thanking him for helping them, to a repayment of $5.00 for a meal ticket 40 years later, to a final story told to me this past week by a then (in 1942) sixteen-year-old from Dodson, La. who came to college at Northeast Junior College.

As Dr. Bill Hughes talked about his job opening the restaurant and sweeping and mopping in the evening, it was evident that the biggest story was Jack Rushing's what we would call today "mentorship" or being a "father."

I got the impression that Hughes was neither the first nor the last of Rushing's "children" perhaps there were hundreds. I also got the impression that there might be as many stories to be found in the spirit of the College Friend as can be found at the college, or maybe they just all blend together.

As Bill Hughes, Steve Tolson (Jack Rushing's nephew) and I looked at the site, I saw it come to life once more through their stories. What an interesting and wonderful part of our college to talk about!

Have a great day at ULM!

Dr. John Knesel, ULM Professor