Patricia A. Threatt, Editor
Mary Jane Bloomquist, Jade Francis, Jennifer Garner, and Miguele Guillory, Contributors
Last updated: March 31, 2008

The McNeese State University Encyclopedia is a compendium of narrative and descriptive essays about persons, places, events, institutions, and ideas relating to the history of the University. The Encyclopedia is planned as a cumulative and ongoing research and writing project. Contributors to the Encyclopedia gathered information from several sources. Please contact the editor with submissions, errors, or broken links.

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Alexander, Robert. Alexander was the first supervisor of buildings and grounds of Lake Charles Junior College when it began in 1939.

Allums, Kathleen. Allums, a music professor, was a member of the first faculty of Lake Charles Junior College when it began in 1939. Allums received her bachelor's degree at Northwestern State College and her master’s degree at Louisiana State University.  She studied music in Mexico City, Rochester, New York City, and Paris.  She was the pianist for the Messiah Chorus beginning in 1940. In 1946, Allums was a charter member of the Alpha Gamma chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma International Society, an organization for women educators. Allums received the McNeese Alumni President’s Cup in 1968 and retired from McNeese in 1979.

Alpha Lambda Delta.  Membership in this honors society requires superior scholastic achievement during the first year in college. Members must carry a full load of classes (usually 12 hours) and rank in the top twenty percent of freshman.

Alumni.  The McNeese Alumni Association, founded in 1947 and incorporated in 1960, is composed of graduates as well as former students who express an interest in supporting the University. Those alumni who contribute to the annual fund are considered active members and are entitled to vote, hold office, and receive invitations to alumni events. The purpose of the organization is to stimulate and nurture alumni interest in McNeese State University and to promote a working relationship among alumni, faculty, students, and community. The association sponsors class reunions, chapter activities, recruiting programs, Distinguished Recognition Awards, Homecoming activities, annual phone-a-thon, Grad Fest, student scholarships, publication of The Roundup newsletter, and maintenance of the 30,000 plus alumni data records. The Alumni Association is housed in the William Gray Stream Alumni Center located at 600 E. McNeese Street and the web address is http://www.mcneesealumni.com. Alumni Association Presidents:

Ambassadors. Dr. Don Lyons founded the McNeese Ambassadors during Jack Doland's Presidency. The Ambassadors are a group of approximately twenty students who serve as the official hosts for the McNeese President. The Ambassadors wear gold jackets and greet guests at parties and sporting events. They also assist with graduation ceremonies.

American Association of University Professors.  AAUP began at McNeese on December 12, 1962 when the national organization extended recognition to the McNeese State College Chapter.

Athletics Department. The athletics program fields teams in the NCAA for both men and women. The University is also a member of the prestigious Southland Conference, and competes for championships in football, basketball, indoor track, cross country, outdoor track, baseball and golf for the men and cross country, indoor track, outdoor track, tennis, golf, volleyball, basketball, softball and soccer for the women.

MSU Encyclopedia Index

Baker, Curtis C.  McNeese named Baker Auditorium in Farrar Hall after Dr. Baker, a Special Education Department Head. In 1960, Baker served on the Graduate Council which organized the graduate school at McNeese.

Band.  The McNeese Band made its public debut October 26, 1940 at a football game against Louisiana College.  Dr. Francis Bulber directed the 24-member band. Later, during Kelly Love's tenure as Director, the band became informally known as "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show." For more information, see http://saibetachi.com/index.html .

Band Directors.

Banners.  Banners is the McNeese Arts and Humanities Program Series. In addition to its public events, Banners provides programs to K-12 school children at no cost. Banners also provides special opportunities for young artists in the community to interact with the national and international artists who come to Lake Charles to perform in the series. Click here for more information.

Basic Studies, Division of.  All first time freshmen at McNeese enter into the Division of Basic Studies. After completing 30 semester hours with a cumulative GPA of at least a “c,” students may enter one of McNeese’s six colleges.

Basketball Coaches (Men's).

Bel, Della Goos.  McNeese named Bel Hall after Della Goos Bel, the daughter of Captain Daniel J. Goos, founder of the Calcasieu lumber industry, and the wife of John Albert Bel, a pioneer lumberman, industrialist, and civic leader.  Many credit Mrs. Bel with bringing culture, refinement, and social graces to the frontier community known as "Charlie's Lake."

Benoit, Dolive. Benoit, a French professor, was a member of the first faculty of Lake Charles Junior College when it began in 1939. Benoit was one of the only two women to enroll in an airplane pilot training course in 1940. She received the McNeese Alumni President’s Cup in 1971. In 1981, when Benoit retired, she was the last remaining original faculty member at McNeese.  Benoit received her bachelor's degree from Newcomb College at Tulane University and her master's degree from Louisiana State University.  She did graduate work at Columbia University, the University of Mexico, The University of Michigan, and the Sorbonne University of Paris.

Big Lake Road. [see Ryan Street]

Blair, A. Farnell. Blair's company constructed the McNeese Arena for the Lake Charles Junior College when it began in 1939.

Blue Key Honor Society. Recognizes college students at senior institutions of higher education for balanced and all-around excellence in scholarship, leadership, and service. See www.bluekey.org for more information.

Boales, Hubert. Boales was the head football coach in 1982.

Bookstore.  McNeese’s own bookstore on campus helps provide books and other supplies to students and teachers. The Bookstore also carries a wide selection of McNeese memorabilia and clothing. Bookstore homepage.

Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show [See Band].

Bulber, Francis Gerard (1909-1992). Bulber joined the John McNeese Junior College faculty in the fall of 1940. Before coming to McNeese, Bulber taught music at Louisiana State University. Bulber received the McNeese Alumni President’s Cup in 1959. During Bulber's career at McNeese, he served as Head of the Music Department, the Dean of Fine Arts, and the Academic Dean of the University.  Bulber started the long-running tradition of performing Handel’s Messiah at McNeese every December.  In 1954, Bulber received the McNeese Award for Cultural Leadership. He received the Alumni President’s Cup in 1959.  Upon his retirement in 1974, he was awarded Dean Emeritus.  Bulber's academic career began at the Sacred Heart High School in Biloxi, Mississippi.  He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Louisiana State University.  He did post-graduate work at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois and received his doctorate in Music Education from Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee.  Bulber founded the Lake Charles Civic Symphony and the Lake Charles Messiah Chorus.  He taught at Pearl River Junior College before coming to McNeese.  He died on June 24, 1992 at the age of 83.  In 1992, McNeese renamed the McNeese Auditorium the Francis G. Bulber Auditorium.

Burton, Alice Evelyn Smith. Mother of W.T. Burton. McNeese named Burton Hall, a dormitory, after Mrs. Burton.

Burton, William T. McNeese named the Burton Business Center and Burton Coliseum after W.T. Burton, a major benefactor.  Burton was born on September 25, 1884 in Orange, Texas, where he attended school until the seventh grade.  He moved to Sulphur, Louisiana at the age of 17 and for a short time worked for his uncle who was postmaster and railroad agent.  In 1914, he was involved in both the mercantile and oil businesses.  In 1916, he started in the shell business and began buying land, planting rice, building roads, and running a ferry while rebuilding a sugar mill and farm.  He liquidized the old Calcasieu National Bank and formed the Calcasieu-Marine National Bank.  He valued education a great deal.  Every year he gave a financial gift to each graduating senior of Sulphur High School.  He established the William T. and Ethel Lewis Burton scholarship program in which he presented a full four-year college scholarship valued at $4,000 to one graduating senior in each of the public and private high schools in Calcasieu, Cameron, Jeff Davis, and Allen parishes.  In 1968, he donated $65,000 to McNeese’s new computer center.  He also provided gifts in the medical fields and other civic and cultural activities in the Southwest Louisiana area. Burton is the son of Alice Evelyn Smith Burton.

Butler, Robert Olen.  Butler was an McNeese English professor from 1985 to 2000.  In 1993, Butler won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his work, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, a collection of short stories about Vietnamese expatriates living in Louisiana.  He served with the United States Army in Vietnam in 1971 as a Vietnamese linguist and counterintelligence agent and then as the administrative assistant to the American foreign service officer who was the advisor to the mayor of Saigon.  Currently, Butler teaches at Florida State University.

MSU Encyclopedia Index

Caldwell Brothers and Hart. This company built the “college building” (now Kaufman Hall) and the McNeese Auditorium of Lake Charles Junior College in 1939.

Callender, Ruth Miriam. Callender was a member of the first faculty of Lake Charles Junior College when it began in 1939. Callender taught Health and Physical Education for women. She coached a women’s basketball team in 1945-1946 and was the advisor to the Women’s Intramural Association. In 1969, Callender became a full professor. She retired in 1977.  Callender received her bachelor's and master's degrees at Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee.  She did graduate work at the University of Texas and Louisiana State University.

Clark, Jim. Clark was the head football coach from 1966 to 1969.

Cline, Rodney. Cline succeeded Dr. Hatcher as Dean of John McNeese Junior College in 1941. Cline was a Lake Charles native and a graduate of Lake Charles High School. Cline received his master’s degree from Louisiana State University and his doctorate degree from Peabody College. Cline began his teaching career at Central (Elementary) School in Lake Charles. In 1940 Cline was a bass soloist in the first performance of Handel’s Messiah in the McNeese Auditorium. After presiding as Dean of John McNeese Junior College, Cline became Dean of Northeastern Center, now the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

Code of Student Conduct.  This publication is a codification of existing rules and regulations that pertain to students and student life. The Office of Student Services designed the code to enforce and uphold the purposes, goals, and processes of the University. Read the code here.

Colleges. McNeese consists of six colleges:  Business, Education, Engineering & Technology, Liberal Arts, Nursing, and Science.

Collette, Ida King (1872-1956). Mrs. Collette was the wife of a Lake Charles pioneer and the daughter of Simpson Methodist Church's founder. Collette taught in the Calcasieu Parish school system. McNeese named Collette Hall, a dormitory, after Mrs. Collette.  Collette was born in Schuyler, Nebraska on July 24, 1872.  She moved to Lake Charles with her family in 1890 at the age of 17.  That year she entered the old Congregational College which was located on the site of the present Lake Charles-Boston High School.  Two years later, she began to teach, first at Oberlin, then in a lumber camp.  She then taught at Central (Elementary) School and later Fourth Ward (Elementary School).

Colors.  Today, the official colors of McNeese are blue and gold.  The original colors of John McNeese Junior College were red and gold.  In 1943, the student body voted the colors to be purple and gold.  The colors were changed to blue and gold in 1972.

Contraband. The Contraband is McNeese's weekly student newspaper, named after Contraband Bayou which runs through campus. Click here for an image of the first Contraband. Contraband Editors: