Founders' Day

 

 

The history of the University of Louisiana Monroe is a record of educational leadership and progress with time. 

In 1922, T.O. Brown imagined a place where the people of Northeast Louisiana could pursue higher education. In 1931, that vision became Ouachita Parish Junior College. More than 90 years, countless students, and generations of faculty and alumni later, that vision lives on as the University of Louisiana Monroe. Founder's Day is our opportunity to remember where we came from, and imagine where we are going next.

In 1922, Timothy Oscar Brown, superintendent of Ouachita Parish Schools, perceived the need for an institution that would provide college training for the great number of local high school graduates. After a thorough study of the situation, Brown presented the idea in an address to the Monroe Kiwanis Club, where it was favorably received.

 

The challenge was that additional legislation would be necessary to provide a satisfactory method for the establishment and maintenance of a junior college. Accordingly, a bill was introduced in the regular session of the Louisiana State Legislature in May 1928, and was subsequently enacted into a law providing for the establishment of junior colleges.

 

Included in Act 173 was the right of a school board to call an election to vote a parish-wide tax for the support of such an institution. Following the adoption of the bill, the Kiwanis Club, cooperating with the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, and the Chamber of Commerce, perfected a plan to found a junior college in accordance with the Junior College Law.

 

On November 9, 1928, the Ouachita Parish School board organized a Junior College District and called a special election to vote the special tax of one mill for a period of 10 years for the construction, equipment, and operation of the junior college. The Police Jury and the School Board of Ouachita Parish, in a joint session on January 4, 1931, purchased the site for the college. The building, including equipment and grounds, represented an investment of over $350,000.

 

The first session of the Ouachita Parish Junior College began on September 28, 1931, with a full corps of teachers and an enrollment of 416 students. At that time, this was one of the only junior colleges in Louisiana. Thus was realized the dream of T.O. Brown – that educational advantages beyond high school graduation should be the possession of the citizens of Ouachita Parish. Ouachita Parish Junior College graduated its first class of 135 students in June 1933.

 

ULM has followed a course of vigorous growth in its transition from a junior college to an institution offering a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs. In September 1931, the university opened for its first session as Ouachita Parish Junior College, which was operated as part of the Ouachita Parish School System. In 1934, Louisiana State University received authority from the State Legislature to operate the facilities of the university as Northeast Center of Louisiana State University. The name of the institution was changed to Northeast Junior College of Louisiana State University in 1939. The following year, the State Legislature authorized the transfer of all lands connected with Northeast Junior College to Louisiana State University.

 

The 1950 Legislature approved the expansion of Northeast Junior College of LSU to a four-year senior college granting academic degrees. The name of the institution was changed to Northeast Louisiana State College, and its control was transferred from the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors to the State Board of Education. The name was changed to Northeast Louisiana University by the 1970 Legislature. The constitution, adopted by the people of Louisiana in 1974, provided that the administration of state colleges and universities be changed from the Louisiana State Board of Education to the Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities effective May 1975. This board’s name was changed again on June 8, 1995, to the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors. On August 27, 1999, the university officially changed its name to the University of Louisiana Monroe.