Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSU Shreveport or LSUS) is a public university in Shreveport, Louisiana. It is part of the Louisiana State University System. Initially, a two-year college, LSUS has expanded into a university with 21 undergraduate degree programs, a dozen master's degree programs, and more recently a Doctorate of Education in Leadership Studies. LSUS offers more than 70 extra-curricular organizations and operates Red River Radio, a public radio network based in Shreveport.
History
In September 1967, Louisiana State University Shreveport opened its doors as a two-year commuter college with an enrollment of 807 students under the direction of Dean Donald Shipp. The campaign to establish a branch of Louisiana State University (LSU) in Shreveport began in 1936 when the Caddo Parish Police Jury passed a resolution for the school with the support of Frank Fulco and several civic organizations including the Queensborough Civic Club. However, when Louisiana State Senator Roscoe Cranor presented the formal request to Governor Richard Leche in 1937, he rejected the proposal.
Another nineteen years would past before State Representative Frank Fulco introduce a bill to the Louisiana House in 1956 to, yet again, establish a branch of LSU in Shreveport. It failed in committee, forcing Representative Fulco to introduce a resolution calling for a feasibility study by the State Department of Education to determine the need for a state college in Shreveport. This time, the resolution passes; the study took two years to complete. It revealed that not only was a public college needed in Shreveport but that the citizens of the area desired it, invigorating debate among various Louisiana state legislators, governors, universities, civic clubs, and, of course, private citizens over its necessity and fiscality. Fortunately, the debate concluded in 1964 with the introduction of House Bill 87. By 1965, the LSU Board of Supervisors formally had established LSUS as an integral division of Louisiana State University and appoints Donald Shipp as the first Dean of LSUS.
Shipp quickly establishes a base of operations at the old Line Avenue School with A.J. Howell as the business manager and Mrs. Fabia Thomas as the Registrar and hires the original core faculty. The Line Avenue School remained the center location for the students, faculty, and staff until the completed construction of the three-story Science Building and a two-story Library on the new campus grounds located off Hwy 1 in Southeast Shreveport in 1967.
Soon after classes began that September in 1967, a push for a four-year status for LSUS ensues by the Student Government Association and Circle K Club of LSUS along with other prominent members of Shreveport. Louisiana State Senator Don Williamson of Caddo Parish heard their calls and became the lead author of Senate Bill No. 16 for a four-year degree granting status for LSUS supported by State Senators Jackson B. Davis and C. Kay Carter and many State Representatives. William "Bill" Bronson, publisher of the Shreveport Times and Vice Chairman of the Coordinating Council for Higher Education, uses his powers of persuasion and both The Times and The Monroe Morning World to endorse the four-year bill for LSUS.
However, surrounding colleges, fearing the loss of student enrollment to a state four-year degree-granting university, staunchly opposed LSUS becoming a four-year school. In fact, the opposition sought to kill the bill by securing the opinion of the Attorney General, stating approval of the proposal would require a two-thirds vote rather than a simple majority. Additionally, an amendment attached to the bill prohibited the construction of dormitories on the Shreveport campus. However, the supporters of the bill agreed to the change, and Governor Edwin Edwards signed the bill into law June 22, 1972, under Act No. 66. Shortly afterward, the Louisiana Council for Higher Education authorized four major academic divisions and 39 degree programs for LSUS. By the fall of 1973, Dean Shipp is promoted to Chancellor, and LSUS institutes its third academic year and its senior year in the fall of 1974.
On May 15, 1975, LSUS held its first commencement at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport conferring degrees on 223 students almost 40 years after the initial effort of Frank Fulco to establish a branch of LSU in Shreveport.