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McNeese State
University, 1939-1987 |
(Transcribed by Leora White)
by Joe Gray Taylor
Edited by CONTENTS PREFACE CHAPTERS 1880 – 1902 II. War and Survival 1941 III. The Junior College: Glory Years 1945 – 1946 IV. Crises, Changes, and Growth 1950 – 1951 V. Growing Pains 1954 – 1955 VI. Bigger and Perhaps Better (1958 – 1961) 1958 – 1959 VII. Struggling On 1961 – 1962 VIII. Hard Times 1964 – 1965 IX. Growing Ambitions 1967 – 1968 X. Interesting Times 1969 – 1972 XI. Holding On 1972 – 1973 XII. Marking Time 1975 – 1976 XIII. A Change of Pace 1979 – 1980 XIV. Hitting a Peak 1981 – 1982 EPILOGUE (1983 – 1987) NOTES APPENDIX: Student and Alumni Leaders PREFACE Unfortunately, Dr. Joe Gray Taylor, who persevered in
completing the manuscript of this book in spite of terminal illness, did not
live to provide a conventional preface, which provides background to the
publication and acknowledges the good services of people who have been
particularly helpful to the author. The author no longer present to see the book
through the process of editing, printing, and marketing, his friends and
colleagues have to a great extent turned the publication of the book into a
labor of devotion. A true scholar of the history of the southern United
States, Dr. Taylor undertook the project to research and write a history of
McNeese State University at the request of former university president Dr. Jack
V. Doland and then vice-president, now president, Dr. Robert D. Hebert. The
author of such an institutional history must choose an approach to the task – to
make the history, for example, basically a picture book, a narrative of the
accomplishments of academic leaders who built edifices and increased curricula,
or a chronicle of the names and deeds of students and faculty members. Dr.
Taylor’s use of the word chronicle in the title of this history indicates
clearly the approach he chose, which emphasizes the roles played by many
students, members of faculty and staff, and administrators in the life of the
university for its first fifty years. To assist readers, many of whom will be alumni perhaps
more interested in the years they spent at the university than in the complete
story, the book includes a table of contents which gives the years serving as
subheadings of chapters and the numbers of pages upon which the accounts of the
years begin. In addition, the appendix provides lists of selected campus leaders
by year for the past fifty years, and the book concludes with an index of
persons’ names. (Note from transcribers: Since there are no page numbers in this
transcribed text, the index to persons' names is not included. Names can be
searched using the find key.) The financial assistance of two different groups on
campus has made the printing of the book possible at a time when the university
could hardly otherwise have underwritten the expense of the project.
Contributions by the Friends of the Library have helped support this project and
other aspects of the celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary.
And by generously recommending that certain unclaimed student assessment money
be made available to support the celebration, the Student Government Association
provided moral and financial support vital to the occasion. The students of
McNeese are underwriting most of the cost of the anniversary celebration.
For assistance in the preparation of the text of this
book, a number of people deserve credit. Five longtime members of the McNeese community have
contributed significantly to the book project. Dr. Francis Bulber, longtime dean
and still valued cultural leader, served as an important source and later read
the manuscript. Miss Dolive Benoit, esteemed by generations of students of
French at McNeese, also suggested revisions. And Dr. Thomas Watson, Head of the
Department of History and longtime resident of Lake Charles, has helped find
errors in names. Miss Audrey Louviere, visiting lecturer in English and
secretary in the Department of Military Science, has helped make sense of
apparent inconsistencies in records concerning student leadership in the corps
of cadets. Mr. Benjamin Harlow, Executive Director of Community and Educational
Services, has been a worthy advocate of the project in his capacity as chairman
of the committee in charge of organizing the celebration of the 50th
anniversary. Through their special fields of expertise, three other
members of the campus community aided Dr. Taylor and the editors who have
completed preparation of the manuscript for the press. Mr. Dwayne McCoy of
University Computer Services has provided valuable technical information and
customized programming. Mrs. Kathie Bordelon, archivist at Frazar Memorial
Library, has provided access to and assistance with source materials and has
shown uncommon concern for accuracy in her reading of the manuscript. Miss Linda
Finley, registrar, has helped promptly and cheerfully to verify names and dates.
Especial favorites of Dr. Taylor, two gracious and
talented members of the McNeese staff have done much work of many kinds in order
to help carry work on the project forward. Mrs. Arleen Cutrera, secretary to the
Department of History, entered persons’ names for the index and helped the
editors cheerfully in many ways. Mrs. Wanda Stanton, secretary in the College of
Liberal Arts, not only assisted Dr. Taylor from day to day as he made time to
complete the manuscript in spite of a busy schedule, but also did most of the
initial typing of the book. The cover design, colorfully based upon a
computer-enhanced photograph of John McNeese, was done by Professor Martin Bee
of the Department of Visual Arts. Finally, the editor and the coeditor have gone far
beyond the normal requirements of their positions in order to prepare the
manuscript of an author who, regrettably, could not be present to see the
history through the printing process. The modesty of the two editors,
incidentally, caused this preface to be written by a third party able to give
due credit. Dr. Cheryl Ware, Associate Professor of English, was named by Dr.
Taylor to edit the text for style and content. Dr. Thomas Fox, Associate
Professor of History, was asked by Dr. Taylor to provide the necessary computer
skills to index the names in the book and to place the completed manuscript on
diskettes as well. The two editors have performed their assigned tasks and
probably surpassed Dr. Taylor’s expectations through their concern for good form
and accuracy. Finally, if Dr. Taylor had lived to write this preface,
he very likely would have concluded with thanks to Mrs. Helen Taylor, for whose
constant support he seemed always grateful. FOREWORD John McNeese was born July 4, 1843, to parents who had
emigrated from Scotland to the United States and settled in or near Baltimore,
Maryland. They had three children, two boys and a girl, when both parents died
of tuberculosis. The little girl was sent back across the Atlantic to be raised
by relatives in Scotland; the two boys became the wards of a Dr. Andrew Stafford
of Baltimore. (1) Dr. Stafford saw to it that his wards got the best education
available in Maryland at the time, and it is significant that this education
included instruction in music. The brother, unfortunately, succumbed to the same
dread disease that had taken his parents. Maryland was a state of mixed sympathies in 1861, but
John McNeese, eighteen years of age, enlisted in the Union Army. He served one
three-year enlistment and was one of those proud Union veterans who opted for a
second enlistment because they knew they were needed to finish the war. Not many
details of McNeese’s military career are available, but he was definitely part
of the Union line at Gettysburg during the decisive first three days of July
1863. In Southwest Louisiana in the late nineteenth century he probably did not
talk a great deal about his Union Army service. He came out of the Civil War with his health damaged,
apparently suffering from an incipient case of the disease that killed his
parents and his younger brother. Electing the best treatment known at the time,
a dry climate, he moved to Menard County, Texas, where he was successful at
cattle grazing and in a mercantile business. His neighbors thought well enough
of him to elect him clerk of the county court. This prosperity did not last.
Like hundreds of thousands of others, he was financially ruined by the Great
Panic of 1873, which was the beginning of a depression to rival those of 1837
and 1929. John McNeese sold out his mercantile business for what
it would bring and joined five other cattlemen in driving their cattle to New
Orleans by way of the Old Spanish Trail. Drouth afflicted Texas in 1873, and the
cattle, not fat at the beginning of the drive, were almost literally no more
than hide, horn and hoof by the time they reached the Sabine. There most of the
unfortunate beasts foundered themselves eating switch cane that they could not
digest. The drovers herded the few head they had left across the Sabine and the
Calcasieu and sold them to Captain Daniel Goos, who operated a sawmill and
grazed cattle on the side. McNeese and several of the other drovers decided to
stay in Calcasieu Parish. This was, of course, "Imperial Calcasieu," including
the area that now makes up Beauregard, Jeff Davis, and Allen parishes. Lake
Charles was the parish seat, but it was only a village; in fact, it had been
incorporated only six years before McNeese arrived. Louisiana had done little
for the education of its people before the Civil War; public schools had hardly
existed. During Reconstruction there was an effort to establish public schools,
but little was accomplished. John McNeese decided that he could support himself
as a teacher of penmanship and singing, so he offered his services. The young man must have been an excellent teacher,
because he not only made a living but also by common consent earned for himself
the title of "professor." He apparently began in the northern part of the
parish, because he courted Susan Bilbo, daughter of William Bilbo, a prosperous
landowner of the Ragley area. The couple was married on July 4, 1876, McNeese’s
thirty-third birthday. They made their first home in Lake Charles (actually near
Lake Charles in those days, between the present Southern Pacific Railroad and
the Calcasieu River about the line of Moss Street). There he continued his
career as a subscription teacher of penmanship and music; taught regular
"terms," usually three months each year, in public schools at Mermentau, Dry
Creek, Barnes Creek, Welsh, and Lake Charles; and also read law in the office of
Judge G. A. Fournet. In 1886 he and his family moved to New Orleans so that he
could study law at Tulane University. He apparently finished in 1887, because he
returned to Lake Charles and entered the practice of law for a brief period.
The earnings of a man only a few months out of law
school were probably inadequate to support the six children that had been born
to John McNeese and Susan Bilbo by this time. He had been elected to the parish
school board in 1883 and soon had become the secretary of the board, so it was
not a great surprise when the office of superintendent of education was created
that he was elected unanimously. For better or worse, he was to be intimately
connected with Louisiana education for the rest of his life. Calcasieu schools were, to say the least, primitive. In
1890, when McNeese made his first report as superintendent, there were 24
schools in the parish, and their average cost to the parish was $35.00 a month
each. The exact number of children attending is not known, but it was not much
more than 500. Most children, if they attended any school at all, attended a
private or church school. In the beginning, someone in the community provided a
building and the parish school board provided a teacher for public schools, but
under McNeese the community had to provide an acre of land, and the building
constructed on that land had to meet minimum standards set by the school board,
including a well and privies. By increasing the number of public schools, McNeese
effected a virtual revolution in attendance. By 1892 the parish had 114 schools
employing 185 teachers. This averaged out to about 40 children per school. The
new superintendent had demonstrated that people would send their children to
public schools if decent public schools were available. In 1892 the one-room
school was still prevalent, but there were some schools with two or more
teachers. "Normal schools," held in the summer months, improved the quality of
instruction. McNeese had become superintendent of education just as
the nature of Calcasieu Parish in general and Lake Charles in particular was
changing drastically. Lake Charles had begun as a minor mercantile center for an
agricultural area producing cotton, cattle, and sheep for sale. Then during the
1870’s a major lumbering industry, one that would last into the 1920’s,
developed. Finally, as a result of the North American Land and Timber Company’s
employment of Seaman A. Knapp, during the 1880’s rice cultivation took over the
prairies of Southwest Louisiana. Southerners did not have enough capital to
develop a new type of farming, and they had no knowledge of the machinery used
in grain cultivation; therefore most of the original rice farmers came from the
Middle West. These were people accustomed to public education, men and women who
would support Superintendent McNeese’s efforts to improve the schools.
There can be no question that he made the effort and he
did not confine himself to letters and memoranda, much less directives. He spent
no more than ten days a month in his office; the remainder of his working time
was taken up visiting the schools under his supervision. To have been a teacher
in Calcasieu Parish, earning from $30 to $50 a month for three or four months a
year, and to never know when Superintendent McNeese was going to drop in and
observe one’s conduct of the classroom must have been somewhat conducive to
anxiety, to say the least. Like many another educator, before and since, John
McNeese found that his biggest problem was finance. Louisiana wanted good
education, but Louisianans were most reluctant to pay for it. State
appropriation during the 1880’s dropped below the $500, 000 a year that had been
appropriated during the years of Reconstruction. Divided among the parishes,
these state funds were only a pittance. Parish schools got the proceeds from
certain fines, from a poll tax that was poorly collected, from section-sixteen
funds when there were any, a dollar from each family with a child in school, and
such funds as the parish police jury or city councils might reluctantly provide.
It was not nearly enough. In 1898, for reasons that had nothing to do with
education, a convention met to draw up a new state constitution. The governor at
the time was Murphy J. Foster of St. Mary Parish, an acquaintance, perhaps a
personal friend, of John McNeese. First in Calcasieu Parish, then at a state
meeting of parish superintendents in New Orleans, McNeese argued for giving
local governmental units the power to levy property taxes for the support of the
schools. He then called on the governor and asked for such a clause in the new
state constitution. The governor was persuaded, and the authorization went into
the new basic law. The Louisiana Constitution of 1898 did not have much to
recommend it, but it did provide a financial foundation for public education in
the state. With this new financial support, McNeese, no longer
young, could institute procedures that he had long advocated. For example, the
system of school reports he devised was adopted for statewide use. For the first
time, a system of uniform textbooks became the rule, though, since parents had
to buy these books, they were a burden to poor families. Most important, McNeese
was now able to pay higher salaries, though certainly not extravagant ones, and
to bring in better qualified teachers for the parish schools. His own pay,
incidentally, rose eventually to slightly more than $600 a year. Year by year John McNeese oversaw the parish schools,
but in time the years themselves became a vexation to him. In 1913, his
seventieth year, he reluctantly informed the school board that he had to give up
the burdens of his office. He was not a man to rest long. He died less than a
year after beginning his retirement. With the possible exception of T. H.
Harris, no man has contributed more to the development of education in
Louisiana. It is fitting that McNeese State University should bear his name.
CHAPTER I Through the last twenty years of the nineteenth century
there were those who wanted higher education available to the people of Lake
Charles. One "college," Lake Charles College, actually existed for at least
three years. This school, located on the present site of Lake Charles-Boston
High School, was sponsored by the Congregational Church. It boasted a faculty of
eight, including the Reverend Doctor Henry L. Hubbell, a graduate of Yale
University who came to Southwest Louisiana from Amherst. This school at one time
had as many as 120 students, but most were in the preparatory classes. A few
were, however, reported to be taking college-level courses. (1) Lake Charles
College was defunct by 1898, and in that year an effort to revive it, led by
Reverend Joel T. Davis, a pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, came
to nothing. (2) Likewise an effort to get the Southern Baptist Convention to
take over the operation failed. In 1900, however, Acadia College, which had been
established earlier in Crowley, came to Lake Charles and operated a secondary
school on the site. The commencement exercise for 1902 was the last for Acadia
College, however. (3) 2 The idea of higher education in Southwest Louisiana did
not die, though it barely remained alive during the first decade of the
twentieth century. The coming of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal encouraged new
ideas and new ventures all over the United States, and Calcasieu Parish was no
exception. Three factors came together to make Lake Charles Junior College, as
McNeese was first called, possible. The parish police jury, representing the
people of the parish, wanted a school. The Southwest Louisiana Cattlemen’s
Association wanted an exhibit area for livestock shows and rodeos. And finally,
the federal government, through the Public Works Administration and the Works
Progress Administration, was making funds available for the construction of
worthy public facilities. (4) The parish police jury was in a position to take action
first, because it owned an eighty-six acre tract of land south of Lake Charles
on an extension of Ryan Street variously known as Poor Farm Road, Kent Corner
Road, and Big Lake Road. As the first name suggests, this land had been the site
of the Parish Poor Farm, though it also contained, after the war against tick
fever had begun, a cattle-dipping vat. The New Deal welfare and work-relief
programs had ended the need for a poor farm, so this tract was available for a
junior college. In 1935 the Association of Commerce made a project of
the proposed junior college, and this movement gathered momentum during the next
few years. Soon after New Year's Day in 1938 President James Monroe Smith of
Louisiana State University told the Rotary Club of Lake Charles that he would
fully support local efforts to establish a junior college, but he made it clear
that it was up to local people to get the necessary legislation passed and to
raise the money that would be needed. The pages of the Lake Charles American
Press for the next few weeks make it clear that community leaders conducted
an organized campaign to drum up support for the project. Among those who
announced support were Arthur F. Gayle, president of the Association of
Commerce, Sheriff Henry A. Reid, Senator Sidney W. Sweeney, attorney E. R.
Kaufman, and such businessmen as T. L. Huber, Rupert F. Cisco, C. M. Colyer,
George W. Law, and Adolph S. Marx. (5) Obviously the police jury could not operate a junior
college; nor was the Calcasieu Parish School Board prepared to do so. Ouachita
Parish had opened Ouachita Parish Junior College under the parish school board
in 1931, but had turned it over to Louisiana State University in 1934. (6) The
new Lake Charles Junior College would be under LSU administration from the
beginning. It had been the assumption of the Cattlemen’s Association that there
would be only one building, with the exhibit area on the ground floor and
classrooms above. Fortunately, President Smith of LSU vetoed this unhappy idea.
(7) Final plans called for a classroom building, and auditorium, and the Arena.
The parish police jury called an election to authorize
a bond issue for March 15, 1938. It is interesting that a series of editorials
supporting the project and urging a favorable vote emphasized the services that
would be provided by the Arena far more than they proclaimed the virtues of a
junior college. More important is the fact that the campaign was highly
successful. A bond issue of $250,000 was authorized by an overwhelming vote. In
fact, the only box with a negative vote was at Starks. Has it not been for the
publicity, the voters might have thought they were voting to finance only a
"stock exhibit pavilion," because the junior college project did not appear on
the ballot. There was a reason for this. Had the junior college been mentioned,
the bonds would have had to come from the parish school board, which could not
issue obligations for longer than ten years. The police jury could authorize an
exhibit area and could issue twenty-year bonds. (8) Soon the Louisiana legislature authorized the police
jury to donate the poor farm land for a junior college and authorized the
establishment of such a college. (9) The bill passed the House of
Representatives by unanimous vote on June 5, 1938, passed the Senate on June 28,
and was signed by Governor Richard Leche on July 6. (10) 3 These bills and an appropriation to aid in the
construction were shepherded through the legislature by Senator Sidney Sweeney
and Representative Robert Mutersbaugh of Lake Charles with strong support from
Senator Ernest S. Clements of Oberlin and Representatives David Cole of Oberlin,
Henry D. Larcade of Opelousas, P. B. Manouvrier of Jennings, J. M. Meaux of
Cameron, Roland Reed of Ville Platte, and Dr. J. W. Shaw of Vinton. (11)
Funds for the new institution came from three sources,
the first being the local bond issue referred to above. The federal Public Works
Administration provided $405, 000. The total amount of the bond issue and the
federal grant - $655, 000 - was the estimated cost of the Arena and a
classroom-administration building, but the Auditorium was not provided for.
Therefore the legislature appropriated an additional $250,000 to build the
Auditorium. (12) Apparently the successful bidder on the Arena project
was A. Farnell Blair of Lake Charles. Caldwell Brothers and Hart were awarded
the contract for the "college building," now Kaufman Hall, on December 14, 1938,
for a bid of $277, 313.13. The same company won the contract for the Auditorium
with a bid of $293, 913.13. Even before contracts were awarded, then Colonel
Troy H. Middleton, substituting for President Smith of LSU, had turned over a
shovel full of earth to signal the beginning of construction. Incredible as it
may seem to those who have watched the agonizingly slow progress of projects let
on state contract in recent years, Kaufman Hall was ready for registration of
the Lake Charles Junior College’s first class on September 11, 1939, only nine
months after the letting of the contract. The cafeteria was still not quite
ready, so students and faculty had to "brown bag" lunch for six weeks. The
building was accepted on January 2, 1940. The Auditorium came along just as
rapidly; it was dedicated on January 19, 1940. Those who have observed state
contracts in recent years will not be surprised to learn that the parish police
jury soon authorized the college authorities to sue the contractor for faulty
construction. Water was seeping through the walls of both Kaufman Hall and the
Auditorium. (13) In the meantime a faculty was being assembled. Dr.
Joseph Farrar, Professor of Education and Director of Student Teaching at LSU,
was chosen by the university as the first dean of Lake Charles Junior College.
Farrar was from Union Parish and had been a high school principal for sixteen
years before finishing his B.S. at LSU in 1922 and getting a Ph.D. from George
Peabody College for Teachers. When he left Lake Charles Junior College, he
became president of Louisiana State Normal College, now Northwestern State
University. W. B. Nash, principal of Central School in Lake Charles, was named
registrar. Robert Alexander was supervisor of buildings and grounds, and he had
as his assistant a young man named Wallace Lee. Mrs. J. Lionel Farque, better
known as "Aunt Myrtle," was in charge of the cafeteria. (14) The faculty, in addition to Dean Farrar and Registrar
Nash, was made up of thirteen dedicated and exceptionally able men and women.
Some devoted the remainder of their professional lives to McNeese. Among them
were Dolive Benoit, a noted teacher of French; Kathleen Allums, an outstanding
musician; John Oakley, a fine chemist who arrived for second semester and who
retired as purchasing agent of the university; Ada Sabatier, who made history
meaningful to two generations of students; Clara Louise Jones, a biologist who
began the superior pre-medical training that has distinguished McNeese to this
day; R. Miriam Callender, who taught health and physical education to thousands
of young women; and C. A. Girard, a man described by many McNeese alumni as "the
best teacher I ever had," and who retired as dean of the Graduate School. Sybil
Virginia Alexander, William H. Bradford, C. F. Tuttle, E. H. Crews, and George
Johnson were just as well known and just as respected by the students they
taught, but they were not on campus as long as those previously named. (15)
One hundred and forty young men and women took
advantage of the opportunity to register at Lake Charles Junior College in
September 1939. The faces of 110 students beam out from the pages of the simple
yearbook, the Log, that was published the next spring, 38 women and 72
men. They were too numerous to be listed by name, but student officers were
Clyde Ripley, president; G. W. Ford, Jr. vice president; Doris Drost, secretary;
Burnell Pinder, treasurer; D. W. Herlong, reporter; and Preston Cutler,
sergeant-at-arms. Halim Rahbany, a transfer from American University in Beirut,
gave an international flavor to the student body. They had a basketball team
that apparently played surrounding high schools, they had dances, dramatics,
clubs, choral groups, and debates, and during the winter they had a snow heavy
enough that a large snowman was built on campus. They elected five pretty young
women as "favorites," but the Log does not reveal their names. (16)
Fees were $12.50 per semester in 1939-1940, and it was
estimated that the average student would spend $12.50 to $25 a year on books.
Only freshman classes were offered that first year. Every student had to take
the History of Western Civilization for two semesters, two semesters of basic
English, "Books and Libraries" for one-semester-hour credit, and two semester
hours of physical education. All students were required to take at least six
hours of mathematics or science, and earn at least six hours in French, music,
or speech. Academic regulations were strict. A student who had not passed six
semester hours at the end of the first six weeks was suspended, as was one who
was not passing nine hours at the end of twelve weeks. If a student did not pass
nine hours for the semester, he could not register for the following semester.
(17) 4 There was no graduation in the spring of 1940; that
would have to wait until those who entered in 1939 had completed their second
year. In late March, however, a dedication of the new college was held. The
Louisiana State University Symphony Orchestra played, directed by an LSU
instructor named Francis Bulber. Bulber joined the junior college faculty that
fall, and over the next 40 years he contributed at least as much as any other man to the academic
and artistic development of McNeese. His coming heralded an increase in
offerings in music. The LSU theater group put on a play, Thornton Wilder’s Our
Town, in the new Auditorium, and, naturally, President Paul Hebert of LSU made a
speech. (18) In the fall of 1940, no fewer than 242 students registered at what was now
officially John McNeese Junior College of Louisiana State University. The
faculty had to be enlarged to care for the additional students and the
additional classes that had to be offered for the sophomores. Dean Farrar left
for Northwestern during the year, and Dr. William B. Hatcher, soon to become
president of LSU, came to Lake Charles and functioned as dean until the end of
the spring semester. Wayne Cusic, one day to be president of McNeese, joined
Callender and Crews on the Physical Education faculty and coached basketball.
James E. Seay joined Girard in teaching English, Vestel C. Askew taught
agriculture, and Freda Scoggins taught speech. Miller B. Clarkson was a new
instructor who taught physics and aided William H. Bradford in the teaching of
mathematics. Muriel Clare Rogers and Francis Bulber, already mentioned, joined
Kathleen Allums in instructing students in music, a field in which McNeese has
been distinguished from that day to this. Gertrude Palmer came as a teacher of
office systems and business communication, known in those simpler days as typing
and shorthand, and Sara Landau taught sociology. (19) The second Catalogue stated the purpose of John McNeese Junior
College:
It is the purpose of the President and the Board of
Supervisors of the Louisiana State University to bring, through the junior
college, the facilities of the University closer to the young men and women
of Southwest Louisiana, and at a greatly reduced cost. The courses offered
…. are there for primarily the same as those offered in the first two years
on the campus of the University at Baton Rouge, although the college offers
several terminal courses for those who do not expect to matriculate at
senior colleges. High school graduates of Southwest Louisiana who plan to
attend the University are urged to spend their freshman and sophomore years
in the Lake Charles Junior College. (20) One of the pioneer students at McNeese deserves special mention. Miss
Geraldine Lowery, it was reported in 1940, used the "Easter recess" to invite
her cousin, the Duchess of Windsor, in Havana, Cuba. During Miss Lowey’s
sophomore year she enrolled in an aircraft pilot training course offered through
the college. She and Dolive Benoit were the only women to do so. Miss Lowery
successfully completed the course making her first solo cross-country flight
from Lake Charles to Lafayette. In an interview afterward Miss Lowery, who was
from Pensacola, said that she had planned to be a chemical engineer, but that
her flying experience was inclining her toward a career as a flight instructor.
Obviously, women’s activities were not unduly restricted. (21) Activities expanded during the second year. A football team was added to the
basketball team, and twenty-eight players, four cheerleaders, and four managers
were awarded letters in February 1941. The sweaters were donated by Calcasieu
Marine National Bank. In March Governor Sam Houston Jones, a citizen of Lake
Charles, inspected the campus and agreed that a roof was needed over the Arena
so that is could house basketball games, indoor tennis, and physical education
classes. At some time during the 1940-1941 year, the Deacons, a social
organization for men and the bellwether for the fraternities that came later, was
formed. The climax of the social season came in February, when La Jeunesse, the
French club, sponsored the Jean Lafitte costume ball; Horace Lyons and Marjorie
North won first prize for best costumes. May brought a flurry of activity. In
the new Auditorium, McNeese music students gave their first recital on May 15,
and four days later Dr. M. V. Hargrove, principal of Oakdale High School and
one-time student of John McNeese, presented the first of a number of pictures of
that educational pioneer that have come to the university. Dr. Hargrove also
expressed his hope that the "junior" would soon be bottled out of the college’s
name. (22) On December 15, 1940, Francis Bulber directed the first performance of
Handel’s Messiah in the McNeese Auditorium. The idea has existed for
several years, and choir directors from a number of churches had discussed the
possibility. Now the college provided a director and a site. The 1940 choir had
85 voices, nearly all from local church choirs. In fact, a number of Lake
Charles churches made the performance their evening worship service. Soloists
were contralto Muriel Clare Rogers of McNeese; contralto Mrs. H. J. Wiedman,
available because she was visiting Lake Charles from California; bass Rodney
Cline, then at Louisiana Tech; sopranos Mrs. Claude Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Nate
Marshall, and Mrs. Edwin Knapp; and tenors Harold Cline and Edward Knapp. The
only accompaniment were the pianos of Kathleen Allums and private piano
instructor Minerva Petty. No written evidence of the number attending this
performance is available, but it was "good," according to many who attended.
Nobody there seems to have had any idea that they were beginning something that
would go on for half a century and more, but they were. (23) The first John McNeese Junior College class graduated on Thursday, May 29,
1941. Standards certainly had been high; of the 140 students who had registered
in September 1939, only 75 were expected to graduate. These students were
walking out into a dangerous world. Before the year was over, the United States
would be at war. Even so, the little junior college south of Lake Charles was
fairly launched. It would encounter hard times, but it would survive. (24)
CHAPTER II War and Survival Faced with these dangers, the United States had begun conscripting men for
the first time ever when the nation was not at war. As it seemed more and more likely
that this country would become involved in the struggle, the American defense
industry was beginning to gear up. One silver lining did show through these
ominous clouds. War production for the Allies and for ourselves was finally
bringing an end to the depression that had plagued the United States from 1929
through 1940. The junior college had had some experience with the military
during the Louisiana maneuvers of 1941. Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, who
would lead the Sixth Army from New Guinea to Luzon, had made the Auditorium his
headquarters, and the campus became a scene of intense activity. Liaison planes
took off from and landed on a temporary airstrip marked off on the grass. Many
men whose names would become well-known in the next four years participated in
these maneuvers. One was a young colonel named Dwight D. Eisenhower, who lodged
in the Majestic Hotel in down-town Lake Charles and bivouacked on McNeese
property. (1) Enrollment at McNeese had been predominantly male, and the call of patriotism
no doubt took into the armed forces young men who might have attended the junior
college. More significant was the fact that there were new job opportunities;
and young men, and probably some young women, who might have attended college,
instead went to work. Enrollment in the fall of 1941 was significantly lower
than it had been in the fall of 1940. Some 222 students registered in September,
and by spring the student body was down to 176. For the next three years,
McNeese would be hard put to attract enough students to justify its existence.
(2) 2 The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, changed everything.
The young McNeese faculty and the student body realized that tragic Sunday that
their lives had been altered. Indeed, the lives of some had been shortened,
thought that knowledge was mercifully withheld. Not much attention was paid to
lesson assignments the Monday following that momentous Sunday, and on Tuesday,
December 9, 1941, the faculty and the student body assembled in the Auditorium
to hear President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tell Congress that the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor would forever be "a day of infamy" and to ask for a
declaration of war against the Japanese Empire. That declaration was duly
forthcoming whereupon Germany and Italy declared war against the United States.
Probably everyone at that assembly realized that for a generation of Americans,
life would never again be the same. (3) With fewer students in attendance, it was necessary that offerings be
restricted some what, but students began finding things to do, Academic and
otherwise. The Music Department was especially busy. The second Messiah
performance came in December, and in January Kathleen Allums gave a piano
recital. In the spring the band finally got uniforms, and Betty Bird of McNeese
was one of sixteen instrumentalists chosen to play with the New Orleans
Symphony. The debate team won five of six contests in a tournament at Ruston.
Mr. Philip Uzee, instructor in history and government, read a paper on the
Louisiana historian Charles Gayarre at the Annual Meeting of the Louisiana
Academy of Sciences, setting a scholarly precedent that has been observed
hundreds of times since. Of the students registered for the fall semester, 30
earned a place on the honor roll. Tom Ford and Gene Dietz, both graduates of
Lake Charles High School, had the highest grades. Forty-eight sophomore students
graduated at the end of the spring semester, 1942. (4) All athletics were intramural, but the student newspaper,
the Contraband,
noted that Mack Abraham, Frank Mistretta, and William Tasco were the leading
basketball players. Intramural boxing also attracted some attention. The
Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors approved an athletic budget for
outside competition in 1942-1943, but the pressures of war would negate this,
and athletics would remain on campus, or in the vicinity of Lake Charles, until
the war was almost over. (5) A group of young men which included Harcourt Stebbins, Howard Bulloch,
Everett Scott, Jack Bogie, Elvin Daigle, and David Doane became the officers of
the "Phalanx Fraternity," whatever that may have been. If students had nothing
else to do, they could watch the cows that grazed on the campus until a cattle
guard was finally installed at the entrance from Ryan Street. Before the end of
the spring semester, 1942, Works Projects Administration workers completed
fencing the campus and planted azaleas around the circle in front of the
administration building. In late March the Cattlemen’s Association held its
third fat stock show in the Arena, and once more Governor Sam Jones was on hand
to lend his prestige to the event. (6) It is evident that he war was the main concern of faculty and students after
Pearl Harbor. In January male students met to discuss the possibility of a
Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) unit at McNeese, and by March an
independent military drill unit was functioning even though those drilling had
to purchase their own uniforms. Registrar W. B. Nash, a reserve officer,
supervised the drill. C.A. Girard, who had attended the Naval Academy at
Annapolis, gave the students a lecture on military courtesy, and Miller B.
Clarkson and John Oakley gave instructions on dealing with incendiary bombs. Not
to be outdone, physical education instructor Wayne Cusic taught a first aid
class sponsored by the Office of Civilian Defense. A "Defense Activities for
Women" group of faculty and faculty wives busied themselves making bandages, and
both faculty and student enthusiastically participated in a "victory garden"
contest sponsored by the Lake Charles American Press in the spring of 1942. (7) Librarian George Johnson had been called to active duty in the United States
Marines early in the war, and in April 1942, Registrar Nash, a veteran of the
First World War, returned to duty as an Army captain. In June newspapers carried
a notice that former McNeese student Jesse M. Cummings was an Army Aviation
Cadet at Cimarron Field, Oklahoma, and in July it was announced that another
former student, Harry Nunez of Cameron Parish, had been named a Naval Aviation
Cadet and had been assigned to Pensacola, Florida, for training. (8) Like most other colleges in the United States at the time, John McNeese
Junior college sought help from the federal government in keeping up its
enrollment. One way this was accomplished was by encouraging students to
participate in the Navy’s V-1 program. Under this program a young man could
enlist in the Navy Reserve abut continue in college, at his own expense, for two
years. At the end of two years, if his work had been satisfactory, he would move
into the Navy’s V-5 or V-7 officer-training program. Also, students could enlist
in the Army Aviation Reserve and, barring emergency, could complete two years of
college before being called to active duty. (9) 3 The first summer school in McNeese history took place during the summer of
1942. This had been ordered by the LSU Board of Supervisors as part of a program
to speed up the higher educational process from four to three years so as to
provide men and women for the military or for the civilian work force at a
quicker pace. The summer term was to be for twelve weeks. The McNeese
administration went to great effort to attract students, even running a
full-page advertisement in the newspaper of the area. School buses delivered
students from as far away as Jennings, saving gasoline, which was strictly
rationed. A total of 140 students took advantage of the opportunity and enrolled
in summer school. (10) When the fall semester, 1942, began, John McNeese Junior College had an
official Reserve Officers Training Corps unit, a branch of the Louisiana State
University Army ROTC. LSU paid for building the necessary storage facilities.
Major Perry Brown became Professor of Military Science and Tactics, and Sergeant
J. M. Callahan, a native of Bastrop, Texas, was placed in charge of drilling the
cadets. Young men welcomed the opportunity for training, and before the end of
the year ROTC was available not only at McNeese but at ten high schools in the
surrounding area. In November training for women was approved by a unanimous
vote of the female students. The women’s unit, under the supervision of Dolive
Benoit soon to be known as the MAC's (McNeese Auxiliary Corps), was to drill
twice a week, organize a drum and bugle corps, participate in Red Cross
activities, and study special courses dealing with fields in which women could
help with the war effort. The local newspaper said that this was the only unit
of its kind in the state. (11) The first student officers, appointed in fall
1942, were Captain George Kenneth Barrett, First Lieutenant Clyde Smith, and
Second Lieutenants Benny J. Mistretta and Harold J. Bourgeois. That fall also,
Marion North was the first captain of the women’s unit, with Jean Goforth as
first lieutenant, Marjorie Grissom and Helen Nye as second lieutenants, and
Fritzi Krause as first sergeant. (12) As early as the legislative session of 1942, there were efforts to remove
McNeese from the Louisiana State University System and place it under the
control of the Louisiana State Board of Education. This would have been a first
step toward giving the school four-year college status. The 1942 legislature
actually passed appropriations for McNeese to use independently, but these were
vetoed by Governor Sam Jones. General Campbell B. Hodges, then president of LSU,
assured Dean Rodney Cline that the university would continue to support McNeese
on substantially the same basis as in 1941-1942, and that the junior college’s
educational mission for Southwest Louisiana would not be endangered. (13) When registration for fall semester, 1942, was completed, 83 men and 83 women
had enrolled at McNeese. To help those who lived in Lake Charles get to school
without using precious gasoline, the junior college purchase two station wagons
that followed specified routes around the city to pick up students. When
elections were held for the Student Senate, Juanita Greene, Fritzi Krause, Marion
North, Mack Abraham, George Ashy, and Grady Dugas represented the sophomore
class, and Albert Miller, Bill Noonan, Peggy Findley, and Cornell Scoggins the
freshmen. For lighter-hearted moments, the Student Social Committee, overseen by
Ada Sabatier of the faculty, consisted of Juanita Greene, Everett Scott, Betty
Sue Voorman, and Jack Bogie. Mack Abraham became first sergeant of the new ROTC
unit. (14) The fall of 1942 saw significant faculty changes. Mrs. Muriel Rogers
Cleveland of the Music Department left to join her husband, who was on active
duty in the Army, and Miss Sara Landau, who taught social sciences, accepted a
position at Alabama College. Librarian George F. Bentley left to attend Army
officers’ training school, and Mr. James E. Seay, Jr., Clet A. Girard, and
Philip D. Uzee were all called to active duty. New faculty members included
Helen Sharpe in Music, Willie Dee Jones and Willa Claire Cox in English, Sybil
V. Alexander in Office Administration, and Donald J. Millet in History. Millet
would finish out a distinguished career at McNeese, retiring in 1975. (15) At the end of the fall semester, 1942, the McNeese honor roll listed Tom
Ford, Gene Dietz, Ruth Monger, Martha Bell, Josie Basone, Lyndell Morris, Betty
Bird, Bess Bruce, and Elaine Dugan as having the highest grade point averages.
Betty Bird made her four appearances as guest soloist with the New Orleans
Symphony and later gave a recital at McNeese. The third performance of Handel’s
Messiah drew good notices. Carson Jeffries, who had graduated in 1941 and
then gone on to LSU, made his McNeese teachers proud by winning a fellowship in
mathematics at Johns Hopkins University. Two more former students, Raymond E.
Gipson and Leslie Carpenter, won their pilot’s wings in the Army Air Force, and
John William Rogers was reported to be at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the
Navy V-5 preflight program. Students were not the only ones who distinguished
themselves; Clara Louise Jones, Dolive Benoit, Kathleen Allums, John Oakley, and
Ada Sabatier were promoted from instructor to assistant professor. (16) In the spring, the ROTC cadet officers appointed in the fall had to give up
their ranks and return to being buck privates so that George Ashy, Mack Abraham,
Truman Fear, and Ralph Brookner could have their shots at being captain, first
lieutenant, and second lieutenants, respectively. In the MAC’s, Fritzi Krause
was promoted to second lieutenant and Aileen Caldwell replaced her as first
sergeant. The Arena was modified to provide housing for thirty male students
under the supervision of Sergeant Callahan of the ROTC, who shared the quarters.
Faculty also had to be concerned with military matters; John Oakley, Francis
Bulber, Wayne Cusic, C.F. Tuttle, W. H. Bradford, and Wallace Lee, supervisor of
buildings and grounds for a generation, joined the State Guard, formed to keep
order at home while the Louisiana National Guard, formed to keep order at home
while the Louisiana National Guard was in federal service. (17) The human costs of war were brought home to John McNeese Junior College in
the spring of 1943. In January Ensign Harry Nunez became the first McNeese
military fatality when his plane crashed near Jekyll Island, Georgia. Army Air
Force Lieutenant Ralph Nutter, who played on McNeese’s first basketball team,
died in another crash in June. Marine Lieutenant George Johnson, former
librarian, was killed in the South Pacific in April. There would be more before
the war ended, but these early tragedies were especially heartbreaking. (18)
Commencement brought two distinguished speakers to Lake Charles. The junior
college and Lake Charles High School held a joint baccalaureate service so that
the graduates of both schools could hear Dr. John L. Hill, book editor of the
Baptist Sunday School Board in Nashville, Tennessee. The graduation speaker at
the junior college was Dr. Wendell Holmes Stephenson, one of the most noted
historians in the United States, former editor of the Journal of Southern
History, and in 1943 Dean of Arts and Sciences at Louisiana State University.
(19) 4 The Catalogue for 1943-1944 carried a new statement of purpose for
the struggling little junior college:
Through McNeese Junior College the facilities of
Louisiana State University are made available in Southwest Louisiana.
Therefore the academic plan of the Junior College works in close
coordination with the freshman and sophomore years on the main campus ….
Courses leading toward academic or professional degrees are offered for
those intending to enter higher education later. Terminal courses in such
fields as business and agriculture are available for students desiring only
one or two years of college work. An attempt is made to cooperate with
individuals and groups...desiring to improve their cultural or vocational
training by the study of regular or special courses. Through the media of
the college library, the Department of Music, and civic activities of
members of the faculty, cultural leadership to a valuable degree is provided
the territory served by the institution. Summer school for 1943 began on June 4 as students enrolled for fees of only
$8.34 a quarter. This was at first expected to be the first quarter of the
"hurry up" wartime system under which students were to graduate in three years,
though it did not work out that way. One interesting feature of the summer term
of 1943 was the fact that Miss Laura McNeese, granddaughter of John McNeese, was
registered. She was not a permanent student, but was normally enrolled in George
Washington University in Washington, D.C. Her father was Colonel Oswald McNeese,
at that time stationed in Washington. (20) The planned quarter was cut short because McNeese was selected as the site
for training 200 Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) students. This was a wartime
program under which the Army selected especially talented young men, most of
them in their teens, and gave them additional education on the theory that thus
they could be of even greater service to their country. The McNeese
administration, of course, was happy to have additional students of any kind.
Since the ASTP troops were to arrive on or about August 4, the students enrolled
for the summer quarter voluntarily "doubled up" their classes after mid-July so
that their term would be over on August 7 rather than on August 27 as originally
planned. Kaufman Hall was hastily remodeled so as to provide sleeping space for
200 men on the second and third floors. They would eat in the college cafeteria,
but there was no space left for bathing facilities inside, so a shower stall
with twenty-one showers was constructed outside the building. (21) The soldiers were to receive instruction in physics, chemistry, mathematics,
English, history, and geography. The instruction schedule for regular students
was changed to match that of the troops because otherwise the faculty would have
been teaching day and night. Fifty-five men and 49 women registered for this fall
quarter; with the ASTP contingent, that made a total of 346 students. The
administration now consisted of Rodney Cline, dean, C.F. Tuttle, registrar and
business manager, Wayne N. Cusic, counselor to men, and Ada Sabatier, counselor
to women. (Cline, who had succeeded Hatcher as dean at McNeese in August 1941,
was from a prominent Lake Charles family and a graduate of Lake Charles High
School. He had taught at Central School in Lake Charles and been principal of
Elton High School before getting his M. A. at LSU and Ph.D. at Peabody College.)
Instruction was organized into four departments: Humanities under Willa Claire
Cox; Education under Wayne Cusic; Music under Francis Bulber; and Science,
including Mathematics and Agriculture, under W. H. Bradford. The wartime
atmosphere was further heightened by special night courses offered to train
laboratory technicians for the industrial plants across the lake. (22) The life of the ASTP men was not an easy one. Their schedule each week
included seven classroom hours of physics, six of mathematics, three of
chemistry, three of English, three of history, and two of geography, amounting
to twenty-four quarter hours. In addition, they had one hour a day of physical
education under Wayne Cusic, and another daily hour of military drill. They were
expected to spend twenty-four hours a week in studying and this was rigorously
enforced. Two hours daily was theirs to do with as they pleased. Most spent this
time in intramural sports, but some used the Library, and some studied music
under Francis Bulber. They were free to go more or less as they pleased within
the neighborhood of Lake Charles from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday. Had
they been the only military in town, they might have received special treatment,
but Lake Charles Army Air Base, now Chennault Field, was in full
operation, giving the little city of Lake Charles more men in uniform than it
could comfortably absorb. The ASTP unit was at McNeese only the three quarters
of 1943-1944. Before the end of 1944 most, if not all, of the men in the
unit were used as replacements for depleted infantry divisions in Europe, where
a number of them died in the Battle of the Ardennes, better known as the Battle
of the Bulge. (23) The sources available do not give great detail about the 1943-1944 academic
year at McNeese. This year, of course, marked the height of the Second World
War, and events at the little Junior College beyond the southern boundary of
Lake Charles could not be particularly important under such circumstances. A
faculty reception was held at the Majestic Hotel with Dean and Mrs. Cline,
Margery Wilson, Ruth Phillips, and Mrs. Inez Moses in the receiving line. Mrs.
Moses would soon become the registrar of McNeese and would retire from that
position many years later. (24) Despite the war, the Music Department managed to present
the Messiah
again in December 1943. This was the first McNeese Messiah in which an
instrumental ensemble participated. Students could not doubt take some
satisfaction from the fact that German prisoners of war were at work on the
campus, cutting grass with scythes. The swashbuckling movie star, Errol Flynn,
was at McNeese in January as part of a war bond sales campaign, and the college
presented The Marriage of Figaro in the Auditorium in February. Five former
students – C. L. Canterbury, William Howard Nutter, Jack E. Slaughter, Alfred E.
Simpson, and Armand C. Touchy – distinguished themselves in the military
services, and this was not entirely a man’s world, because former assistant
professor Ada Sabatier was commissioned a lieutenant, junior grade, in the
United States Naval Reserve at Northampton, Massachusetts. (25) Undoubtedly, with 346 young people on campus, two hundred of them bright
young soldiers, much was going on than this sparse record reveals. On the other
hand, one gets the impression that it was a subdued time. It seems probable that
the civilian students, and there were only 83 of them by the spring quarter,
were somewhat overawed by the ASTP contingent. After all, these young men were
selected from all the seventeen and eighteen-year-olds in the nation for their
superb physical and mental qualities. Some of the young people from the junior college
area were their intellectual equals, but most were not. The competition must
have been overwhelming. The ASTP departed at the end of the spring quarter, 1944, and for summer
school, McNeese had living quarters for men on the north end of the third floor
of Kaufman Hall and advertised quarters for women on the north end of the second
floor. The women’s quarters were indeed used, and in fact a shower was installed
for them in a restroom; but for whatever reason, the college also soon offered
sleeping space for women across Ryan Street. Enrollment for the summer was only
63, 33 men and 30 women. This was the lowest enrollment in McNeese’s history.
The faculty for the summer, including Dean Cline, numbered only 14. (26) 5 Rodney Cline had left a legacy, a junior college stunted by the war but
surviving and with good prospects for the future. In a letter to President
Hatcher he noted that McNeese needed completely adequate facilities for a good
junior college as soon as possible. A strong public relations campaign was
essential to educate the people of Southwest Louisiana to the advantages offered
by McNeese. A system of transportation was essential to the future of the
college, and more library space was needed. (The library at this time and for
too many years to come was one large room on the south side of Kaufman Hall).
Finally, Dean Cline insisted that the college needed a new gymnasium and a
stadium, because until it had a well-rounded athletic program, too many potential
students would attend college elsewhere. In this farewell address to the faculty
and the student body, Cline was able to announce the pending purchase of eighty
acres of land across what is now McNeese Street and Common Street from the
campus. This would one day be the site of the football
stadium and other athletic facilities. (28) The fall quarter was an active one for students and faculty. At the beginning
of the term about 100 students and their dates enjoyed a formal dance arranged
by the Student Social Committee. The end of the quarter brought a rather
extensive honor roll. Adrienne Managan and Leon Bethea led the list, and other
outstanding students were George Alexander, Carol Blair, Allen Collette, Eva
Cox, Leonard Dalovisio, Juanita Dark, Jo Ann Hertfelder, Marilyn Houser, Gloria
Jones, Margie Lynch, Denny Jack Lyon , Ruth Aimee Martin, Joyce Moebius, Roy
Morgan, Frank Newcomer, Jr., Leon Prejean, Jean Rives, Nancy Schindler, Rebecca
Slack, Clarence Theriot, Mary Lee Webb, and Jodie White, Jr. Three students
finished the requirements for graduation at the end of the fall quarter. (29)
Francis Bulber of the Music Department was at George Peabody College in
Nashville during the 1944-1945 academic year earning his doctorate, but he
returned to Lake Charles to direct the fifth annual presentation of Handel’s
Messiah. As usual, student and faculty recitals kept the Music Department
busy. Mrs. Margery Wilson’s Dramatic Club presented a play entitled Yes and
No, and the Louisiana State University Music Department put on The Chocolate
Soldier in the Auditorium before an audience of 2,000 people. (30) Jodie White was elected president of the student body in January. Juanita
Dark, Mickey Swann, and Otto Bruchhaus represented the freshman class, and Carol
Blair and Sidney Ryan the sophomore. In March Joyce Moebius, Richard Walker, and
Adrienne Managan became the new freshman officers. Ten photographs of John
McNeese Junior College coeds were submitted to Governor Jimmie Davis, and he
chose Mary Frances Dimmick as "most beautiful." Runners-up were Juanita Dark,
Betty Jo Farr, Carol Blair, and Sydney Ryan. Five students met graduation
requirements at the end of the winter quarter: Mary Lee Webb in health and
physical education, Marguerite Cox and Sydney Ryan in music, and Carol Blair and
Delbert Morgan in commerce. McNeese students and faculty could also take pride
in Elayn Hunt, a graduate of the precious year, who became editor of the
Louisiana State University student newspaper, the Reveille. She would become a
major figure in Louisiana politics. (31) Since the beginning of the war, athletics at McNeese had been intramural,
plus occasional basketball games with high school teams, teams from Lake Charles
Army Air Base, and perhaps some "city" teams. In 1944-1945 athletic activity
definitely increased. The McNeese basketball team, coached by Wayne Cusic,
played regularly in the City League against such teams as the Link Trainers from
the Air Base, other teams sponsored by the Lions Club, Cities Service, and
Calcasieu Chevrolet, and also the "Goodson Goodies," whoever they may have been.
There was intercollegiate competition in a limited way; McNeese defeated
Northeast Center in two games played in Monroe. Probably it should be noted that
a McNeese student, Berwyn Richard, defeated Alfred Mouton to become the Lake
Charles table tennis champion. In April Dean Frazar promised a full athletic
program for 1945-1946. Plans were to construct a football practice field, a
quarter-mile cinder track, and eventually a stadium on the 80 acres the college
had just acquired. All this would eventually be done, and more, but McNeese
students and supporters would wait many a year for a football stadium. (32)
The 1944-1945 academic year corresponded fairly closely to the last year of
the Second World War. Germany surrendered in May 1945 and Japan in August, but a
price had to be paid in the lives of former McNeese students. Lieutenant John
May, Jr., was killed in France in the Normandy fighting, and Private First Class
Ralph Brookner died in Germany in December 1944. Lieutenant Jesse E. Anderson
was killed in Burma, and Lieutenant Amos J. Derouen made the supreme sacrifice
somewhere in the Pacific. Jewel Lester Duhon, C.C. Hoffpauir, Jr., and Benny Joseph
Mistretta also gave their lives for their country. Near the end of the war
Sergeant David V. Rosfeld, an aerial gunner, was reported missing in action.
Perhaps he was freed from a prisoner-of-war camp at the end of the struggle; the
sources available do not say. Almost certainly John McNeese Juniors College
alumni other than those mentioned in this account were casualties of the
greatest war in history, but their names do not appear in the records consulted.
(33) Eleven more students were ready to graduate at the end of the spring quarter.
They were Gloria Clement, Newelyn Cole, Allen Collette, Eva Cox, Mack Cuniff,
Margie Lynch, Ramsey MacLeod, Olin Merchant, Elizabeth Pitts, Nancy Schindler,
and Jodie White. The struggling school from which they graduated was a very different
place from the bustling and overcrowded junior college that would exist the next
year. The United States had survived a terrible struggle for existence and had
emerged as the greatest power in the world. On a tiny scale in comparison John
McNeese Junior College had also managed to survive and it would grow strong as
returning veterans of the war took advantage of the "G. I. Bill" to secure an
education that might never have been possible for them otherwise. (34) CHAPTER III The Junior College: Glory Years One would have been hard put to find anything glorious about John McNeese
Junior College in the summer of 1945. In search of students the college ran
full-page advertisements emphasizing that "dormitory" space was open for both
men and women. Women would be housed in a two-story building located across Ryan
Street where Gayle Hall is today, men in the Arena. Summer school was no picnic
in Southwest Louisiana before the days of air conditioning; a mere handful of
students enrolled. The summer faculty numbered only ten: Marian Funk (replacing
William Bradford) in Mathematics, C. F. Tuttle in Commerce, W. N. Cusic in Health
and Physical Education, W. J. Oakley in Chemistry, F. T. Seymour and Donald J.
Millet in Social Sciences, Willa Claire Cox in English, Margery Wilson in
Speech, Dorothy Steidtman, librarian, and Captain John Van C. Koppelman,
Military Science. (1) A foundation for the future was being put down during this hot summer. The
purchase of the block of land where the stadium is now located was completed;
the land had five buildings, including a dairy barn, a barn for beef cattle, a
poultry house, and two other structures. LSU also purchased the Howell property
across Ryan Street, as the site for a home for Dean Frazar. It is the location
of the President’s Home to this day. (2) With the end of the fighting in the Second World War, which came in Europe on
May 5, 1945, and in the Pacific aboard the Battleship Missouri on September 2,
1945, the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors decided to return to
the semester system. An increase in enrollment was expected, but nobody was
anticipating the 233 students who enrolled in the fall of 1945. Then in the
spring semester, 1946, 270 students appeared. Somehow classes were provided for
all of them though not necessarily the classes they would have preferred. The
faculty was so loaded that in the fall Dean Frazar himself taught a class in
Louisiana government. Forty men, 30 of them football players, were housed in the
Arena, and 30 women were quartered across Ryan Street. (3) Before the fall semester began, Dean Frazar announced that J. C. Barman,
formerly parish agent of Jeff Davis Parish, would be in charge of the
agriculture program at McNeese. Other new faces on the faculty were those of Wylma Reynolds in Commerce and Virgie McCall in Home Economics. Frank Rolufs
headed the Mathematics and Science Department while W. H. Bradford was away at
graduate school. Barman, Rolufs, and Reynolds would all have long careers at
McNeese. Inez Moses began work as secretary to the registrar in 1945, and she
too would be a fixture for many years. Francis Bulber was back after a year’s
work on his doctorate at George Peabody College in Nashville. McNeese had a
total of 26 faculty for the fall semester. They taught 17 two-year curricula;
the Catalogue listed 205 courses, but not all of these were taught at one
time. (4) To bring in students from outlying areas, buses came from as far away as
Oakdale, DeRidder, and Vinton. Within the Lake Charles area a bus made seven
round trips a day from the Calcasieu Parish Courthouse to the college. The first
trip arrived at McNeese at 8:15 in the morning, and the last trip arrived at the
courthouse at 10:05 in the evening. (5) Finding housing for this influx of students was no simple problem, but an
appeal to United States Representative Henry Larcade brought a promise from the
federal government of 20 housing units (former military barracks) for the next
semester. This was later reduced to ten buildings and ten trailers, all to be
used for the housing of veterans, and were not in place until the fall of 1946.
These "temporary" buildings were to be more than temporary; some of them were
still in use for classrooms and offices as late as 1970. The LSU Board of
Supervisors asked the legislature for $300, 000 for a health and recreation
building, $135,000 for additions to Kaufman Hall, $168,000 for a new music
building, and $45,000 for a "cottage’ for home economics.(6) Student activities were looking up. Captain Koppelman boasted of 67 men in
ROTC, a new record. In October Billy Traylor was elected to head the Student
Council, made up of sophomores Billy Brown, Juanita Dark, and Lucille Farquhar,
and freshmen Bernard Blanda and Richard Moriarty. McNeese students could also
take pride in graduates who had gone on to LSU. Rebecca Slack played a role in
Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit when that play was presented by the university drama
department, and Patrick Ford was promoted to captain in the LSU ROTC. (7) The first Homecoming was held in November 1945, although it was called
"McNeese College Day" and was sponsored by the Lake Charles Lions Club. The
parade consisted of more than 100 horses, floats, the LSU band, the St. Charles
High School band, and the Lake Charles High School band, the McNeese band, and a
band from the Lake Charles Army Air Base. The Kilties from Lake Charles High,
the Gatorettes from LaGrange, and the MAC's from McNeese displayed their charms.
The prize for the best decorated car went to the "McNeese family car," in which
Lake Charles city clerk Mrs. L. L. Squires, formerly Emma McNeese, and Mrs.
Overton Gauthier of Jennings, formerly Stella McNeese, both daughters of John
McNeese, rode. (8) The Homecoming game was held at the Lake Charles High School Stadium.
Governor Jimmie Davis crowned the Homecoming Queen, Adrienne Managan, who had
been chosen by the football team. Her court was made up of Betty Shea, Lucille
Farquhar, Juanita Dark, Peggy Vestal, Jean Sutton, Elizabeth Stark, and Mrs.
Eldride Mitchell. (9) Between studies, athletic contests, and various forms of entertainment,
students may have been pressed for time. On November 25 the Don Cossack Chorus
sang in the Auditorium, and in January a crowd of 1,000 people heard tenor Jussi
Bjoerling sing. One of the purposes of the college was to promote culture in
Southwest Louisiana, and certainly an effort was made. On a lighter note, Tex
Ritter and his Western Hill Billy Gang, plus his horse White Flash, performed in
the Auditorium on February 14, 1964. A fat stock show and rodeo was scheduled
for the last three days of March and the first day of April 1946. The students
held a formal dance on December 4, and in March the Veterans’ Club held a dance
that was graced by the presence of Governor Davis; the state’s chief executive
even sang "You Are My Sunshine" for those present. (10) The Messiah was presented again; each year it seemed to grow bigger
and better. Contralto Marcella Uhl was imported from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to
perform as a soloist. Others who had solo roles were Dilys Demorest, Mrs. Claude
Kirkpatrick, and Bill Denson. A large audience was reported to have been
enthusiastic about the performance. Students interested in theater were active.
In the fall, Mrs. Margery Wilson directed Ladies in Retirement with Joyce Moebius, Janet McGinty, Marilyn Houser, Ray Rust, Constance Bonsall, Gloria
Robinson, and Bernice LaFleur. The spring play was Letters to Lucerne; the cast
consisted of Patsy Heidt, Peggy Vestal, Joan Rich, Jackie Richardson, Marathell
McArtor, Dorothy Wilson, Edith Abrahams, Connie Bonsall, Maurice Burns, Bob
McManus, and Albert Manuel. (11) Three students, Edith Abrahams, Adrienne Managan, and Bob Leake,
distinguished themselves with a straight A average in the fall semester. In the
spring, Phi Theta Kappa honorary scholastic fraternity inducted freshmen Edith
Abrahams, Perry Anderson, Almalee Clark, Johnny DeRouen, Katherine Harris,
Thomas Lipscombe, Marilyn Managan, Connie Mobley, Nancy Mutersbaugh, Hazel
Sockrider, June Spangler, and Herman Vincent. Fraternity president Adrienne
Managan completed McNeese and moved on to LSU at the end of the fall semester;
she was replaced by Joyce Moebius. Patrick L. Ford was cadet captain and
commander of the ROTC unit in the fall, succeeded by Dudley Doiron in the
spring, with Donald Palmer as his first lieutenant. Time Magazine conducted a
contest on current events among college students in the spring of 1946, and in
mid-March Benny Milam, one of the veterans attending McNeese, had the highest
score in the nation. (12) In January what was apparently the first exhibit of student art in McNeese
history was presented by Mrs. Wilson’s students. Margaret Hebert, Dorothy
Scoggins, and Betty Dixon showed oils, and Nancy Mutersbaugh, Mary Helen Harper,
and Aline Benoit showed water colors. Near the end of the semester two music
majors, Juanita Dark, contralto, and Wilma Jean Stevenson, pianist, gave spring
recitals. Nor should it be forgotten that Mr. James M. McLemore of the LSU Board
of Supervisors, working from photographs, selected Jane White, Betty Dixon, Eldride Mae Mitchell, and Lucille Farquhar as the "four most beautiful coeds" of
McNeese. (13) The faculty was too busy teaching the unexpectedly large classes to indulge
in much social activity. In November C. A. Girard entertained the Rotary Club
with two themes from Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto, followed by a medley of
Gershwin, and concluding with "Basin Street Blues." Girard was a superb jazz
pianist as well as a scholar. Donald Millet was practically a one-man speaking
bureau during this academic year. In January Major Jack Kelley
replaced Captain John Van C. Koppelman as Professor of Military Science and
Tactics, and in March it was announced that Ada Sabatier would return from active
duty in the Navy in the fall and take over her history classes. (14) Wayne Cusic was "the coach" at McNeese during this first season of
intercollegiate athletics. Twenty-two men came out for the first football
practice, and 15 of them became regular players. The center was a young man
named Roy Butchee. Joe Morgan and Bobby Bland played tackle and Seaman Mayo,
Bill Taylor, and Bill Blanda were guards. Jack Doland, Ben
White, and Clarence Theriot were ends, and Johnny Eckhardt, Billy Brown, Charles
Hamerley, Reed Stephens, Harold Singleton, and Pat Ford were the backs. Six
games were scheduled, but two were with Louisiana College and two more with
Northeastern. The last two games were with a U. S. Merchant Marine team from
Gulfport and with Pearl River Junior College at Poplarville, Mississippi. The
McNeese team was selected to play Pearl River, whom it had defeated earlier, in
the Tung Oil Bowl at Poplarville. Pearl River managed to win this last contest.
(15) Soon after, the football season ended. Coach Cusic announced that although
practice would of necessity begin late, there would be a basketball season. Some
of the games would be in the "City League," but some intercollegiate games were
assured. The squad was not large; one account lists Reed Stephens, Jimmy Stelly,
Aubrey Cole, Clarence Theriot, and Jack Doland as starters, with Joe Morgan,
Billy Brown, and James Humble making a strong bench. In one City League game
with a team from the Air Base, McNeese used only five players and won. Since
there was still no gymnasium, the basketball team practiced in the Auditorium,
which did not have space for a full court. So many collegiate opponents were
found before the season was over that McNeese dropped out of the City League. In
intercollegiate competition, the basketball team defeated Lee Junior College of
Goose Creek, Texas, Northeastern, Pearl River Junior College, and Lamar Junior
College. A strong Merchant Marine team from Gulfport lost to McNeese once, but
won a second game. McNeese also fielded a women’s basketball team in 1945-1946,
though its competition was limited to the Women’s City League. This team was
made up of Dot Guidry, Bertha Nolde, Juanita Dark, Elveretta Flournoy, Margie
Montenot, Lula Stolzle, and Frances Papania. Miriam Callender was the coach.
Unfortunately, no record of games won or lost has been found. (16) Because of the war, no graduation exercises had been held in the spring of
1945, and 12 students had fulfilled requirements at the end of the fall semester
1945 without any ceremony. Dean Frazar decided to honor all these graduates in a
spring ceremony in 1946, and by combining the three groups, a total of 36
graduates was obtained. How many, if any, graduated in absentia is unknown.
Incidentally, six of the 12 fall graduates went to LSU, but the remainder went to
Southwestern, Northwestern, Maryville College at St. Louis, Centenary, Sophie Newcomb, and the
University of Texas. (17) 2 In the fall of 1946, the "John" was quietly dropped from the name of the
junior college south of Lake Charles. Dean Frazar was bold enough to predict an
enrollment of 450 students for the fall semester, and with Miller B. Clarkson
and Ada Sabatier back on the job, nine more teachers were employed to handle the
additional classes. The college more than doubled its two-year curricula
offerings, to 48, but the number of specific courses listed in the Catalogue
was reduced to 190. One of the new faculty was A. I. Ratcliff, employed mainly
as football coach, who would become a well-loved fixture on the campus until and
after his retirement. Two others were Louis Reily, instructor in Mathematics,
and Edna Magaw, instructor in English. They too would have long careers on the
McNeese faculty. It is interesting that with so many students expected, the only
spending planned for physical plant was an appropriation of $100,000 for
improving the Arena, which was used for livestock. (18) When registration came in the fall of 1946, 615 students registered rather
than the 450 anticipated, and when spring registration was completed, 560
students were still on campus. A New Orleans contractor was putting up the last
five of the temporary buildings ordered earlier, and Quonset huts were obtained
on a temporary basis. In reading the records of the time, one gets no impression
of panic, though an unexpected 100 percent increase in enrollment might at
least justify a degree of nervousness. Rather than wringing their hands,
students, faculty, and administration went to work to provide the best education
possible for the hundreds of young people who had descended on the campus. (19)
In studying the history of McNeese, it is easy to forget the main purpose of
the school. Most of the time of the faculty was spent preparing to teach and
teaching. Most of the time of the students was spent in class or preparing
assignments or simply studying. The administration spent its time attempting to
devise the best ways of achieving this primary purpose in the most efficient
manner possible. Thus one of the most significant developments of the fall
semester, 1946, is that seven students managed to earn a perfect A average in
their class work. They were Harry Anderson, Patsy Heidt, Clements Helbling, Eli
Sorkow, Dixie Silvers, Gus Stacy, and Peter Viglia. (20) Tragedy struck in late November when Major Jack Kelley, commander of the ROTC
unit, drowned when he ran off the Gulf Highway in Cameron Parish and was
imprisoned in his overturned car. The "McNeese Day" parade was canceled as a
show of respect to Major Kelly. His replacement was Colonel Charles Summerville
Ware, a respected soldier who had spent more than three years in the European
Theater of operations during and just after the Second World War. He would be at
McNeese through the period of transition to a four-year college, and for all
practical purposes he was one of the "founding fathers" of the university. (21)
Drama and music competed for student and public attention in the fall of
1946. The Drama Club presented Front Page, with a cast that included Maurice
Burns, Pasty Heidt, Margene Inklebarger, Nathan Lewis, Frank Salter, George
Alexander, Albert Miller, Aubert Talbot, Allen Pelloquin, and Billy Allen. The
Messiah was bigger than ever, with 131 singers and musicians. Soloists
were Louis Rinehart, Lorraine Wright, Willis Ducrest, Mrs. Nate Marshall, and W.
N. Cusic. In January music lovers had the opportunity to hear Irene Manning sing
in the Auditorium, and a few days later the classical violinist Rubinoff played.
(22) Elizabeth Stark of Merryville was McNeese Day Queen in November 1946. Her
maids were Peggy Vestal, Elsie Turnage, Joan Rich, Theresa Vidrine, Kathryn
Henry, and Ernestine Duke. The usual Christmas dance proceeded the holidays in
1946, but at this affair a notable floor show was presented under the direction
of Dolive Benoit. Taking part in the floor show were J. R. Calvert, Wilson
Manuel, Wilma Jean Stevenson, Dorothy Barnes, Harold Cline, Bert Talbot, "Racer"
Holstead, Peggy Vestal, Maurice Burns, and "Bubba" Miller. In February, John
Robert Powers chose from photographs Mary Addison of Shreveport and Dolores
Daspit, Betty Jane Mosely, and Elsie Turnage of Lake Charles as the four
prettiest McNeese coeds. (23) A count made in the spring revealed that 242 of the students registered at
the junior college were veterans, and that more of these young men were
interested in the pre-engineering curriculum than in any other. The library now
had more than 5,000 books in addition to periodicals. One who obviously made
good use of the library was Leland Homer Coltharp, who represented McNeese at
the International Relations Club Convention at Fayetteville, Arkansas, and
presented a paper dealing with an "International Police Force." Coltharp’s
interest in law took him through law school at Louisiana State University, and
he eventually became a district judge. (24) During the summer of 1946, the McNeese Department of Music and the Lake
Charles Lion’s Club agreed to cooperate in promoting and producing a light opera
each year. The first of these productions was Gilbert and Sullivan’s The
Gondoliers, which went into rehearsal in February and played in the spring to a
large and enthusiastic audience of more than 600 people. This was the first of a
series of exceptionally well-received light opera productions over the following
years. (25) Coach Ratcliff had no fewer than 36 aspirants who came out for football in
the fall of 1946, and most of them had come to McNeese on football scholarships.
Among them were Wayne Kingery, James Mestepy, Bill Alexander, Hutch Henry, Frank
Riling, Kenneth Wade, Charlie Carmouche, Dan May, Tom Hudson, John Vidrine,
Clyde Dufrene, James Hilton, Bill Talbot, and Seaman Mayo from Lake
Charles. From DeRidder came Paul Jantz, Buck Lyles, Joe Cruthirds, Homer
Coltharp, and Robert Lewis, and Sulphur provided David Tyndall, Jack Lawton, and
Simon Mericle. Others from nearby were Perry Burr and Johnny Nicks from Orange, B. J. Lyons and Johnny Bankens from DeQuincy, Jack Doland from Lake Arthur,
Norman Robinson from Welsh, Thomas Petty from Many, Douglas Moody from Rayne, Aubert Talbot from Napoleonville, and James Watson from Iowa. Bill Meagher came
from Auburn, Alabama, Gene Swails came from Baton Rouge, Otto Bruchaus from
Covington, Richard Seidler from New Orleans, and Rudolph Augarten from
Pennsylvania. (26) The football team had a highly successful season, defeating Arkansas A&M
(then a junior college), the B team of the University of Houston, the Merchant
Marine cadets, Decatur Baptist Junior College, Connors Junior College of
Connors, Oklahoma, and, especially enjoyable, Northeastern twice. McNeese lost
to Lamar Junior College of Beaumont and to the B team of Southern Methodist
University. This record was enough to get McNeese a second invitation to the
Tung Oil Bowl at Poplarville, Mississippi, but Pearl River Junior College
defeated McNeese once more in this event. The college newspaper, the Contraband, in commenting on the season, noted: "Jackie Doland is usually
the boy sent in when McNeese takes to the air. He is probably the best pass
snatcher on the cowboy squad." (27) The basketball team, still coached by Wayne Cusic, also had a good season,
winning six times without a loss on one streak. The team received an invitation
to the Western States Basketball Tournament for junior colleges, held at
Compton, California. The players who went to the tournament were Reed Stephens,
Jimmy Stelly, Aubrey Cole, Wayne Kingery, Jack Doland, Pete Phillips, Norman
Robinson, Billy Todd, J.C. Watson, and John Vidrine. Unfortunately, McNeese was
eliminated early in the tournament and then lost a consolation game. While the
team was in California, Louisiana’s Governor Jimmie Davis, absent from Baton
Rouge to make a moving picture, showed the young men around Hollywood. The
women’s basketball team was still active in the City League. (28) A boxing team, coached by A. I. Ratcliff, made its appearance in January
1947, and its matches held in the Auditorium, apparently aroused great interest.
This first McNeese boxing team consisted of Bill Allen, bantamweight; Albert
(Rabbit) Manuel, featherweight; Pat Elliott, lightweight; Allen Pelloquin, welterweight; Lloyd Jones, middleweight; Sam Allgood, middleweight;
Burl Jobe, light heavyweight; and Bill Meagher, heavyweight. Newspaper accounts
make it clear that Rabbit Manuel was a great favorite with the boxing fans of
Lake Charles. (29) 3 The summer of 1947 brought the highest summer school enrollment in McNeese’s
history up to that point, a total of 206 students, 155 men and 51 women, and 96
of them were veterans. The students who enrolled, and especially those who lived
on campus, probably have more vivid memories of the almost 16 inches of rain
that fell on June 19 than of the large enrollment. (30) When students came to
register for the fall semester, 1947, Miss Inez Moses was the new registrar, and
fees had risen from $12.50 per semester to $17.50 per semester. It is not likely
that the higher fees had any effect on enrollment, but there was a slight
decrease, from 640 in the fall of 1946 to 615 in the fall of 1947. Spring
enrollment declined proportionately, from 560 in the spring of 1947 to 529 in
the spring of 1948. The veterans’ rush had passed its peak at McNeese, and the
decline in enrollment would continue for the few remaining junior-college years.
Veterans still made up a large part of the student body; almost two-thirds of
the students in the fall of 1947 were men. (31) New faculty members were added for the 1947-1948 academic year, some
replacing those who had moved on, others in new positions. They included Ruth T.
Ballard in Music, Octavine Cooper in Commerce, Theo C. McCoy in Chemistry,
Martha L. Nicholson and John W. Sullivan in English, Frank A. Shufeldt in
Spanish, and Edna T. Pellegrin and Dora Mae Thibodaux in the Library. Except for
Ms. Thibodaux, none would be many years at McNeese. (32) The decline in enrollment was not great enough to relieve the shortage of
living space and classroom space on the campus. Lake Charles Air Field was
rumored to be closing, and the parish police jury sought to acquire it with the
understanding that some of the space would be available to McNeese. This began a
relationship between McNeese and the Air Base that although very tentative in
the beginning would go on for many years and would not, overall, be in the best
interests of the college. The field did not close at this time. (33) The college did manage to acquire six "permanent" army barracks that were
moved to the campus in the summer of 1947. One hundred thousand dollars
appropriated by the legislature was used for these buildings and for additional
stock pens at the Arena. T. Miller and Sons won the contract for erecting the
barracks and building the stock pens. Some of the buildings were made into
apartments for ten couples and others into housing for 120 men, including
athletes. Housing for women was rented north of the campus on Ryan Street. Two
of the temporary buildings became classrooms, and at least one was used as a
health and physical education facility. (34) In September 1947 architects were working on plans for a new Music building,
but other facilities would get higher priority. In November bids were sought for
the construction of a gymnasium and for the remodeling of a building across Ryan
Street south of Contraband Bayou for use as a Home Economics building. When bids
came in in December, all were rejected as too high by the LSU Board of
Supervisors. When bids came in again, $294,770 from Knapp and East of Lake
Charles was found acceptable for the gymnasium alone. For the time being the
board gave up on the home economics facilities. (35) In the 1947 election for student body officers, Bert Talbot defeated Frank
Salter for president. Sophomores on the Student Council were Charles Carmouche,
Bill Meagher, and Babs Moebius; freshmen were E. J. Lewis, Nadia Goodloe, and Bill
Dimmick. The Social Committee – Evelyn Richter, Althea Mae Meaux, Ted Harless,
and Perry Anderson – planned and provided a Valentine dance in February. In
January a Sadie Hawkins Day party was highly successful. If pictures in a local
newspaper are to be believed, Joe McIver, Betty Jean Reeves, Elsie Winter, Bob
Christ and Home Economics instructor Miss Virgie McCall especially enjoyed
themselves. At the beginning of the year the Newman Club was reorganized, and
late in the spring semester 13 student organizations participated in "stunt
night" in the Auditorium. (36) At Homecoming, Barbara Helms of Bell City was queen, and Pat Bishop, Kathryn
Lyles, Theresa Vidrine, Betty Jane Mosely, Jacqueline Abel, Lorraine Lott,
Barbara Moebius, and Joyce Olivier made up a court considerably enlarged over
previous years. In January sophomore Elsie Winter was selected Miss Yambilee at
Opelousas’s celebration of the sweet potato, and then was named queen of the
International Yam Festival at Baton Rouge. Following this she was a guest on Don
McNeill’s famous radio "Breakfast Club" in Chicago. Then Miss Winter went to
Washington where she was royally entertained by Representative Henry D. Larcade
and Senator John H. Overton. Her adventures were not yet over; in July she was a
guest at the Van Buren, Maine, potato festival. (37) And there were more beauties. In February 1948, Gregory Peck, the movie star,
selected Theresa Vidrine from photographs as the most beautiful coed in the
college. Others he chose were Sylvia Delord, Ruth Bienvenu, Joyce Olivier, and
Stella Marie Burris. Then in May, Betty Jane Mosely appeared as cover girl on
the Lake Charles Southwest News. In the same month, Miss Mary Ruth Wade of Negreet was the winner in a nationwide beauty contest sponsored by the "Truth or
Consequences" radio program presided over by national celebrity Ralph Edwards.
From her photograph, Miss Wade was selected as "the most beautiful and most
typical" American coed. She went to Hollywood, was interviewed on "Truth or
Consequences," and had a bit part in a western picture in production. (38)
Charles Coy Broussard, a veteran of the war in the Pacific, received the John
McNeese Junior College Honor Award for outstanding performance during the
previous academic year. Sammy Gennuso was selected to represent McNeese at the
International Relations Club Conference which was held at Denton, Texas in
March. A painting by art major Lois Geiger was one of 16 student works selected
for exhibition at Baton Rouge. Those students who had maintained an average of B
or better in the fall semester were invited, with their parents, to an Honors
Day program in the Auditorium on April 16. The speaker was Louisiana State
University President Harold Stoke. (39) Two significant developments for the little junior college happened in the
1947-1948 year. The first was the organization of alumni, who elected Robert
Wheeler president; Jodie White and James St. Dizier, vice presidents; Mrs.
William Lantrip secretary; and Marin North treasurer. The second was the
publication of the first issue of the McNeese Review, a scholarly journal
that has appeared almost every year since. Over the nation people who had no
idea where McNeese State College was located became familiar with the McNeese
Review. The authors whose work appeared in this first issue were T. R.
Ratcliffe, Ward Anderson, E. R. Kaufman, W. Farrin Hoover, Rosa Hart, Lloyd Funchess, Homer L. Brinkley, H. G.
Chalkley, Frances Owen, and Edna L. Magaw.
(40) As enrollment increased, Colonel Charles Ware’s Reserve Officer’s Training
Corps grew just as rapidly. In 1947-1948 three companies were organized. The
cadet commander, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was M. William Talbot, Jr.
Major Wayne B. Kingery was the second-ranking cadet officer. Other battalion
officers were Walton E. Phillips, Lionel J. Gossen, Charles J. Christ, Thomas
Petty, and James R. Mestepy. Company commanders were cadet captains Burton A.
Walker, Jack T. Pantall, and Pat L. Jernigan. In February the unit was rated
excellent after the annual Army inspection. ROTC Honors Day came in April, and a
dress parade was followed by a military ball. (41) The faculty found time for activities other than teaching. Romance reared its
head when Miss Dorothy Walsh became the bride of Mr. Frank Rolufs. The Faculty
Club seems to have enjoyed monthly dinners through most of this academic year,
and in March the members of the club had a party in the Home Economics Building
attended by almost every member of the faculty. One of the great advantages of a
small college, such as McNeese then was, is the fact that all faculty members
can really know one another. Nor did the faculty neglect its professional
growth. Miss Ada Sabatier and Mr. Donald Millet, for example, attended the
Fleming Lectures at Louisiana State University in March and heard renowned
folklorist and historian Thomas D. Clark speak. (42) Francis Bulber’s annual Messiah production continued to grow in size
and fame. A chorus of 180 persons sang in 1947, far more than in any previous
year. Soloists were sopranos Nellie Mae Gun of New Orleans and Betty Rinehart,
tenor Sidney L. Gray, and bass Ned Romero. Well over 1,000 people were present
in the Auditorium on December 17, to hear the performance. (43) In November
Margery Wilson’s Bayou Players, as the Drama Club now called itself, presented
the stage version of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. The members of the cast were
Bouie McCain, Kenneth Rose, Harold Price, Elaine McKeller, Gordon Wedemeyer,
Charles Force, Sammy Gennuso, Stanley Johnston, and Allen Commander. In the
spring the Music Department and the Lion’s Club presented Gilbert and Sullivan’s
Mikado as a means of raising money for music scholarships. The cast of this
light opera was made up of Sidney Gray, Billy Jo Nelson, Jack Gray, Tim Dugas,
Joanne Denny, C.C. Faust, III, Laurissa Watts, and Barbara Moebius. This year,
for the first time, Dr. Bulber took his show on the road, and the Mikado played
Jennings and Oakdale High Schools after it was presented in the Auditorium. (44)
Coach Ratcliff fielded a much better football team in 1947 than in 1946. The
squad won eight games, defeating such opponents as Pearl River Junior College,
Corpus Christi Junior College, Lamar Junior College, and Great Lakes Naval
Base, and losing only to Arkansas A&M and Tyler, Texas, Junior Colleges. All
home games except one were played at the Lake Charles High School stadium,
Killen Field. The one exception was a game with Edinburgh, Texas, Junior
College, which was played at Sulphur. Carroll Stelly, McNeese end, was named to
the Junior College All-American team for the second year, and Wayne Kingery was
named to the second team. Lake Charles football lovers set up a "Cajun Bowl"
post-season game, and McNeese and Arkansas A&M struggled through a cold rain
for a no-score tie. This season was so successful that there was some talk that
Coach Ratcliff might become the new coach at Louisiana State University, but
this did not come to pass. (45) Basketball in 1947-1948 was not as successful as football, but Coach Cusic’s
team nonetheless had an exciting season in the Texas Junior College Conference.
Among the players were Percy Clark, Kirby Cole, George Buswell, James Darnell,
Bill Dimmick, Glenn Powell, Leo Iles, Pete Phillips, Joe Toups, John Rudd, J. D. Schales, Jack Doland, and Wayne
Kingery. In the conference tournament McNeese
defeated Kilgore Junior College but then lost to Corpus Christi. A McNeese
women’s basketball team still played in the City Conference. Participants were Theresa Shaheen, Doris Clark, Judy Schneider, Mary Wade, Billie Butchee, Elonide
Caldwell, Joyce Mack, Jo Ann Cline, Tommy Lou Deax, and Barbara Watson. (46)
The McNeese boxing team continued to arouse popular enthusiasm. Members of
the 1947-1948 team were Lloyd Jones, Ernest Mouhot, Bill Meager, Burl Jobe,
Bertney Landry, Rabbit Manuel, Lynn Roy, Clifford Jobe, Walter Cade, and Roy
Vincent. McNeese lost a hard-fought match with the University of Idaho. In a
match with LSU, the junior college team won most of the fights, but Warren
Cormier and M. A. Pastor, who had recently joined the team, were declared
ineligible. Their victories became forfeited defeats, making LSU the winner.
(47) 4 Total enrollment in the fall of 1948 was 575 students, 40 fewer than the
previous year. In the spring 501 were enrolled, a proportionate decline. The
faculty now consisted of 36 men and women, and with additional courses in
education and agriculture, a total of 58 curricula were available to students.
More and more night classes were offered, though it should be remembered that
night classes had to attract enough students to pay their cost before they were
taught. The Library boasted 8,000 volumes at the beginning of the academic year
and hoped to bring the number to 10,000 before the year was over. A new
Department of Education was in place, designed to give future teachers the first
two years of their training and also to train athletic coaches, physical
education teachers, and health directors. Improvements were not limited to good
intentions. In October the LSU Board of Supervisors approved a bid of $136,000
for a new 8,000-square-foot music building, and in the spring the State Board of
Liquidation provided $50,000, which with monies already appropriated would at
last put a roof on the Arena. Before the year was over, the new gymnasium would
be dedicated. (48) Six new members met classes this year: Mrs. Billie Sue Brent Beadle in Home
Economics, Edwin Henry See in Music, Edwin H. Pleasants in Spanish, Eva Leonie
Cox and Mary Elizabeth Kleinpeter in Zoology, and Harry Ernest Benefiel in
Business. Benefiel would go into the Catholic priesthood in a few years, but he
would have friends at McNeese for the rest of his life. The Louisiana College
Conference was held at Hammond in the spring of 1949, and McNeese, which in
previous years had had minuscule representation at the conference, sent a large
delegation: Dolive Benoit, Ada Sabatier, Margery Wilson, Harry Benefiel, Miller
Clarkson, Louis Reily, and John Sullivan. (49) The ROTC remained a battalion with three companies. Percy N. Clark was
lieutenant colonel and cadet commander. His executive officer was Cadet Major
Jerome J. Hebert, and Cadet Captain James E. Darnell was adjutant. The three
company commanders, all with the rank of captain, were Jack D. Lambert, H. Gail
Nordyke, and James G. Brame. Colonel Ware was no doubt pleased to learn that
Henry D. Doiron, who had graduated from McNeese in 1946, was a distinguished
military graduate at Louisiana State University and had received a Regular Army
commission. (50) The student body and faculty at McNeese, as well as the people of Lake
Charles and the surrounding area, had an abundance of entertainment available at
the Auditorium in 1948-1949. The Bayou Players presented Shakespeare’s
Midsummer Night’s Dream in early December. The large student cast included Jack
White, Judy Schneider, Frances Mowad, Victor Pecorino, Pat Chenet, Will Cox,
Thomas Watson, Raymond Murray, Marvin Halbrook, "Pluto" Landry, Robert Carlin,
Dorothy Gaubert, Jerry Korsemeyer, Barney Bogg, Edna Ruth White, Billie Ruth
Evans, Beverley Cox, and Steve Kimball. Since no student was small enough to
play the role of Puck, Jay Svoboda, an elementary school student, was
recruited. (51) The Messiah, which was presented on December 12, 1948, continued to
grow in the number of people participating. Soloists for the 1948 performance
were Sherrod Towns, Maria Tortorich, Sidney Gray, and Joanne Denny. The chorus
numbered 175 persons, and the audience completely filled the Auditorium, which
meant about 2,000 people in attendance. H. M. S. Pinafore, the light opera
presented by the Music Department and the Loin’s Club in March 1949, was
reported to be a great success with more than 900 people in attendance. The cast
was made up of Billie Ruth Evans, Katherine Young, Ann LeBleu, Jerry Korsemeyer,
Roland Hebert, Victor Pecorino, John LeBlanc, Ralph Shirley, and James Gory,
with Julia West, Laurissa Watts, Joanne Hahn, and M. C. Cady playing alternate
roles. (52) Under the heading "miscellaneous entertainment" would be the appearance of
Gene Autry and his horse, Champion, in the Auditorium. This show, sponsored by
the Student Council, had a cast of 20 persons. A more independent venture was
the presentation of Oh Mistress Mine, staring Sylvia Sidney and John Loder, in
April. This seems to have been a commercial venture. On May 1 and May 8, the
McNeese band presented a public concert in Locke Park. Featured were a baritone
horn solo by Robert Landry and a quartette made up of Roland Hebert, John
LeBlanc, Jerry Korsemeyer, and M. C. Cady. (53) McNeese, it seems, was choosing more beauty queens of one sort or the other
than ever before. Joyce Courrege, succeeded Elsie Winter as Yambilee Queen at
the Opelousas festival, but she was not to enjoy the travels and national
acclaim that Miss Winter had experienced. This year a Freshman Queen and court
were selected. The queen was Helen Patricia Brown, and her maids were Patricia
Clay, Patricia Helms, Mary Frances Bulber, Linda McClendon, and Joyce O’Brien.
Miss Beatrice Teer of Maplewood was Homecoming Queen, with Sally Lyles, Sylvia
Delord, Elsie Winter, Lorraine Lott, Dolores Conner, Joyce O’Brien, Jackie
Young, and Geraldine Christ on her court. In February Sylvia Delord was named
Miss McNeese, and her accompanying beauties were Dolores Conner, Elsie Winter,
Evelyn Marie Boggs, and Joyce O’Brien. The recurrence of certain names suggests
that the standards of beauty were fairly well agreed upon. (54) Allen Commander, a young man who would be connected with McNeese one way or
the other for many years, was elected student body president in October 1948. On
the Student Council were sophomores Fred LeBlanc, William Dimmick, and William
Clark, and freshmen Gilbert Manuel, Kenneth Sweeny, and Buster Crowley. It is
interesting, and perhaps significant, that at this stage of McNeese’s history an
athlete like Sweeney or Bill Dimmick could also be active in student
government. (55) Harry Gail Nordyke, Jr., won the McNeese honor award in the fall of 1948, and
18 students in all won prestigious T. H. Harris scholarships. Honor students for
the spring of 1948 were feted at a banquet in December at which Dr. Harlan L. McCracken, head of the LSU Economics Department, spoke on "Democracy and Its
Enemies." The Cold War had reached Lake Charles. No fewer than 105 students made
the honor roll in the fall semester of 1948. This was more than 18 percent of
the student body, and almost 23 percent of all veterans in attendance. Homer
Hitt, an LSU sociologist who was soon to become the chancellor of the University
of New Orleans, was the speaker. It might be mentioned that Thomas D. Watson,
now professor of history at McNeese; William McLeod, now state senator from
Calcasieu Parish; and William T. Clarke, now a prominent Lake Charles insurance
man, were on this honor roll. The debate team was revived in 1948, made up of
Jack Gordon, Earl McCoy, William McLeod, and Charles Riquelmy. In April this
team entered the Southwestern Speech Association debate tournament at Baylor
University and won three of the six debates in which it engaged. (56) The McNeese football team played 11 games, most with Texas junior colleges,
in the 1948 season and lost only 2 of them. The lettermen of this outstanding
team, who bore Coach Ratcliff of Killen Field on their shoulders after defeating
Northeastern 40 to 0 on November 5, were James Brame, Billy Cook, C. E. Cooley,
Buster Crowley, Harold Davis, Cecil Doyle, Manuel Dugas, Calvin Hancock, Billy
Bob James, Joe Kite, Ernest Lambert, E. J. Lewis, Jimmie Mestepy, Dee Navarre,
Carroll Neely, Thomas Pettijean, Thomas Petty, Dick Pruitt, Jack Ray, Irving
Richard, Guy Richards, Jimmie Runte, John Schroll, Joe Sciortino, Willie Shafer,
Kenneth Sweeny, John Whiddon, Jimmy Whitehead, Howard Wilcox, and Bobby Yates.
The cheerleaders who urged the team on were Evelyn Marie Boggs, Mary Frances
Bulber, Jo Ann Cline, Tommy Dufrene, Freddie LeBlanc, and Will Cox. (57) Coach Wayne Cusic’s 1948-1949 basketball team was certainly successful,
winning more than half of its games. Basketball players were Herman Blalock, Percy
Clark, James Darnell, Bill Dimmick, Edmund Stewart, Joe Westerchil, John Redd, Melvin
Norris, Joe Loftin, Holland Hicks, Kenneth Sweeney, Jerry Doland, Bill Buck, E.
J. Lewis, and Harold Iles. McNeese basketball fans were no doubt gratified to
learn that Aubrey Cole, who had played two years at McNeese and then gone on to
Southeastern at Hammond, was signed by the professional Baltimore Bullets. (58)
Boxing continued to be a popular McNeese sport, and by early 1949 McNeese had
a team of twelve men. The boxers included Dowel Fontenot, Cliff Jobe, Walter
Cade, Freddie LeBlanc, Rabbit Manuel, Jim Frey, Ernest Mouhot, Philip Perry,
Roland Padin, Roy Hubbard, Evans Guidroz, and Don Hebert. A student rodeo was
held in November 1948, and Miss Mary Ogea was selected as Rodeo Queen, Thomas D.
Watson took first place in this rodeo, placing first in saddle bronc riding and
steer dogging, second in bareback riding, and tying for second in steer roping.
The student cowboy who tied Watson for second in steer roping was Conway LeBleu,
who would be a longtime member of the Louisiana State House of Representatives.
(59) The second issue of the McNeese Review was published in the spring of
1949. The eleven articles were mainly by local notables and dealt with current
and former issues in southwest Louisiana. One article, however, was by Dean S.
A. Caldwell of LSU, the authority on the history of banking in Louisiana, and
dealt with that subject. In addition Miss Ada Sabatier published the paper she
had read earlier on "Robert M. LaFollette, Humanitarian." (60) When the academic year came to an end, 75 students qualified for graduation.
Dean and Mrs. Frazar held a tea for them the afternoon before the ceremony.
During its early years McNeese tended to prefer clergymen as graduation
speakers, and 1949 was no exception. The speaker was one of the most notable
clerics of the day, Dr. W. Boyd Hunt, pastor of the First Baptist Church of
Houston. (61) 5 The 1949-1950 academic year was to be one of the most momentous in McNeese
history, but it would have been difficult to predict that at the beginning of
the year. In the fall of 1949 Louisiana instituted a fourth year (or twelfth
grade) in high school, something most other states had done years earlier. This
in effect wiped out a freshman class and enrollment at McNeese dropped
drastically. Only 58 students enrolled for summer school in 1949, and only 397
enrolled in the fall, a 31 percent decrease from the preceding fall and more
than a hundred fewer than had attended the previous spring. Enrollment for the
spring semester was down to only 336, the lowest since the spring of 1946. (62)
The college attempted to make up for the lack of freshmen by offering more
evening classes, but this apparently made little difference. There was optimism
about the future, however. After the performance of the Messiah on
December 11, 1949, the audience was invited to view the new Music Building (now
the Fine Arts Building) and its "adequate facilities for speech and music
classes." (63) During the year the Wesley Center on Sale Street was opened, and
at long last the new gymnasium was dedicated and made ready for use. A contract
for roofing the Arena was let, but the Arena always needed something. In the
spring Dean Frazar asked for $100,000 to construct 900 box seats and a dormitory
where 500 girls taking part in livestock shows or other events could sleep. (64)
Student Council officers for the year were Gilbert Manuel, president; Joe
Sciortino, vice president; Patty Eaves, secretary-treasurer; and John Schroll,
Buster Crowley, Clifford Bumpers, and David McWhirter representing the sophomore
and freshman classes. In the fall, ROTC officers were Ernest Lambert, cadet
lieutenant colonel; William A. Burk, cadet major; and William A. Burk, Wallace
R. Burleson, Frank W. Jernigan, and William R. Rentrop, cadet captains. Gilbert
Manuel succeeded Lambert in the spring, Burk became major, and Herman J. Istre
and Preston J. Stagg replaced Burk and Rentrop as captains. Those who made the
honor roll in the fall semester were recognized on Honors Day. The Honors Day
speaker in 1950 was Roy L Davenport, Professor of Agricultural Education and
Assistant Dean of Education at Louisiana State University. Twelve students –
Dorothy Akins, Mary Frances Bulber, Robert Carlin, Patricia Chenet, John
Rosfield, Louise Bourne, Joe G. Kite, Frank Powell, Ernest Lambert, Eloise
LeBlanc, Edward Moore, and John Schroll – qualified for T. H. Harris
scholarships. (65) The third issue of the McNeese Review was published in the spring,
containing ten articles this time. Most were local in interest, but Russell
Long, then in his first term as United States Senator, and Homer Hitt, noted LSU
sociologist and later chancellor of the University of New Orleans, contributed.
Several articles dealt with the history of Southwest Louisiana, and one by
faculty member Dolive Benoit was devoted to "French Influence in Calcasieu."
(66) The Bayou Players’ presentation for this year was Shakespeare’s
Twelfth
Night. Members of the cast were Pat Chenet, Sheila Gleason, Billie Ruth Evans,
John LeBleu, Roland Hebert, Marvin Halbrook, Jerry Korsemeyer, Vernon Reid, Gilbert Reid, Gilbert Manuel, and Sherrill Milner. For the annual Messiah
performance in December, a professional from Houston, Darold Perkins, bass,
served as one of the soloists. All the others – Joanne Denny Hahn, contralto;
Ann LeBleu, contralto; Roland Hebert, tenor; and K. Ramsey McLeod, bass – were
either students or alumni of McNeese Junior College. In the second semester Leo
Podolsky, a noted pianist, gave a recital and conducted two days of teaching. In
the same month the M Club, which normally confined its activities to raising
money for athletics, sponsored a commercial production of the popular musical,
Oklahoma, in the Auditorium. (67) The Music Department and the Lion’s Club produced Naughty Marietta in the
spring of 1950. Billie Ruth Evans had the lead in this operetta. Others in the
cast included Roland Hebert, Ann LeBleu, Jerry Korsemeyer, Doris Rollins, Pat
Chenet, and Billy Cole. As had become the custom, a cultural award was presented
between acts at the final performance, and this year it went to Mrs. Emma C.
Michie, manager of the Majestic Hotel. More than 1,000 people attended the final
performance of the operetta, despite the fact that it was in competition with a
horse show going on in the Arena at the same time. (68) Freshman Queen in 1949 was Barbara Allen, and her maids were June Summers,
Jackie Summers, Joan Fenner, and Marie Lebato. Jenny Lee Bruno was Homecoming
Queen, and her maids were Pat Clay, Mary Frances Bulber, Barbara Allen, Betty
Jean Reeves, Joan Fenner, and Geraldine Christ. Incidentally, the designated day
for alumni to return to the campus was called McNeese Day more often than it was
called Homecoming Day in the junior college years. (69) During the summer of
1949, visitors to a certain night club in the Lake Charles vicinity had the
privilege to listening to a superb jazz pianist. Most of them probably did not
know that he was also head of the Department of Liberal Arts at McNeese. C.A.
Girard had had a tremendously varied career. A native of New Iberia, he became
interested in jazz before he finished high school. Upon graduation he received an
appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he studied engineering for
three years before deciding that he did not want to be a naval officer. Instead
he went to Loyola in New Orleans for a Ph. B in philosophy, then to LSU for an
MA and Ph. D in English literature. During all these years he spent almost every
spare minute in New Orleans, studying and playing jazz, but he did make a trip
to France that confirmed him in his academic ambitions. He came to McNeese at
the opening of the junior college, was drafted into the Army, and returned to
McNeese when the war was over. He was a master teacher, and ended his career as
dean of the Graduate School at McNeese. Any party where he could be enticed to
the piano was an automatic success, though it might go on for too long to suit
the neighbors. (70) In the last year the junior college existed, the McNeese football team was
one of its best. The starting lineup, in one of the last years before the
platoon system had full sway, consisted of Dee Navarre, Kenneth Sweeney, Harold
Brewster, and Desmond Jones in the backfield, plus David McWhirter, Walter
Millet, Alvin Foreman, Joe Sciortino, Willie McKusker, Jimmy Whitehead, and
Harold Rougeau. Kenneth Sweeney was fullback and team captain. The season was
good enough that the team was invited to play Panola County Junior College in
the Gas Bowl at Carthage, Texas, in December. (71) McNeese basketball lettermen in 1950 were James Bruce, Jerry Doland, Dick
Hendricks, Joe Kite, Ray Manis, Dick Miller, Gus Schram, and Don Williams. For
Miller this was the first of four years of outstanding play. The team’s record
was good enough, though not as good as sometimes in the past. In March McNeese
was the host of the Region VII Junior College Basketball Tournament. In this
tourney McNeese defeated Arkansas Junior College of Magnolia, Arkansas, but in
the semi-finals fell victim to Northeast Mississippi Junior College. Newspaper
reports indicated that the crowds at the games were disappointing. (72) Boxing was still a popular McNeese sport. Lettermen on the 1949-1950 boxing
team were Dan Adams, Bill Ewing, Dowell Fontenot, Evans Guidroz, Phillip Jobe,
Marcel Mahfouz, Phillip Perry, and Charles Weaver. James Welsh received a letter
as manager. This team entered the National Junior College Ring Championship
Tournament, held in Ogden, Utah, in 1950. Charles Weaver, Phil Perry, Evans
Guidroz, and Dowell Fontenot made it into the finals and won three of the four
fights, but McNeese lost on total points to Compton Junior College of New Jersey.
Dowell Fontenot was national junior college champion for the second year, and
Guidroz and Perry were national champions for 1950 in their weight classes. (73)
Sixty-five students qualified to graduate in the spring of 1950. Their
speaker was Reverend I. V. Noland, rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in
Lake Charles. Reverend Noland had been an Army Chaplain in New Guinea and the
Philippines during the Second World War, and he would later be the Episcopal
Bishop of Louisiana. The students who received their certificates in May 1950
could not know with certainty that they were the last graduates of McNeese
Junior College, but they were. (74) 6 State Representative Horace Jones of Calcasieu Parish spoke to the Lake
Charles Business and Professional Women’s Club of Lake Charles in October 1949, and
in course of his speech he suggested that the club might begin a movement to
have McNeese Junior College made into a four-year college. What the club may
have done in response to his suggestion is unknown, but the time was ripe for
the movement he suggested. The people of Monroe and communities in that area
were eager to see their junior college, now Northeastern State University,
become a degree-granting school, so cooperation between northeastern Louisiana
legislators and southwestern Louisiana legislators was possible. On April 3,
1950, Representative Jones and Calcasieu State Senator Guy Sockrider announced
that they would introduce bills to make a four-year college of McNeese. (75) Senator Sockrider and Representative Jones were as good as their word. They
introduced measures in each house that transferred control of McNeese from the
Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors to the State Board of Education
and made McNeese into a four-year college. At the same time, of course, bills
were introduced to accomplish the same thing for Northeastern. Sockrider and
Jones had valiant help from Senator Gilbert F. Henning of DeQuincy and from
representatives Jesse Verret of Calcasieu Parish, John M. Meaux of Cameron, Dr.
M. V. Hargrove of Allen, and W. L. Futrell of Beauregard. Urged on by the police
juries of Calcasieu and Beauregard Parishes, the Education Committee of each
house of the legislature reported the bills favorably. (76) The bills pertaining to McNeese passed the Senate by a vote of 34 to 1 and 34
to 0 with 5 senators not present. In the House the vote was 49 to 27, and this
apparently meant defeat, because the Louisiana State Constitution of 1921
required a two-thirds vote in each house, 67 votes in the House of
Representatives, to create a new institution of higher education. Representative
Jones succeeded in getting his bill returned to the calendar, so that it could
be brought to the floor again, but it was evident that there were enough
representatives defending the interest of Louisiana Technological Institute at
Ruston, Southwestern Louisiana Institute at Lafayette, Northwestern State
College at Natchitoches, and Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge to
prevent the attainment of a two-thirds majority. (77) Someone, probably Representative Jones, saw a way out of this dilemma. He
introduced a new bill that said nothing about establishing a four-year college,
but simply changed the name from McNeese Junior College to McNeese State College
and turned control over to the State Board of Education. It was obvious, of
course, that this was a stratagem to establish a four-year college without
creating a new institution, and representatives from the opposing areas expressed
their righteous indignation. Representative Paul Landry, Jr., of East Baton
Rouge Parish became so desperate that he resorted to race baiting, warning that
"for every new school you create, that means you will have to provide duplicate
facilities for Negroes later." (78) The objections were to no avail; the bills
passed the House, the Senate concurred, and Governor Earl Long signed them on
July 1, 1950. McNeese was officially, though not yet actually, a four-year
college. (79) Formal separation from LSU came on July 17, 1950, but it was not to be that
simple. The legislature originally provided $350,000 for McNeese in 1950-1951
and $425,000 for 1951-1952, this money to be taken from the LSU appropriations.
The university, which had been publicly passive up to this point, now
complained, pointing out that it had allocated only $204,000 for McNeese for the
1950-1951 year. This problem was solved by a special bill which gave $204,000
plus $32,000 for building repairs, back to LSU and then appropriated the same
amount for McNeese. Funding for 1951-1952 would presumably be the same. (80)
As will be seen, McNeese now began making preparations to carry out its
mission as a degree-granting college, and in August the State Board of Education
authorized a third year in a number of curricula. But in December a cloud appeared
on the horizon. Representative Carroll Jones of Lincoln Parish (the home parish
of Louisiana Tech) filed suit as a taxpayer in the 19th Judicial
District Court in Baton Rouge. He maintained that the bills establishing McNeese
and Northeastern were unconstitutional, since they did not have a two-thirds
majority of both houses of legislature, and he asked for an injunction to
prevent the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors and the State Board
of Education from putting the bills into effect. (81) Five outstanding Lake Charles attorneys - E. R. Kaufman, former Governor Sam
H. Jones, Cullen R. Liskow, former Governor Alvin O. King, and Vance Plauche -
volunteered to represent McNeese in this case. President Frazar and the
president of Northeastern testified, among others, but Judge Coleman Lindsey
ruled in March 1951 that the bills in question were unconstitutional. The
McNeese attorneys announced an immediate appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
This ruling did not halt the junior-level classes already in progress at McNeese
and Northeastern. The State Board announced that students would receive full
credit for third-year courses taken no matter what the outcome of the lawsuit.
(82) Cullen Liskow made the plea before the Supreme Court. While awaiting the
court’s decision on May 28, 1951, a mass meeting of McNeese students led by
student body president Allen Commander, was held on the courthouse lawn in New
Orleans. The opinion of the court was unanimous that Judge Lindsey’s decision
was in error and must be reversed. In other words, McNeese and Northeastern had
become four-year colleges legally. President Lether Frazar, former dean,
suspended all classes until the beginning of final examinations, but since that
apparently amounted to only half a day, students were not being deprived of very
much instruction. The lawyers who handled the college’s case were singled out
for special honors at halftime in the Homecoming football game in 1951. Perhaps
it should be noted here that the Lincoln Parish legislator was not a graceful
loser. Eight years later he informed the State Board of Education that McNeese
should be returned to junior-college status, and that it would be even better to
make the college into a high school and to transfer all the faculty to SLI. (83)
Nor did other opponents of four-year status give up easily. The Supreme Court
denied a rehearing of its May 28 decision on July 1, 1951. During the 1952
session of the Louisiana legislature, Senator B. H. (Johnnie) Rogers of Grand
Cane introduced a bill that would have restored McNeese and Northeastern to
junior-college status. He said that the establishment of the two had been purely
political, and that Louisiana had too many four-year colleges. The Senate
Education Committee quietly killed Roger’s bill. Then two years later,
Representative L. D. Napper of Lincoln Parish asked the State Board of Education
to report to the legislature on the fitness of McNeese and Northeastern for
four-year status. Representatives for southwest Louisiana and from northeastern
Louisiana protested vigorously any suggestion that the status of the two
colleges might be changed, and in its report the State Board of Education unanimously
stated that no change was needed. Since 1954, there had been no serious attempt
to return McNeese to junior-college status. (84) CHAPTER IV Crises, Changes, and Growth When the State Board of Education authorized McNeese to proceed with a junior
year program, the Catalogue made up for junior-college operations was
obviously out of date, so a supplement was prepared. Fees were to be $18.50 the
first semester, including two dollars for the Contraband, one dollar lyceum fee,
and five dollars the first semester only for the Log. The second semester fee
was $13.00. Dormitory rent was only $18 per semester for men, $27 for women, and
board for a semester was $135, a total of $153 a semester for men, $162 for women.
The supplement listed a total of fourteen academic majors: general agriculture;
animal husbandry; English; social studies, elementary education; health and
physical education; music education with majors in vocal
school music, piano teaching, or band administration; accounting; general
business; secretarial science; mathematics; and science. In addition there were
three-year programs in pre-law, pre-medicine, and prevocational agriculture,
plus two-year programs in engineering, home economics, pre-dental, and
pre-nursing. Sixty-eight new courses were added. (1) The Board of Education appointed Dean Frazar as the first president of
McNeese State College. His salary, incidentally, was the same as that of other
Louisiana State College presidents at the time, $7,700 per year. The president
of a four-year college obviously needed administrative help, and Frazar, with
the approval of the State Board, employed Robert Lee Brown as dean. Dean Brown,
who held a bachelor’s degree from SLI and a master’s degree from the University of
Iowa, had at one time been athletic director of SLI and was head of the
Department of Health and Physical Education before he came to McNeese. For
administrative purposes, Frazar established six academic departments. J.C.
Barman headed the flourishing Department of Agriculture, and Harry Benefiel
presided over the Department of Commerce. W. H. Bradford headed the Department
of Mathematics and Science, and Wayne N. Cusic headed the Department of
Education until he became Dean of Men on December 1, 1951. Francis Bulber, of
course, headed the Department of Fine Arts, and C. A. Girard headed Liberal
Arts, basically languages and social sciences. (2) Students registering in the fall of 1950 totaled 501, of whom 271 were
freshmen, 99 sophomores, 76 juniors, and 7 seniors, plus 48 special students who
were in no particular degree plan. A number of the juniors were married women
living in Lake Charles who now had a chance to get a college degree, something
they could not have done if they had to attend classes in Lafayette,
Natchitoches, or Baton Rouge. These students were to be taught by a faculty of
38, 8 of whom were new. The new faculty included Roderick L. Rouse in
accounting, Erin Montgomery in foreign languages, Patrick L. Ford in mathematics,
and Warrick J. Dickson in botany. New and older teachers must have been
comforted when the Board of Education authorized colleges to increase faculty
salaries to make them equal to salaries of public school teachers with the same
amount of experience. The board ruled that only experience in Louisiana could
count. (3) The 1950-1951 academic year was a hectic one for teachers and students alike,
but as usual numbers of students distinguished themselves. Allen Commander was
elected president of the student body in October with Joel Kelly as vice
president and Patty Eaves secretary-treasurer. Commander would be reelected in
May. Six students - Ida Mae Bouquet, John Creed, Joyce Hebert, Eugene Hector,
Ruby Robidaux, and Preston Simmons - received scholarships from the
Gibson-Barham Fund, established by Mr. Frank Gibson and his daughter, Mrs. Jane
Barham. Sherrill Milner became editor of the Contraband. Mary Ellen Spiller won
a state contest with an essay on employing handicapped people and in addition to
$50, was awarded a scroll by Lieutenant Governor William Dodd. Finally, Bobby
Gene Heath won first place in a trombone contest sponsored by band leader Horace
Heidt. An Honors Day convocation was held each semester. Dr. A. M. Shaw, the
president of Centenary College, was the speaker at a January ceremony honoring
73 students who had maintained a B average or better the previous spring, and
Rabbi David Raab spoke in April to those who had earned honors the previous
fall. (4) In September Edwina Riquelmy was chosen Freshman Queen with Ramona Murray,
Ida Mae Bouquet, Betty Benoit, and Irene Stiles as her maids. Rose Richey was
selected as 1950 Homecoming Queen. Her court was made up of Geraldine Christ,
Joan Fenner, Ann Bethea, Leumel Dore, Ida Mae Bouquet, Susanne Fuller, Jackie
Simmons, and Irene Stiles. The yearbook queen, now called "LaBelle," was Leumel
Dore, with Kathryn Pugh, Rose Richey, Edwina Riquelmy, Betty Koonce, and Ida
Mae Bouquet presented as her court. One may have noticed that Ida Mae Bouquet
was on all three courts; she was chosen "most beautiful coed at McNeese" in the
contest to select the Esquire calendar girl for 1951. She would become Mrs.
Desmond Jones. (5) The academic year 1950-1951 saw a significant upgrading of the McNeese
faculty, something that was essential if the school was to be a real four-year
college. At the beginning of the year, William Bradford, Clet Girard, and
Francis Bulber held doctorates. In January Whitford Laverne Lewis of the
Agriculture Department received a doctorate from George Peabody. For the spring
semester Sam Adams, who held a Ph. D. in physics replaced Miller B. Clarkson, who
was called to active duty in the Navy; Dr. Karl Ashburn arrived to teach
economics, and William Iglinsky, a biologist, would receive his doctorate in
less than a year. A characteristic of a distinguished faculty is professional
activity outside the classroom. Here too, there were promising signs in
1950-1951. Margery Wilson attended the Southwest Theater Conference at Baylor
University in October, and Donald Millet, Ada Sabatier, Clara L. Jones, William
Iglinsky, and W. J. Dickson all attended the Louisiana Academy of Science Annual
Meeting at Centenary College; Millet read a paper there on the Credit Mobilier.
(6) Perhaps the most professionally active persons on the faculty at this time
was a new instructor in the Department of Music, Kenneth Gaburo. He had been on
the faculty only a short time when he composed the Alma Mater in which McNeese still
takes pride. The song was presented publicly on September 22, 1950. In March he
published the first volume of a textbook, Advanced
Harmony. Gaburo was from New Jersey, had studied at the Eastman School of Music,
and taught at Kent State before coming to McNeese. He composed an opera while
still at Lake Charles, and he composed an elegy that was performed by the New
York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. Gaburo did
not, unfortunately, remain at McNeese. He won a Fulbright Scholarship for a
year’s study abroad and then resigned in order to pursue graduate work at the
University of Illinois. (7) The Messiah continued to grow in size and quality. Some 225 singers
and instrumentalists took part in the 1950 performance, and no fewer than 2,000
people made their way into the Auditorium to hear it. The Drama Club chose
Sheridan’s famous comedy The Rivals for its play of the year, presented January
11 and 12, 1951. As was popular in the 1950’s, the play was presented in the
round. The cast consisted of Marvin Halbrook, John LeBlanc, Sherrill Milner,
Robert Carlin, John Credeur, Richard McCaughan, Carolyn Hutson, Leoti Stiles,
Connie Korsemeyer, "Biddy" Lyman, Doris Rollins, and Myrtie Hyatt. Several
parts, especially Mrs. Malaprop, were played by one student the first night and
another the second. Billie Ruth Evans, Doris Rollins, Thelma Shelley, Irene
Platt, Sanford Linscome, Roland Hebert, John LeBlanc, Jack Nelson, and Robert
Breaux were the cast of The Chocolate Soldier, the light opera presented by the
Music Department and the Lions Club in the spring of 1951. At intermission, Dean
Brown made the McNeese Cultural Award for "contributions to the cultural
development of Lake Charles and surrounding areas" to Miss Rosa Hart, local
champion of the dramatic arts. (8) The Korean War broke out in July 1950, and the Reserve Officers Training
Corps assumed new importance. In September the Army established a four-year ROTC
program to go with the college’s new status. Colonel Ware remained as Professor
of Military Science and Tactics, and he was shortly promoted to full colonel.
Allen Commander became cadet lieutenant colonel and battalion commander. And the
battalion was filled out to a full four companies, each commanded by a cadet
captain. At the end of the spring term, Colonel Ware left McNeese for Fort
Benning and, after that, Korea. (9) The struggle in Korea had its effect in other ways. At the end of the spring
semester, Reserve Lieutenant Commander Louis Reily, assistant professor of
mathematics, was ordered to active duty. College students were not exempted from
the draft in 1951, and the registrar announced that students who were drafted or
who enlisted in the armed forces would receive credit for courses they were
taking if they had been in class for fourteen weeks and had a passing grade at
the time of induction. (10) This year saw no significant improvement in campus facilities. There was good
reason for this; only $30,000 was available, and it was earmarked for repairs
and renovations in the Auditorium. President Frazar appointed a committee made
up of Frank Kelly, Rosa Hart, Dr. Maurice Kushner, Margery Wilson, and Mrs.
Frank Gibson to decide how that money could best be spent. He did point out that
the college’s greatest need was a science building; laboratories in what is now
Kaufman Hall were still in use for the teaching of the sciences. (11) The new four-year college obviously put more effort into recruiting than had
been the case in earlier years. The music festival and speech festival held for
area high schools had always served a recruiting purpose, and that did not
change. Something new came, however, when fifty-one high school students were
brought in for a rodeo clinic. Also new was a "road show" of student talent,
"vocalists, dancers, an orchestra, string band, and precision drill team," with
student-body president Allen Commander as master of ceremonies that toured area
high schools. Before the year was out, a hillbilly band, with Herbert Van Winkle
on the violin; Billy Cooper, bass fiddle; A. J. Weeks, washing board; Woody
Watson, electric guitar; and Arlen Hanchey, guitar, was the most popular part of
the road show. (12) Students who were at McNeese in 1951 will remember registration for the
spring semester, when icy weather forced a delay and made it necessary to
postpone a basketball game. Nine courses were offered for night students, and
most of them attracted enough students to be taught. Enrollment for spring was
100 students more than had registered in the fall, a total of 601. Of these 199
were freshmen, 93 sophomores, 114 juniors and 8 seniors, and no fewer than 187
special students, the last number being so large because night students were
classified as special students. (13) No doubt alumni activity was stimulated by the conversion to four-year
status. Ernest Schindler was elected alumni president for 1950-1951, and more
than 1500 letters were sent out urging alumni to be on hand for Homecoming. The
parade the afternoon before the game was considerably more elaborate than usual.
Members of each class in the college’s history had a place in the parade. The
response was good; more than 200 couples bought tickets to the dance after the
game. One of the alumni who returned was Dr. Carson Jeffries, graduate in the
class of 1941, who had gone on to become a distinguished nuclear physicist.
(14) Athletically, McNeese was neither fish nor fowl in 1950-1951; Northeastern
was the only other school in the area in the same circumstances. The schedules
were basically still junior college schedules. In football Coach Ratcliff was
fortunate enough to win half his games, and in basketball Coach Cusic’s team won
seven games and lost nine. The regional junior college basketball tournament was
held in Lake Charles in 1951, and McNeese participated, winning over Little Rock
Junior College but then suffering defeat at the hands of Northeastern
Mississippi Junior College. Northeast Mississippi apparently used an ineligible
player, leading Coach Cusic to demand that the school be suspended from further
competition. Even the boxing team did not distinguish itself in 1951. Cusic, who
was now athletic director as well as basketball coach, dean of men, and head of
the Education Department, was working toward membership in the Gulf States
Conference for McNeese. He was able to schedule football games with Louisiana
College, Northeastern, and Southeastern for 1951, and other conference teams
would be scheduled in 1952. By that time, however, Cusic would no longer be an
active coach. (15) 2 There could be no graduation in 1951, because the college was authorized only
to teach junior-level courses. As a matter of fact, one student did complete all
requirements for graduation in the summer of 1951, but she had to wait until the
next spring for commencement ceremonies. Total registration for the fall
semester was a gigantic 965, but the total is deceiving. There were 280 freshmen
students, 135 sophomores, 93 juniors, and 91 seniors, for a total of only 599.
The remainder were special students of one kind or another; 266 enrolled for
night classes. Most of the night students were military personnel stationed at
the Air Base. Once more, spring enrollment exceeded that of the fall semester,
for a total of 933, of whom 202 were freshmen, 138 sophomores, 81 juniors, 121
seniors, and 391 special students. The band was one symbol of growth. Director
Brad Daigle promised that it would be bigger and better, with a total membership
of as many as 60 students. (16) It was apparent that more facilities must be provided if McNeese State
College was to fulfill its educational and cultural mission in Southwest
Louisiana. Even though the college was hardly able to provide instruction in the
curricula already in the Catalogue, the Association of Commerce asked the
Board of Education to establish a Department of Nursing at McNeese. The Board of
Education did recognize the existing needs, and asked for a total capital outlay
appropriation for McNeese of $1,600,000, including $600,000 for a science
building, $250,000 for a women's dormitory, $150,000 for a dining hall
and student center, $300,000 for a third wing to the administration building
(Kaufman Hall), and $300,000 for a library. Everything the board requested would
not be forthcoming at once, of course, but McNeese did do well enough in the
legislative session of 1952 to bring bitter protests from President Joel
Fletcher of Southwestern Louisiana Institute. (17) Any number of students distinguished themselves during the year in one way or
another. For example the officers of McNeese’s first senior class were Jo Ann
Cline, president; Frank Jernigan, vice president; John Schroll, treasurer; and
Billie Ruth Watson, secretary. Dorothy Akins was editor of the Log and Thomas
Wadley and Joel Kelly were associate editors. Allen Commander headed the Student
Council one more time. He had been selected as the outstanding student in the
spring of 1951; in 1952 this honor went to Mary Ellen Spiller. Harry Champagne
was elected president of the International Relations Club. Paul Shorts was the
first student to complete the pre-medical program at McNeese, and he and John R.
Thompson were admitted to the Louisiana State University School of Medicine.
Finally, thirteen were accepted by Who’s Who in American Colleges and
Universities. They were Dorothy Akins, Robert S. Carlin, Geraldine Christ, Jo
Ann Cline, Allen Commander, Jean Craddock, Betty Koonce, John R. LeBlanc, John A.
Schroll, Paul Frederick Shorts, Jacqueline A. Summers, Billie Ruth Evans Watson
(Mrs. Woody Watson), and Donald L. Williams. The honors day convocation for 91
students who had maintained a B average in the spring of 1951 was held on
November 7, 1951, and State Superintendent of Education Shelby Jackson was the
speaker. General Troy Middleton, by this time president of Louisiana State
University, spoke to the convocation that honored outstanding students of the
fall semester in March 1952. Special recognition went to Cloyd Max Allison,
Lucille Blanton, William T. Clark, Reverend Lawrence DeShayes, Richard Fergus,
Jesse Howard, Constance Korsemeyer, James S. McGregor, Paul Otto, Johnny Royer,
and Betty Jo Tyler, all of whom had a perfect A average for that semester. (18) Recognition of beautiful and popular young women was a relished activity
every year. Gloria Broussard was Freshman Queen in the fall of 1951, and Elaine
Hanchey, Jackie Hoffpauir, Sue Cox, Dona Braud, and Jean Dosher made up her
court. Geraldine Christ was Homecoming Queen and Tommy Lou Thomas, Mrs. Woody
Watson, Mary Frances Bulber, Molly Welborn, Leumel Dore, Ida Mae Bouquet, Jackie
Hoffpauir, Jean Dosher, and Sue Cox were her maids. Miss Christ had been on the
Homecoming Court for three years. It might be mentioned that she also held a
band scholarship, was on the staff of the Log, was secretary of the Newman Club
and the Student Council, was secretary of the Louisiana State Women’s Recreation
Association, was an active member of the Drama Club, and was on the women’s
tennis team! Homecoming was hardly over when Tommy Lou Thomas was sent to
Memphis to represent Lake Charles as a contestant for Maid of Cotton at the
Memphis Cotton Carnival. Then in the spring Jackie Hoffpauir was selected as
LaBelle. Few introductions were necessary on the court, which consisted of Sue
Cox, Jean Dosher, Andree Goudeau, Leumel Dore, Donna Merchant, Tommy Lou Thomas,
Molly Welborn, and Geraldine Christ. (19) From the point of view of some of the student body, the formation of
sororities and fraternities was the most important development of the 1951-1952
academic year. The Deacons, a semi-fraternal organization, had existed since the
early years of McNeese, and now the Deacons definitely became a social
fraternity. Pi Chi Delta Theta Chi, and Delta Pi Phi were additional social
fraternities organized during the 1951-1952 academic year, though not
necessarily in the order named here. Delta Alpha Delta was the first social
sorority organized, and Alpha Zeta Phi social sorority came into being before
the academic year was over. These were local organizations, confined to McNeese
State College; national sororities and fraternities would come later. (20) Mrs. Dorothy F. Roberts and Albert Sterks were among those who joined the
faculty in the fall of 1951. Dolive Benoit and Kathleen Allums returned from
sabbaticals for advanced study in France, and Miriam Callender returned from a
sabbatical spent at the University of Texas. The sabbatical studies of Benoit,
Allums, and Callender were evidence of professional development of the faculty,
but there was more. An article by Assistant Professor Donald Millet appeared in
the 1951 issue of the McNeese Review. Dean Brown was elected vice
president of the Louisiana College Conference. Kenneth Gaburo composed an opera,
The Snow Queen, for which Margery Wilson wrote the libretto, and this opera was
performed by the Lake Charles Little Theater group. Last, but certainly not
least, William Iglinsky received his Ph.D. in biology from Texas A&M
University in June. (21) The number of cultural opportunities available to students, faculty, and the
public at McNeese in 1951-1952 is rather astounding. On October 21 Kathleen
Allums, no doubt inspired by her year’s study in Europe, gave a presentation of
Debussy preludes over KPLC radio. From late October through the rest of the year
there were music recitals of one kind or another by faculty and students in the
Fine Arts Building at 2:20 p.m. every Thursday, open to all. In November
students had an opportunity to see the cinema version of Aristophanes’s famous
comedy, Lysistrata. In January, April, and May the first senior recitals of
students graduating from the Department of Music were heard. Rudolph Ganz, an
internationally famed pianist, gave a recital and conducted master classes in
January, and faculty soprano Janet Marie Deskins gave a recital in DeRidder the
next month. In March, Mrs. Ruth Bryan Rhode, the first female United States
ambassador (to Denmark), and the daughter William Jennings Bryan, spoke to a
student assembly. Then "Mrs. Oswald W. McNeese, well known lecturer and
daughter-in-law of the late John McNeese," spoke to the college assembly on
"Nineteenth-Century Presidents and First Ladies." (22) The Bayou Players’ fall production was Moliere’s Imaginary Invalid. The cast,
with many students alternating in important roles, included Marvin Halbrook,
Richard McCaughan, Jean Craddock, Rosalie Robinson, Robert Landry, Robert
Breaux, Doris Rollins, Connie Korsemeyer, Carolyn Hutson, L. S. Hooper, Jr.,
Raymond Murray, Winslow Wright, and Sanford Linscome. The Messiah chorus
on December 9, 1951, consisted of no fewer than 235 voices, so many in fact that
there was a reduction in numbers in later years. This version of the Messiah
was the first one to be broadcast, over local radio, but it certainly would not
be the last. The light opera presented by McNeese and the Lion’s Club in the
spring of 1952 was the famous Merry Widow. The cast was a large one; Mrs. Billie
Ruth Watson, Sanford Linscome, John LeBlanc, Doris Rollins, Thelma Shelley,
Sidney Gray, Laura Faye Hennigan, Robert Breaux, Miriam Hanchey, Lamar
Robertson, June Nash, M. C. Cady, Jacob Hebert, and Robert Landry. The Can Can Chorus
of Wanda Horn, Connie Korsemeyer, Charlie Adams, Mary Frances Bulber, Cora Lee
Miller, Frances Christ, Margaret Ragusa, and Jean Craddock held the audience’s
attention. During intermission, Mrs. Kathleen Blair Foster, Lake Charles
pianist, composer, and teacher, received the fourth annual cultural award. (23) Lieutenant Colonel Joel T. Walker, who had been an instructor at the United
States Military Academy and at Fort Benning during the Second World War, became
Professor of Military Science and Tactics at McNeese. Cadet officers for the
year were Lieutenant Colonel Donald L. Williams, commander; Major John A.
Schroll, executive officer; and Captains Walter J. Cade, Robert S. Carlin, and
Jimmy L. Whitehead, company commanders. Williams and Cadet Desmond Jones were
chosen to represent McNeese at the Sesquicentennial celebration of the United
States Military Academy. Before the end of the year, Colonel Walker was ordered
to Korea, and lieutenant Colonel George R. Cole, just returned from 20 months in
the war zone, replaced him at McNeese. In the spring news came that Colonel
Ware, still fondly remembered at McNeese, was in Korea as Deputy Chief of Staff
of United States IX Corps; soon after came news of his sudden death of a heart
attack. In honor of Colonel Ware, the precision drill team became the Ware
Rifles, a name retained so long as the team existed. (24) Alumni activities became more organized as the fact that McNeese really was a
four-year college sank in. The secretary of the alumni organization, Margaret
Bell Russell, announced that 1,500 were expected for Homecoming, and it is
possible that this many did appear. The first junior-college graduates, the
class of 1941, were honored, and Mrs. Gladys Cagle Tritico, again a student;
Mrs. Ted Ennes, an attorney; Edward Lewis Clements, a New Orleans architect; Dr.
Robert O. Emmet, a physician; Dr. G. W. Ford, Jr., faculty member at San Jose
State College; Henry Herbert Robinson, a Lake Charles dentist; and Glenn Garber and
Matthew See, employees of Cities Service, were able to attend. At Homecoming,
tribute was paid to McNeese graduates who died in World War II: Jesse E. Anderson,
Ralph Brookner, Jewel Lester Duhon, C.C. Hoffpauir, Jr., John May, Benny Joseph
Mistretta, Amos Henry Nunez, Ralph Leon Nutter, and A. J. Derouen. Officers of
the Alumni Association for the upcoming year were Horace Lyons, president;
Robert Guintard, first vice president; Glenn Garber, second vice president; Dr.
Harcourt Stebbins, third vice president; Mrs. Carol Price, secretary; and
Wilfred Quirk, reelected as treasurer. (25) In October 1951 Wayne Cusic gave up the position of athletic director and
turned it over to Clifford Johnson, former professional baseball player and
former coach at SLI. Cusic remained basketball coach for one more year; then he
gave up all coaching duties. Frank Rolufs, chairman of the Faculty Athletic
Committee, announced that McNeese would become a member of the Gulf States
Conference as soon as possible. During its first year with four classes,
McNeese’s football record was surprisingly good: 5 wins, 3 losses, and 1 tie.
Co-captains of the football team, incidentally, were Desmond Jones and Jimmy
Whitehead. A group of Alexandria promoters had created the Cosmopolitan Bowl,
and McNeese was invited to meet Louisiana College; this gave McNeese an
opportunity, quickly seized, to avenge the loss of a game to Louisiana College
in the regular season. Entrance into the Gulf States Conference brought an end
to boxing at McNeese. McNeese was reluctant to give up a sport in which it had
excelled, but there was no choice. (26) The basketball team was more successful than the football team, winning 15 of
18 games in a bob-tailed season. The most notable event of the basketball season
took place before the first game, when Roy (Toddy) Moore of Lake Arthur decided
after two days on the LSU campus that he would prefer to attend McNeese. Moore,
at six feet, four inches, was considered a great prospect for college stardom,
and a star he would be in four years of competition at McNeese. McNeese had its
first track team in the spring of 1952, though its record was dismal. The new
tennis team, on the other hand, won 5 matches and lost 3. Baseball and golf
would be added later. (27) The first graduating class of McNeese State College was graduated May 26,
1952. The first graduate was Mrs. Garnett Z. Findley of Iowa, a first and second
grade teacher, who had completed all requirements for her education degree in
the summer of 1951. Fifty-seven other students also received their diplomas at
the commencement ceremony, including Dorothy L. Akins, who was "the honor
student" of the class. Dr. J. Henry Bowden, a well-known Shreveport minister,
preached the baccalaureate sermon, and Mr. E. R. Kaufman, one of the men
responsible for the founding of the junior college and for the preservation of
its translation into a four-year college, gave the commencement address. Mr.
Parrish Fuller of Oakdale, president of the State Board of Education, passed out
the diplomas. Twenty-seven young men were commissioned as Army second
lieutenants, and four of them, Robert S. Carlin, Herbert V. Van Winkle, Asa J.
Weeks, and Donald L. Williams, received commissions in the Regular Army.
Graduation ended with a dance for which Jan Garber and his famous orchestra
provided music. (28) Summer school in 1952 demonstrated how far McNeese had come. Seven
departments offered 60 courses, and the total enrollment reached 386. In the
fall almost a thousand students registered, 993 to be exact. Attrition was not
great; the total in the spring semester, 1953, was 930. These students had a
wider choice of courses than their predecessors; the 1952-1953 Catalogue
listed 23 four-year curricula and 370 separate courses, 53 more than had
appeared in the previous Catalogue. Then in August, it was announced that
for the first time a bachelor’s degree in chemistry would be offered. Previously
the nearest thing to this available was a degree in science education or a
general mathematics-science degree. (29) There would be some physical growth during the year, and some new offices
opened. Governor Earl Long had announced in April 1952 that $30,000 of state oil
revenues from the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge would be made available for
building a new cafeteria. Bids were received on January 20, 1953, and the
$30,000 added to money already appropriated provided the almost $84,000 needed.
Ground was broken on March 1, 1953, and the cafeteria would be available in the
fall of 1953. Plans were being drawn for a Baptist Student Center. Probably the
most important event of the year was the opening of an electronic laboratory to
be used in the teaching of foreign languages. This, according to Spanish teacher
Erin Montgomery, made a tremendous difference in the effectiveness of language
teaching. (30) To expedite the training of teachers, arrangements were made for practice
teaching by McNeese students at College Oaks Elementary School and at LaGrange
and Lake Charles high schools. A counseling service for freshmen was set up
under psychologist Ralph A. Tesseneer, and a placement service was established,
intended to aid students in finding jobs after graduation. Dean of Men Cusic
announced that Allen Commander would be in charge of the placement office in
addition to his duties as Director of Student Activities. As had become the
custom, two honors day convocations were held, one in the fall for students who
had maintained a B average the previous spring and one in the spring for those
who had done so in the fall. Asa Barnett, a public relations man, was the
speaker in the fall when 128 students were honored, and Dr. Fred Cole, Dean of
Arts and Sciences at Tulane, spoke to 126 students in the spring. More than 20
percent of the student body was making the honor roll, which was, and is,
entirely too many. (31) At the end of the fall semester Charles Thomas White, Robert Guillotte, and
Fred Thomas were admitted to the LSU Medical School, and in the spring Milton
Bourdier became a junior member of the American Chemical Society. Fred Thomas,
editor of the Contraband, was the first editor to attend the Columbia Scholastic
Press Association meeting in New York. Finally twelve students were selected for
inclusion in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities; they were Howard
Bishop, Robert Breaux, Harry Champagne, William T. Clarke, Geraldine Collins, Joline Davis, Rev. Lawrence DeShayes, Charles Kuehn, Thomas Miller, Doris
Rollins, Milly Welborn, and Jimmy Whitehead. (32) Vernie Miller of Grand Chenier was queen of the Homecoming court, and Molly
Welborn, Iwana Burk, Ida Mae Bouquet, Betty June Kitchell, and Jean Dosher were
the maids presented with her. Leumel Dore, recently stricken with polio, was an
honorary maid. LaBelle in the spring of 1953 was Miss Donna Merchant. Her maids
were Ida Mae Bouquet, Elaine Hanchey, Vernie Miller, Gwendolyn Moss, Alma Marie
Rostrom, and Gere Soulier. Miss Merchant had earlier represented the Lake
Charles Association of Commerce as an entry in the Maid of Cotton contest at the
Memphis Cotton Carnival, and Miss Bouquet had represented McNeese at the
Opelousas Yambilee Festival. The sororities and fraternities that had come into
existence the previous year continued to thrive. Delta Alpha Zeta, headed by
president Maryle Morgan, had 25 members, and Alpha Zeta Phi, headed first by
Molly Welborn and then by Jeanette Burkette, had 18. Among the four fraternities
the Deacons had 12 members, Delta Pi Chi 18, Delta Theta Chi 20, and Pi Chi 14. (33) ROTC students had an opportunity to reflect on what duty meant this year.
Colonel Cole received the oak leaf cluster to his bronze star for meritorious
service in Korea. Before this, however, news had come that former professor of
military science and tactics Lieutenant Colonel Joel Walker had been severely
wounded in the battle for Triangle Hill. In April Colonel Walker, on recuperative
leave, reviewed the cadet corps. William T. Clarke, who had been named "most
outstanding cadet" at the Fort Benning summer camp, became the cadet commander.
In October Clarke, Raymond D. Manis, Sam F. Liprie, Charles E. Kuehn, Woody B.
Watson, and Charles T. White were cited as distinguished military students. (34) The alumni under the leadership of Frank Salter conducted a special
membership drive during the year. Two alumni who distinguished themselves were
Warrant Officer Herman G. Vincent, who at age 22 became bandmaster of the
67-piece 1st Air Force Band, and Second Lieutenant Chick Green, who
completed paratrooper training at Fort Benning and was assigned to the 82nd
Airborne Division. Most McNeese alumni were at this time still too young to make
a significant contribution to the present and future of the college. (35) The faculty of the new college was becoming more and more qualified as new
people were added and others received additional training. When school began in
the fall, Ralph Ward, who will be discussed again later, had replaced Cusic as
basketball coach. John Q. Anderson, one of the more important Louisiana literary
figures of the 1950’s and prevented from a much greater contribution only by his
untimely death, was an assistant professor of English. Two men who would play
important roles were added to the faculty. Dr. Karl Everett Ashburn, who had
earned a Ph.D. in economics from Duke University, was named full professor and
head of the Department of Commerce. Before the year was over he would be Dean of
Commerce. Onis D. Hyatt became assistant professor of Horticulture and
Agronomy; he would become head of the Department of Agriculture and direct it
for many years. (36) At the beginning of the fall semester, Francis Bulber was promoted from head
of the Department of Fine Arts to Dean of Fine Arts, with control over Music,
Speech, and Art. William H. Bradford was named Dean of Arts and Sciences, which
made him supervisor of the humanities and the sciences, plus Agriculture and
Home Economics. Dean Brown was now responsible only for the Education
Department, which included Health and Physical Education. There was no dean of
the college; each of the above reported directly to President Frazer. In May
Bradford received his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Texas.
Clet Girard and Margery Wilson took a year’s sabbatical, Girard to study at
Oxford University in the United Kingdom, Wilson to study at Columbia University
in New York. During the summer of 1952, Frank Rolufs attended the University of
Houston; Wylma Reynolds and Ada Sabatier studied at Columbia University; and
Wayne Cusic, J.C. Barman, and W. J. Oakley attended classes at LSU. (37) Kenneth Gaburo learned in October that he had won second place in a national
contest for dual-piano compositions and that his opera, The Snow Queen, would be
performed at St. Lawrence College. In the spring he was named as one of the 23
southern composers whose work would be played at the Regional Composers’ Forum
at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Miss Janet Deskins of the music faculty
was honored by being selected as a finalist from the South for auditions for the
Metropolitan Opera Company of New York. Margery Wilson’s brother, David G.
Parsons, a young sculptor who replaced her while she was on sabbatical, put on a
one-man exhibit at the Lake Charles Public Library. John Q. Anderson read paper
to the Annual Meeting of the Texas Folklore Society and had an article accepted
for publication in the Southwest Historical Quarterly. (38) In October John Oakley and John S. Wilson of the Science Department attended
an LSU conference on the teaching of chemistry, and in November Karl Ashburn, J.
M. Weidman, Roderick L. Rouse, and A. D. Sterkx of the Commerce Department, aided
by Auditor Arthur Lee, held a well-attended clinic on federal and state income
taxes. President Frazar and the four deans attended a Memphis meeting of the
Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges, the accrediting agency
for southern colleges, in November, and Dean Bulber attended the convention of
the National Association of Schools of Music on the same trip. Donald Millet and
Ada Sabatier went to the Fleming Lectures on Southern History at LSU and heard
famed historian E. Merton Coulter lecture on Reconstruction in the South. Millet
also read a paper at the Louisiana Academy of Science meeting. Erin Montgomery
of the Language Department represented McNeese at the Boston meeting of the
Modern Language Association. (39) In meeting the college’s obligation to provide cultural opportunities to its
students and to the people of Southwest Louisiana, the band gave summer concerts
at Locke Park and Goosport Recreational Park; offered a major concert in the
Auditorium in February that featured a trumpet quartet made up of John Brewer,
Anthony Mancuso, Don Graber, and Paul Myers; and in April made a two-day tour
that took it to six high schools away from Lake Charles. For those who like more
classical music the Danish National Symphony gave a concert in the Auditorium on
the evening of October 28 and the Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo performed on the
Auditorium stage on January 10, 1953. In the late winter Rudolph Ganz gave a
piano recital and conducted two days of classes for McNeese students, and famed
actor Sir Charles Laughton gave readings in the Auditorium. Finally, on March
23, the Alabama String Quartette of the University of Alabama gave a recital.
(40) For their fall production the Bayou Players chose Sidney Howard’s play,
The
Silver Cord, which was presented in the round. The small cast included Doris
Rollins, Jackie Hoffpauir, Calvin Colt, Philip Silvernail, Lily Ann Frazar, and
Margaret Ragusa. Only 300 people could view each performance. The Messiah
in 1952 had 214 members in the chorus and 34 instrumentalists in the orchestra.
Soloists were soprano Euyne Register of Jersey City, contralto Kathryn Gutekunst
of Houston, tenor Floyd Townsley of the University of Texas, and bass Geoffrey
Young of Houston. Pirates of Penzance was sponsored by McNeese and the Lion’s
Club in the spring. The lively cast included Robert Breaux, Remie Vidrine, Jake
Hebert, Stanford Linscome, Lamar Robertson, Rhonda Aleshire, Doris Rollins,
Thelma Shelley, Laura Faye Hennigan, Frances Cormier, Edna Mira Hebert, Marion
Garrison, and Miriam Hanchey. At intermission of the first performance Mrs.
David Levingston – choir director of the First Church of Christ, Scientist,
charter member of the Little Theater, a worker in the Community Concert
Association, and a member of the Messiah chorus for eleven years –
received the McNeese cultural award. (41) The McNeese football squad in 1952 had a 7-3 record. Jules Derouen was the
team star of the season and McNeese’s rushing leader, gaining 1,313 yards and
scoring 102 points, thus placing second nationally among small college players.
It was Charles Kuehn, however, who was selected for the United Press’s Little
All-American team. Before the season began, Cusic and Ratcliff selected their
ten best "all time" athletes at McNeese. They were Kenneth Sweeney, Dowell
Fontenot, Irving Richard, Wayne Kingery, Jackie [sic] Doland, Lloyd Jones, Reed
Stephens, E. J. Lewis, Carroll Neely, and Aubrey Cole. (42) The McNeese basketball team had high hopes for the 1952-1953 season, all of
which were not fulfilled. The team did win 17 of 24 games, which earned it a
place, along with Tech, Northwestern, and Centenary, in the NAIA Louisiana
District playoff. Hopes for national distinction ended when Tech eliminated
McNeese. The record might have been better, but after the team had won 7 games
in a row, Roy (Toddy) Moore was hit by an automobile and incapacitated for 8
games. Even so, Dick Miller was named to the All-GSC first team and Moore to the
third. Coach Ralph Ward was named GSC coach of the year. McNeese made it into
the playoff primary because Centenary was dropped from the GSC for "continued
violation of eligibility rules," which gave McNeese a 6 – 1 record in conference
play. The track team this year was undistinguished, but the tennis team won the
GCS championship with a 5 – 3 record. (43) The graduation class of 1953 heard a baccalaureate sermon by Bishop Maurice
Schexnayder, former chaplain to Catholic students at LSU. The commencement
speaker was T. Harry Williams of the LSU Department of History, already a
well-known historian but destined to become one of the outstanding scholars of
his generation. Williams' topic was "Why Karl Marx Was Wrong About America."
Magna cum laude graduates were Geraldine Collins, John Schroll, Joline Davis,
Reverend Lawrence DeShayes, Mrs. Martha Todd Blevins and Mrs. Carita Dobbertine
Dunnehoo. In addition, William Clarke received an award as the "outstanding
graduate in business administration." Clarke, Raymond D. Manis, Woody B. Watson,
and Charles T. White had already been recognized as distinguished military
graduates and had received
regular army commissions. Three members of this class, Robert Guillotte, Claude
Davis, Jr., and Fred Thomas were accepted by the LSU School of Medicine, and
Arlen Wayne Hanchey was accepted by the Loyola School of Dentistry. (44) 4 Long lines at registration made it evident that enrollment was up again in
the fall of 1953; so many hopefuls appeared that lack of student housing made it
necessary to turn some away. The final count showed 402 freshmen, 188
sophomores, 95 juniors and 95 seniors, a total of 1,192 when special and night
students were included. In the spring attrition had reduced the enrollment to
339 freshmen, 169 sophomores, 100 juniors, 112 seniors, 259 night students and
19 special students, which made a total of 998. This registration was highly
significant in that four black high school graduates applied for admission but
the integration of McNeese will receive special and separate attention in this
narrative. (45) According to the Catalogue, in preparation for this increase in
enrollment, the college had added a number of new four-year curricula leading to
a bachelor’s degree. In the sciences these included physics, pre-medical,
mathematics, and business and home economics. In fine arts there was a new
bachelor’s degree in art, one in speech and dramatics, and no fewer than four in
music. The School of Business now offered four-year programs in secretarial
science, economics, and foreign trade. Degrees in history, English, French and
Spanish were made available. After the Catalogue was in print, the
decision was made to offer a degree in journalism, radio, and television.
Finally a four-year nursing program was begun, and in time Mrs. Fannie L. Sample
was named administrator of this program. To support all these new degrees, 115
new courses were added to the Catalogue, making a total of 544. (46) Improvements in facilities during the 1953-1954 year were not extensive, but
there was more promise for the future. In the fall the new cafeteria, described
by President Frazar as outgrown before it was ever opened, came into use and the
renovation of the Home Economics Cottage across Ryan Street made that building
much more useful than it had been. Ground was broken across Ryan next to
Contraband Bayou for a Baptist Student Center. As to the future, the State Board
of Education requested $2,195,000 for capital outlay at McNeese. This money had
to be appropriated by the legislature, but Frazar was confident enough to
announce in October that the college would soon have a new $850,000 Science
Building and a $400,000 women’s dormitory. (47) In an attempt to lower the attrition rate among freshmen, a freshman
counseling service had been set up, but it had no appreciable effect. So long as
any high school graduate could enter McNeese, and so long as the high schools
graduated every boy or girl who behaved reasonably well and who kept a seat warm
for four years, the attrition rate would continue to be heavy. In the long run,
perhaps the most significant development of 1953-1954 was the accreditation of
the music program by the National Association of Schools of Music. This
recognition demonstrated that McNeese’s music program was at least as good as
those in most other colleges and universities. In less than four years, Francis
Bulber had done extremely well. (48) State Superintendent of Education Shelby Jackson was the speaker in October
when 165 students who had earned a place on the spring honor roll were
applauded. Over 40 percent of juniors and seniors were on this honor roll. Lake
Charles Superintendent G. W. Ford spoke in the spring to 151 students who had
made the honor roll in the fall. Among these honor students was John H. Eckhardt,
one of four Louisiana students to be considered for a Fulbright scholarship
abroad that year. Unfortunately, he did not get the scholarship. Five seniors –
Jerry C. Pickrel, Cyrus Vaughn, Donald Tyler, Johnny Royer, and Stephen
Carrington – were accepted for medical school, Pickrel at Tulane and the
remainder at LSU. (49) A group of students interested in writing formed a local
unit of the College Writers Society of Louisiana in November
1953 and planned to participate in that organization’s writing contests. This
would bring distinction to McNeese in the near future. Several McNeese art
students had works selected for a showing in Baton Rouge sponsored by the
Louisiana Art Commission. Six McNeese students – Fred Godwin, Billy Frank
Gossett, Roy Price, Annette Landry, Dale Ann Leaman, and Iris Bonar – attended a
meeting of the Student Federation of Louisiana Colleges and Universities at
Hammond in March; Bonar was elected secretary of this statewide group, and
Godwin was elected parliamentarian. Carol Pulliam, editor of the Contraband,
attended the Thirtieth Annual Convention of the Columbia Scholastic Press
Association, sponsored by Columbia University, in New York, a meeting that a
number of later editors would attend. Gene Booth was president of the Student
Council (50) Freshmen Queen in 1953 was Annette Landry, who had Barbara Breaux, Helen
Hebert, Alice Preston, Joyce Land, and Jeanine Porter as her court. Donna
Merchant was the McNeese candidate for Yambilee Queen at Opelousas and for Rice
Queen at Crowley, and in the spring Beverly Helms, was Lake Charles’
representative at the Miss Louisiana pageant at Lake Providence. She was the
second runner-up. Mrs. Desmond Jones, the former Ida Mae Bouquet, was Homecoming
Queen, supported by maids Barbara Breaux, Jacquelyn Watkins, Donna Merchant,
Patsy Fern Cooper, and Alma Marie Rostrom. Annette Landry was LaBelle for 1954
and Billie Pitts, Marjorie Riley, Sara Ann Monticello, Jeanine
Porter, Nancy Bybee, and Alma Marie Rostrom made up her court. (51) Except for Homecoming, the alumni were not particularly active in 1953-1954.
Gerald F. Sinitiere was elected alumni president, Harold Price first vice
president, Roy Broussard second vice president, Harry Clark third vice
president, and Mrs. J. M. Humble secretary treasurer in the fall alumni
elections. The alumni Board of Directors was made up of Eugene Cox, Jake Levine,
Everett Scott, Ted Price, Ted Harless, "Buddy" Price, Don Kingery, Mrs. Charles
Richard, George Ashy, and Frank Salter. Alumnus Allen Commander, who had been
director of student activities and assistant dean of men, left for LSU, and
alumnus Reed Stephens, who had been playing professional baseball for the Lake
Charles Lakers of the Evangeline League, became football coach at Oberlin High
School. (52) New faculty members, most of them additions to the faculty but some
replacements, were numerous. Among them was Nowell Daste, employed to supervise
the new four-year program in art, something he did for more than a quarter of a
century. Others were Dee Edward Newland, assistant professor of Geology, Ann
Cash, instructor in Home Economics, and Bob Lee Mowery, head librarian. Dr.
Gerald M. Weiss, M.D., became a part-time instructor in the pre-medical program.
There can be no question that Kenneth Gaburo was the outstanding faculty member
this year. It was announced in July that he had received the first Victor
Alessandro commission for a small composition in chamber music. That same month
he gave a piano recital of his own compositions. In January Gaburo and James
Dagleish of New York City shared the $1,000 prize in the George Gershwin
Memorial Contest for the best unpublished orchestral composition by a young
American composer; each man’s composition was played by the New York
Philharmonic. In April one of his works, "Music for Five Instruments," was
played as part of the third annual Southwestern Symposium of Contemporary Music
at the University of Texas at Austin. In May Gaburo was in charge of a Festival
of Contemporary Music held at McNeese. Then, only 27 years of age, he received
the Fulbright grant for a full year of study abroad that would take him from
McNeese permanently. (53) Six more faculty members had joined Girard and Bulber as holders of the
doctoral degree by the fall of 1953, making eight of sixty-two. In the fall
Dolive Benoit and Samuel Adams collaborated on an article published in the
Modern Language Journal, concerning the language laboratory at McNeese; at that
time, only McNeese and LSU had such facilities. John S. Wilson and Hans B. Jannsen had a paper in the September 5 issue of the
Journal of the American
Chemical Society. John M. Brierly read a paper to a meeting of the American
Chemical Society. The language faculty was active in the beginning of a France-Amerique
Chapter in Lake Charles. Warrick J. Dickson presented a paper at the Annual
Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists and Roderick L. Rouse
published an article in the April issue of the Bulletin of the National
Association of Cost Accountants. Miller Clarkson was selected to attend a
nuclear physics course at Oak Ridge. During the summer of 1954, five faculty
members were working toward doctoral degrees, Clarkson studying physics at the
University of Texas, Octavine Cooper working in education at LSU, Donald Millet
studying history at LSU, Clara Louise Jones studying zoology at the University
of Indiana, and Albert D. Sterkx working in business administration
at the University of Alabama. (54) The Bayou Players presented two plays during the year. In the fall they put
on Maurice Valency’s adaptation of Jean Giraudoux’s Intermezzo under the title
The Enchanted. The lead roles were played by Nancy Bybee, Daniel Ieyoub, Leland
Fisher, and Al Noah. In the spring they produced Shakespeare’s Henry IV (Part I)
as the guest play of the Lake Charles Little Theater. Ed Daugherty of the
McNeese faculty played Falstaff, and the legendary Rosa Hart played Mistress
Quickly. Among the others in the large cast were Jerry Vauquelin, Paul Myers,
Leland Fisher, Paul Hannen, Fred L. Probst, James Beam, Larry Guillory, Fred
Godwin, and Daniel Ieyoub. The players were pleased when some scenes from this
production appeared in July 1954 issue of Seventeen magazine. (55) The Messiah, presented on December 6 for the fourteenth year,
was unquestionably bigger than ever. From 85 voices and two pianos at the first
performance in 1940, it had grown to 220 voices and a 40-piece orchestra in
1953. Soloists were Virginia MacWatters, a soprano of the Metropolitan Opera
Company; Marcella Uhl Robnett, contralto, who sang frequently for the Columbia
Broadcasting Company; Dallas Draper, a tenor from the Music Department of LSU;
and Norman Cordon, bass-baritone of the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. The auditorium was not only filled; 401 people had to be turned away.
Excerpts from this production were broadcast over the Mutual Radio Network on
December 27, 1953. (56) The spring operetta was the ever popular The Student Prince. The cast was a
large one: Charles Goen, Huey Williams, Peter Moon, Allen Drost, C. J. Christ,
Remie Vidrine, Sanford Linscome (as the prince), Donald Goss, Mrs. Monnie Boyer,
Larry Guillory, Jerry Crews, J. M. Thom, Lucas Edward Brock, Thelma Shelley,
Rhonda Aleshire, Daniel Ieyoub, Mrs. Marion Garrison, Laura Faye Hennigan,
Katherine Rentrop, Joel Belanger, Mrs. Goldie Higdon, Beverly Helms, Mary Ruehln,
and Olive West. At intermission the first night before a capacity audience,
Frances Bulber was presented with the McNeese cultural award. (57) Plenty of additional activity was scheduled. The McNeese Band played in
Pelican Stadium in New Orleans as part of the celebration of the
sesquicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase, and the 45-voice McNeese Mixed
Chorus sang as part of the ceremonies opening television station KTAG-TV in Lake
Charles. Musical events on campus during the first half of 1954 included the
University of Alabama String Quartette, Phil Spitalny and his all-girl orchestra,
the New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, ballad singer
John Jacob Miles, and Larry Logan and his harmonica. For those who preferred
something different, famous actress Agnes Moorehead gave her "Fabulous Redhead"
one-woman show, and former Governor Sam Jones, Mrs. Oswald McNeese, and New
Orleans mayor and would-be governor Chep Morrison each spoke to a general
assembly in the Auditorium. (58) The football team had a mediocre season, losing 6 out of 10 games. One
reason, no doubt, was that the star of the previous season, fullback Jules
Derouen, and end James Trotti were dismissed from the squad by Coach Ratcliff
for disciplinary reasons. This was part of a tragedy in the making. Derouen,
whose older brother had been a pilot who died in World War II, enlisted in the
Marine Corps and was found dead of a bayonet wound in the chest at boot camp at
San Diego. Basketball was little better than football this year. The team lost
eleven games, but still managed to place third in the Gulf States Conference.
Roy Moore was definitely the star of the year and was named to the All-Gulf
States Conference team. The baseball team, a new athletic venture, won only 6 of
18 games. (59) Seventy-four seniors graduated in the spring of 1954.
Cum laude graduates
were Mrs. Laura Lucille Blanton McCoy, Mrs. Mary McCloud Strickland, Jerry Cline Pickrel,
Johnny Ray Royer, and Sanford Abel Linscome. Twelve young men were
commissioned into the armed forces. The Right Reverend Iveson B. Noland, by this
time Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana, was the baccalaureate speaker, and Dean of
Admissions Dr. J. M. Godard of the University of Miami gave the commencement
address. Thirty-eight of the graduates majored in education, 13 in liberal arts
(which then included the sciences, social sciences, history, and languages), 10
in agriculture, 9 in fine arts, and 4 in commerce. (60) 5 If Registrar Inez Moses and her small staff had previously been becoming
bored with regular increases in enrollment, the fall semester 1954 did nothing
to relieve the boredom. One hundred and seventy-five more students registered
than in September 1953, making a total of 1,377. This included 495 freshmen, 332
of them coming to college for the first time, 211 sophomores, 136 juniors, 117
seniors, 17 special students, and 362 night students, and 40 persons taking
courses for no credit. No doubt the enrollment would have been larger, but well
before registration was over would-be resident students were being turned away
because there was no housing for them. Enrollment for the spring was also up,
453 freshmen, 244 sophomores, 152 juniors, 123 seniors, and enough in other categories to
bring the total up to 1,380. (61) In August President Frazar, speaking to the Lake Charles Lions Club, stated
that through the efforts of Senator Sockrider and Representatives Horace Jones
and Bobby Cagle. McNeese would get $1,500,000, which would be used for an
$850,000 science building, a student center, and a women’s dormitory. The State
Board of Education either had different ideas or had its signals crossed,
because three weeks later it stated that $850,000 would go for the science
building, $100,000 for more land, and $150,000 for a student center. The science
building at least was on its way. In March Governor Robert F. Kennon spoke when
the cornerstone was laid for what is now Frasch Hall. (62) The dormitories did not come quite so soon, but in late November the board
authorized McNeese to issue bonds amounting to $1,150,000 to be used as security
for a loan from the federal government to pay for three dormitories. The bonds
would be paid off by revenues from the buildings. In December an architect was
chosen to draw up plans. It might also be noted that the W. H. Knight Memorial
Baptist Student Center was formally opened in September, providing another
center for student activity. (63) A new four-year forestry program was initiated in the fall of
1954 and
attracted a small but devoted band of students. In January, Dr. Andrew Rainier,
pathologist at St. Patrick’s Hospital, announced that McNeese, with the
cooperation of the hospital, would offer a degree in medical technology. In the
fall a coordinating council for the nursing program was appointed, and in the
spring McNeese began a program under which registered nurses without degrees
could obtain a bachelor’s degree at McNeese. Twelve nurses enrolled in the
program full time, and 35 enrolled part-time. Also, in the spring semester,
1955, freshmen began taking placement tests in English and mathematics, enabling
advisers to recommend remedial work if it was needed. Another desirable
development of 1954 was the establishment by the Enterprise Club, at the urging
of Dean Mabel Kitt, of a $1,000 loan fund for McNeese students, a fund that the
Lake Charles Junior Welfare League increased by $500. (64) The most important development of the 1954-1955 academic year was the full
accreditation of McNeese by the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and
Colleges. Colleges and universities in the United States are accredited by
regional bodies, and only the Southern Association could grant accreditation to
the entire college. It should be noted, however, that the Department of Nursing
already had state accreditation, and that the Department of Music was already
nationally accredited. Accreditation by the Southern Association was much
simpler than it would be in later years. Basically, McNeese applied for
accreditation, a visiting committee came and inspected the college, and the
association, at its December meeting declared the college accredited. In
contrast, accreditation in 1985-1986 involved the work of scores of people, used
untold hours of computer time, and produced tons of paper. Nor is it completely
over at this writing. (65) M. K. Woolbert was president of the student body in 1954-1955, presiding over
a Student Council with three representatives from each class, Woolbert was
elected president of the Student Federation of Louisiana Colleges and
universities, and the statewide organization met at McNeese in the spring. Just
before the end of the spring semester, Roy Price was elected president of the
student body for 1955-1956. The debate team was "newly organized" for 1954-1955,
and it won five of thirteen contests in the Louisiana Technical Institute
tournament in November. The team consisted of seniors Larry Guillory and James
Kent, plus substitute Howell Murphy, juniors Larry DeRouen and Randolph
Dressler, and a segregated women’s team made up of Winelle Gordy and Tasca
Dickerson. (66) Bessie Jean Ruley was chosen by the Louisiana State Home Economics College
Clubs as the Louisiana candidate for vice president of the National Home
Economics Club, and Leavon Rostrom and Marie Speyrer won expense-paid trips to
the National 4-H Congress in Chicago. The Lion’s Club honored Ted Chapman as
McNeese’s "scholastically outstanding athlete in baseball and basketball," and
Charles Wade Carwile, who had left McNeese for LSU and law school at the end of
the fall semester, was recognized as the "outstanding accounting student" for the
year. Perhaps the most prophetic honor to come to a student in 1954-1955 was
Andre Dubus’s winning of first prize in the short story in the College Writers’
Society of Louisiana contest. Dubus, who wrote a column for the Contraband, was
subsequently honored by the Lake Charles Writers Club, though his sister
Elizabeth read his story for him. Dubus went on to become a nationally known
novelist and short story writer, and his sister has published novels of her own.
(67) As usual, there were honors convocations in fall and spring to recognize
those who had made the honor roll the previous semester. In the fall Dr. Charles
C. Elkins, dean of Francis T. Nicholls Junior College of LSU (soon to be
Nicholls State College), spoke to 147 honor roll students. On this long honor
roll were such familiar names as Eldon Bailey, who would teach accounting at
McNeese for years; Curtis Nelson, who would devote his life to teaching English
at McNeese; James C. Beam, who would become editor of the Lake Charles
American Press; Leland Parra, who would be one of McNeese’s best-known alumni;
Fred R. Godwin, who would later become a prominent attorney; and Louis Riviere,
who is now Dean of Student Life at McNeese. In the spring Mr. J. J. Davies,
president of the State Board of Education, spoke to 177 honor roll students.
(68) The Freshman Queen in 1954 was Sheila Breaux of Lake Charles. Her court was
made up of Charlotte Clarke, Peggy Ellis, Shirley Sellers, Jacqueline Bouquet,
and Leavon Rostrom. Alma Marie Rostrom was Homecoming Queen, attended by Barbara
Henshaw, Joyce Land, Frances Thomson, Alice Ogea, Jacquelyn Watkins, and
Frances Christ. In the spring Frances Thomson was LaBelle, and Leavon Rostrom,
Joyce Land, Barbara Breaux, Emogene Lanier, Sheila Breaux, and Annette Landry
made up her court. Annette Landry had already represented Lake Charles at the
Cotton Festival at Ville Platte, and Leavon Rostrom had represented the McNeese
at the Opelousas Yambilee Festival. Three other McNeese coeds represented the
City of Lake Charles at festivals, Nancy Lynn Bybee at the Crowley Rice
Festival, Frances Thomson at the Yambilee Festival, and Barbara Breaux at the
Cotton Festival. (69) Lieutenant Colonel George Cole’s ROTC unit had a bad 1954 beginning as four cadets –
Billy Frank Gossett, James Beam, Robert Benoit, and Ira Landry – were injured
(but none very seriously) in an automobile accident while returning from summer
camp at Fort Benning. Top cadet officers for the year were William Campbell and
Charles A. Thomason, lieutenant colonels; Winfield A. Singleton, major; and
Billy Gossett, Robert Finnigan, and M. K. Woolbert, captains. Cadets with the
highest scholastic rank were Charles W. Carwile, William E. Lumpkin, Francis T.
Lake, and Camille P. Sonnier. Singleton received a regular army commission upon
graduation. (70) Alumni officers for the year were John Eckhardt, president; Walter J. Cade,
first vice president; Sam Gennuso, second vice president; Rev. Lawrence N.
DeShayes, third vice president; and Betty Brashear, secretary treasurer. The
first issue of the Alumni News was published in 1954, edited by Allen Commander.
Many alumni were in the military; Second Lieutenant William T. Clarke came to
Lake Charles from Fort Sill on 30 days leave, with orders to report to the Far
East. Tragedy struck when Lieutenant Paul J. Burke, Jr., who had received a
regular army commission, was killed in a helicopter accident at Fort Rucker,
Alabama. Sanford A. Linscome, who had participated in practically every musical
event at McNeese during the years he was in college, was reported to have joined
the Robert Shaw Chorale. Linscome went on to get his doctorate in music and at
this writing is coordinator of graduate studies in music at Northern Colorado
University. (71) The constantly growing enrollment demanded an increase in faculty, and new
positions and replacements brought many new faces to the campus in 1954. Norman
Smith succeeded Brad Daigle as band director when Daigle resigned to go into the
insurance business. The Department of Agriculture added alumnus Kenneth Sweeny
and Edmund D. Cooley as full-time faculty, and Dr. Howard V. Smythe, a
veterinarian, as part-time faculty. They joined Robert Bryant, who had come
earlier. Dr. James Dwight Hobbs, who would devote his life to McNeese until his
retirement, joined the Department of Education. Miss Elaine Tieman and Miss
Mildred Davis, both of whom would close their professional careers at McNeese,
became part of the Library staff, and Elaine Jarmon and D. Richard Covington
came to teach English. Until she retired, Miss Jarmon would remain at McNeese
and teach English to thousands of students lucky enough to get into her sections. In
addition to Norman Smith, Dr. George Ruffin Marshall, Mary Patricia Cavell, and
Basil Warren Signor joined the music faculty, where Miss Cavell, who became the
second Mrs. Francis Bulber, is a fixture to this day, and where George Marshall
performed brilliantly until his untimely death. Dr. Thomas Peter Zolki, Marvin
Wayne Hanson, and Dee Newland joined the science faculty; Newland and Zolki both
retired from McNeese. Louis P. Reily returned to the mathematics faculty at he
beginning of the spring semester from his second tour of duty as a Naval Reserve
officer. (72) Never before had so many McNeese faculty attended professional meetings. John
Oakley, now promoted to Purchasing Agent, attended an institute for such
officials at the University of Kentucky in July 1954; Wayne Cusic was a
Louisiana delegate to President Eisenhower’s White House Conference on Education
in November 1955, and in the spring Registrar Inez Moses attended the Annual
Meeting of the American Association of College Registrars, this year in Boston.
Erin Montgomery attended the South Central Modern Language Association meeting
at Biloxi, Mississippi; Ada Sabatier, Mrs. W. Elkins Roberts, and James R.
Fulton attended the Fourth Annual Renaissance Conference at Tulane University. Dean Karl Ashburn went to the Southern Economic Conference and Dean Bulber
succeeded Dean Cecil Taylor of LSU as president of the Louisiana College
Conference. Bulber also attended the Music Educator’s National Conference in New
Orleans, as did Norman Smith and Kathleen Allums; Ada Sabatier and Mabel Kitt
also went to New Orleans, but to attend the regional meeting of the American
Association of University Women. Mrs. Fannie L. Sample, the Director of Nursing;
Mrs. Lorraine Alvis, instructor in Nursing; and two students, Mildred Alpha and
Alice Abrahams, attended a five-day meeting of the National League for Nursing
in May 1955, and Ralph A. Tesseneer went to the Annual Meeting of the
southwestern Psychological Association. Dr. William Iglinsky and Warrick J.
Dickson attended the meeting of the Louisiana Academy of Science at Loyola. Onis
D. Hyatt did not travel to distant places, but almost every week he spoke to
some garden club or other organization interested in horticulture. (73) A number of faculty either published or publicly presented their work during
this year. Nowell Daste presented an exhibit of his works on campus. William
Iglinsky published a paper in The Journal of Economic Entomology, and Donald
Millet read a paper at the Louisiana College Conference. Mrs. Mary Belle Belaire
edited the 1954 edition of the McNeese Review. In discussing faculty
distinctions, it should not be forgotten that Frank Rolufs, chairman of the
Faculty Athletic Committee, was elected secretary-treasurer of the Gulf States
Conference. (74) Drama students were exceptionally active this year. During the summer the
play production class put on two one-act plays, Edna St. Vincent Millet’s Aria
de Capo and Thornton Wilder’s Pullman Car Hiawatha; then in the fall Wilder’s
Queens of France and Stephen Vincent Benet’s The Devil and Daniel Webster were
presented. Larry Guillory directed the Wilder play, and Jo Ann Medrano directed
the Benet work. (75) In December the Bayou Players produced Tennessee William’s
Summer and Smoke with Carol Ashburn and Larry Guillory in the lead roles. Eva Jo
Ward, Daniel Ieyoub, Jo Ann Medrano, Bruce Brown, Tasca Dickerson, Betty Jean
Matthews, Joe Grout, Joan Adams, Charles Burrows, Herman Brewer, Remie Vidrine,
and William Himel were also in the cast. In the spring the play was Oscar
Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, presented in the round. The cast
included Richard McCaughan, Richard Covington (a faculty member), Larry
Guillory, T. J. Davis, Herman Brewer, Jo Ann Medrano, Eva Jo Ward, Carol
Ashburn, Joan Adams, Betty Jean Matthews, and Tasca Dickerson. (76) The Messiah soloists for 1954 were Irene Jordan of Metropolitan Opera
Company; Charles Fullmer of St. Paul, Minnesota; Jean Handzlik, who also sung
with the Met; and Kenneth Smith, who had sung many opera roles. Dean Bulber
asked that parents not bring small children to the performance, pointing out
that it had been necessary to turn away 400 people the previous year. Dean
Bulber certainly concerned with seating as many patrons as possible, but also
experience had taught that small children tended to become restless and to
distract from the performance. Not only was the Messiah broadcast at
Christmas in 1954, but thirty minutes of the chorus was broadcast the following
Easter. (77) The Music Department presented Kurt Weill’s one-act folk opera Down in the
Valley over KTAG-TV in July, but the main production of the year was the spring
operetta. The choice this year was Brigadoon, which was presented March 3 and 4.
The large cast, including some alternate roles, included Remie Vidrine, Waddell
Burge, Larry Guillory, Daniel Ieyoub, William McMahon, Lamar Robertson, Rhonda
Aleshire, Mrs. Margaret Malone, Frances Christ, Jo Ann Medrano, William Himel, Jerry
Crews, Sandy Dean, Harry Wile, Mrs. John Hahn, Tommy Campbell, Robert LaCour,
Beverly Helms, and William Anderson. Music was provided by a 24-piece
orchestra. Mathilde Gano, who reviewed the opera for a newspaper, said that the
show was excellent, especially the ballet sequence, but she deplored the fact
that "the first act was half over before latecomers gave up stalking fortissimo
down the aisles …. concurrently there went on in the Auditorium, much
conversation, whispered but still audible." (78) The performance netted $875 for
the Lions Club’s music scholarship fund. (79) McNeese in 1954 had the worst football record in its history until 1986,
losing 8 games out of 10; Northeastern was the only Gulf States Conference team
McNeese defeated. President Frazar gave the student body an extra holiday at
Thanksgiving as a reward for their loyalty to this unfortunate team. In January,
Athletic Director Cliff Johnson took sabbatical leave to work on a master’s
degree, and Coach Ratcliff was promoted to athletic director. That same month
President Frazar announced that John Gregory, 28 year old assistant coach at
Trinity College at Austin, Texas, would become McNeese’s head football coach.
The basketball season was somewhat better, with 13 victories and 10 defeats.
Even when the team lost, the fans had something to cheer about, because Bill Reigel and Roy Moore were outstanding players, both being named to the All-GSC
team. A better team could be expected 1955-1956; and those who anticipated
better days would not be disappointed. Except for rodeo, lesser sports amounted
to little. (80) The McNeese rodeo team, coached by Kenneth Sweeney, had an interesting year.
One coed, Kathlyn Younger, had brought her horse with her from her home in
Biloxi, Mississippi, when she enrolled at McNeese, and she was an enthusiastic
participant in women’s events. For the second time, the National Intercollegiate
Rodeo was held at McNeese, this time in conjunction with the first annual
McNeese State College Livestock Breeders’ Show. Sam Houston College won the
rodeo, and Oklahoma A&M was second, but Miss Younger won the barrel race and
goat tie and was Rodeo Queen. Later, at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo
Association meeting at Denver, McNeese sophomore Henry Kinney was rated second
in the nation in calf roping and in team roping. (81) Seventy-eight were to graduate in May 1955. G. Earl Guinn of Louisiana
College was the baccalaureate speaker, and John J. McMahon, president of Our
Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio, was the commencement speaker. Three
seniors graduated cum laude, Charles Wade Courville, J. Aaron Bertrand, and Mrs.
Barbara Henshaw Roberts. Among the graduates were a number whose names may be
familiar to McNeese readers, including James Beam, Charles Carwile, Curtis
Nelson, Mary Ory, Leland Parra, and Roy Moore. Another of the graduates was
Norbert H. Robinson, 37, father of seven children, whose wife was expecting
another. He majored in journalism (communications), and he had worked his way
through college as a hospital orderly, a Fuller Brush man, and chemical plant
worker. Four graduates – William Lumpkin, Albert Chiasson, Donald H. Vines, and
Jack Liggio – were accepted by LSU medical school, and Donald Casey and Harold
G. Edwards were accepted by Loyola University’s dental school. Elizabeth Duhon
had to leave immediately after the ceremony to report to Washington where she
would work as a secretary in Senator Allen Ellender’s office. Twenty of the
graduates planned to teach, and had majors in education. Thirteen majored in
business administration, 12 in agriculture, 6 in health and physical education,
and 8 in the sciences. Five majored in English; 3 each in home economics,
secretarial sciences, and music; 2 each in mathematics and history; and 1 each
in accounting, social studies, and communications. (82) A story in the newspapers in early May said that President Frazar might be a
candidate for lieutenant governor in 1956 on the Earl Long ticket. Long made it
clear that he was considering Frazar, but the latter wisely refused to say
whether he would seek the office. In July, however, it was definite that he
would run, and he announced his retirement from the presidency of McNeese. Thus
the college would begin the 1955-1956 academic year under new leadership. (83) CHAPTER V Growing Pains McNeese had had only white students until the spring of
1955. It is
incomprehensible to younger people of the 1980’s how segregated Southern society
was before the late 1950’s. Without going into how it had come about, it can be
said that segregation was almost universal: separate churches, separate waiting
rooms, separate restrooms, even separate drinking fountains for whites and
blacks. Naturally, under this system black children went to black schools, and
white children went to white schools. What applied to elementary and secondary
schools also applied to colleges. In Louisiana there were only two state
institutions that blacks could attend, Southern University and Grambling State
College. In contrast, whites had their choice of LSU, with campuses in New
Orleans, Alexandria, and (in 1954) Thibodaux; Southeastern at Hammond;
Northeastern at Monroe; Northwestern at Natchitoches; Louisiana Tech at Ruston;
Southwest Louisiana Institute at Lafayette; and McNeese at Lake Charles. This segregation had been legalized by nineteenth-century Supreme Court
decisions which said that "separate but equal" facilities for the two races did
not violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In
practice, the separate facilities were practically never equal, and in the
1940’s the federal courts began to chip away at segregation and other forms of
discrimination against blacks on the ground that blacks were not afforded equal facilities. In 1954, in
the famous Brown v. Topeka case, the Supreme Court reversed the
nineteenth-century rulings and said that segregated schools were simply
unconstitutional violations of the "equal protection" clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment. Let it be emphasized, however, that McNeese was first integrated
under the "separate but equal" rule. The legislative act establishing McNeese as a four-year college specified
that it was to be a college for white students only. But Texas and Oklahoma had
been ordered to admit blacks to law school and graduate school on the grounds
that there were no equal law schools or graduate schools available to blacks.
Perhaps more important, the climate of opinion in the United States had changed.
This country had fought World War II to end the malignant racism of Adolf Hitler
in Europe; it was definitely inconsistent to maintain racially inspired
segregation in this country. Before registration for the fall semester 1953, four would-be students who
identified themselves as Negroes applied for admission to McNeese. Mrs. Inez
Moses, the registrar, could not admit them. She forwarded the applications to
the State Board of Education, and she sent the black applicants
copies of Act 69 of 1950, establishing McNeese as a white college. The National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) brought suit in
federal court on behalf of these four students. While this was going on in Lake
Charles, four black students applied in person at Southwestern Louisiana
Institute at Lafayette and were turned away. (1) The black students who had been turned away from SLI brought suit, and on
April 23, 1954, a federal bench made up of Judges Wayne G. Borah, Edwin F.
Hunter, and Ben C. Dawkins ruled that they must be admitted. The judges pointed
out that SLI was the only state college within 89 miles of Lafayette and that
black students were obviously then not equal to white students who could
register at SLI. This ruling did not apply to McNeese, but it definitely showed
what would happen when a similar case was brought against the Lake Charles
college. (2) At the registration for summer school 1954, thirteen black high school
graduates attempted to register at McNeese and were turned away. The twelve
young women and one young man who did this were certainly brave; it took courage
to oppose the color line in Louisiana in 1954, and even after. Their names were
Joyce Richard, Leonora Chandler, and Hattie Coleman, who were parties to the
suit against McNeese brought in 1953, plus Frances Fondel, Ruthie Fondel,
Barbara Fruge, Mary Jane Silas, Florence Cooper, Thelma Phelmpugo, Lucille Kane,
Delorious Toussand, Marva Thibodaux, and Marshall McGovern. (3) In early September, A. P. Tureaud of the Louisiana NAACP announced that black
students would attempt to register at McNeese for the fall semester. In the
meantime a federal court ordered SLI to enroll black applicants, and they were
duly registered for classes. At McNeese, black applicants were once more turned
away, but fifteen of them filed another suit in federal district court demanding
that they be allowed to register. The district court did not hear the case until
November, but then Judge Edwin Hunter ruled that the black applicants must be
admitted to McNeese. When spring came, they were duly registered as McNeese
students. (4) McNeese State University had the right to be proud of many things, but its
handling of integration is deserving of the highest praise. This was a
powder-keg issue in the 1950's, and had the situation not been handled carefully
and skillfully, violence almost certainly would have resulted, and it might well
have led to bloodshed. What President Frazar’s personal feelings were concerning
integration cannot now be determined, but he would have been remarkable
different from other men of his age and background had he not opposed it. His
successor, Wayne Cusic, was extremely careful expressing himself, but he was, to
say the least, no advocate of integration. (5) President Frazar called a meeting of male students as soon as he knew that
integration was inevitable, and he told them that he was not going to have any
trouble. He must have been very convincing. (6) But there was more to it than
that; trouble could have been started by the people of the community as well as
by students. After all, there were active Ku Klux Klan organizations in the
area. In fact, across the state at Hammond, the KKK conducted a parade on the
campus of Southeastern Louisiana College in 1956. A historian has difficulty
describing things that did not happen, and trouble on the McNeese campus did not
happen. It seems obvious that Frazar and then Cusic arranged with the local
authorities and with the news media that the question would not be agitated, but
arrangements such as these do not appear in any written record, and the parties
to such agreements did not talk about them because talk would have violated the
agreement. If local authorities were cooperative, state officials were not. The
Brown v.
Topeka decision had brought on a wave of racist passion in Louisiana such as had
not been seen since Reconstruction, if then. The intensity of this anti-black
sentiment was demonstrated when a special committee of the legislature, headed
by a relatively unknown North Louisiana legislator named Willie Rainach, was established to
preserve segregation. The legislature adopted bills recommended by the committee
almost without debate. One such law called for the dismissal of any school official who favored
racial integration. Another, designed to get black students out of colleges
where they were already enrolled, required that all students submit a
"certificate of eligibility" signed by a school official before they could be
registered. Obviously, any school official who signed such a certificate for a
black student would be considered as favoring integration and therefore subject
to dismissal. Attorney General Jack Gremillion, certainly not the most wholesome
official Louisianians have ever elected, was eager to enforce the law. Incidentally
the law was a ridiculous expedient; the registrar at LSU pointed out that he had
had to reject more than 100 white students, including two nuns from Italy. The
NAACP quickly brought suit against LSU, McNeese, SLI, and SLU, demanding that
they not require such certificates, and the federal courts quickly declared this
stratagem unconstitutional. (7) Integration was not, of course, halted. Black faces show up in the 1955
yearbook, 20 in Education, 2 in Fine Arts, and 1 each in Home Economics and
Liberal Arts. The yearbook pictures in 1956 indicate 3 black seniors, 6 juniors,
12 sophomores, and 66 freshmen. The numbers would slowly increase until black
students at McNeese were roughly proportionate to the black population in the
area served by the college. (8) 2 It has been said that everything in Louisiana is political; that proposition
is perhaps debatable, but there is no question that the selection of college
presidents in Louisiana is political. When Lether Frazar announced his
retirement, aspirants to his office began to make their qualifications known to
the State Board of Education. The State Board at that time was an elective body
with one member from each congressional district and one member from each public
service district. In other words, the board was made up of politicians. A recent
president of McNeese had said that all it takes to become president of a state
college is a doctorate and a bare majority of the votes on the State Board. He
was unduly restrictive; all it really takes is a majority of the votes on the
board. In 1955 there were a number of applicants who desired to replace Lether
Frazar as president of McNeese. These included Dean Robert Browne of Education,
Dean Francis Bulber of Fine Arts, Dean William H. Bradford of Liberal Arts, Dr.
Karl Ashburn of the Commerce Department, physicist Miller Clarkson, and former
coach and Dean of Men, Wayne Cusic. All were presumably well qualified, but
three had doctorates and administrative experience and two had only master’s
degrees and administrative experience. One was local Sheriff Henry (Ham) Reid’s
brother-in-law. All of this, however, is beside the point. Cusic, one of those
without the doctorate, was incumbent Governor Robert Kennon’s brother-in-law. On August 29, 1955, the State Board named Wayne Cusic as McNeese State
College’s second president, to take office officially October 15, 1955. Cusic
was a native of Griggsville, Illinois, and the son of a Methodist minister. He
graduated from Illinois College at Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1923 with a major
in chemistry, but his real interest was in basketball. He accepted a job as
coach at Minden, Louisiana, and there he met and married Lucille Kennon. From
Minden the young couple moved to Kentucky, where they lived ten years while
Cusic was variously teacher, coach, and principal at Lynch, Stanford, and
Pikeville. He became an instructor in Health and Physical Education at McNeese
Junior College in 1940, and he earned a master’s degree in Health and Physical
Education from LSU in 1941. (9) At the junior college, Cusic became counselor for men in 1942, assistant
professor and head of Health and Physical Education in 1943, head of Education
and Health and Physical Education in 1947, and head of the Education Department
and athletic director in 1949. Through these years he also coached the junior
college’s football and basketball teams. He continued to coach basketball until
Ralph Ward arrived on the scene in 1952, and he was replaced as athletic
director by W. Cliff Johnson that same year. In 1952 he was promoted to
associate professor and made dean of men. In 1954 he was promoted to full
professor and the next year he became president. (10) Contrary to many predictions, Cusic made an excellent state college president.
He was a man of unimpeachable integrity and inflexible will. He was not
intensely devoted to academics in the strict sense; had he been, the task of
presiding over the raw new college might have driven him mad. He did realize,
however, that the purpose of McNeese State College was to enable the teachers to
teach their classes, and he devoted himself to making that possible. Woe betide
the instructor who neglected his classes, and double woe to the coach or
administrator who tried to bring pressure on a teacher to show favoritism toward
a student. Under Cusic’s administration McNeese would not become a citadel of
learning, but it would surmount many difficulties and improve every year. Under
the circumstances (inadequate financing, a constantly increasing enrollment,
inadequate facilities, and very little community support), it is doubtful that
any man could had done more, and most would have accomplished less. (11) Ironically, because of the way he had obtained his position, Cusic was
regarded as a "politician" by some on the faculty and by more in the community.
Actually, he was not nearly so skilled a politician as Frazar had been, nor did
he practice the political arts as Frazar had done. But Frazar had been
exceptionally popular in the community, with his students, and with most of his
faculty. Cusic, a far less extroverted man, was not able to match his
predecessor in this regard. He eventually won the respect of the students,
faculty, and to some extent the community, but he was never to enjoy the
affection that Frazar had generated. (12) 3 In the spring of 1956, a projection by the Louisiana Commission on Higher
Education estimated a 193 percent increase in McNeese enrollment by 1970. As a
matter of fact, this estimate proved to be rather accurate, though the increase
was closer to 200 percent. This growth in enrollment was obviously on its way in
the summer of 1956, when over 800 students appeared; the highest previous summer
enrollment had been 531. In the fall, 1,661 students registered, 622 freshmen, 324
sophomores, 165 juniors, 158 seniors, and 392 in other categories, mainly night
students. In the spring 528 freshmen, 301 sophomores, 206 juniors, 190 seniors,
and 423 students in other categories enrolled. This was an increase of 352
students in the fall and 268 in the spring over 1954-1955. (13) The new state college had been so busy trying to teach the students who came
in ever-increasing numbers that no one gave any thought to a formal purpose
until 1955. In the Catalogue for the 1955-1956 academic year, however, a
purpose for the four-year college is clearly stated.
McNeese State College was established to meet the cultural and educational
needs of a rapidly growing population in Louisiana, particularly in Southwest
Louisiana. To meet these needs, McNeese State College offers work in specific
major fields. The first is agriculture, where curricula are designed to prepare
men and women for successful farming, livestock production, and homemaking or to
hold positions in industries related to agriculture; the second is in business,
where the objective is to provide business, industrial, and professional
organizations with trained men and women; a third is in liberal arts to prepare
students for admission into professional schools and for entry into some
professional careers in science; a fourth is in the training of teachers; and a
fifth in fine arts, where specialized training is provided and where
opportunities are offered other students to gain experience in
the fine arts. (14) To carry out this purpose, the 1955-1956 Catalogue set forth a total
of 546 courses, 90 of them new. It should be added that most of these new
courses were in forestry, communications and nursing, areas that were opening up
for the first time. There was some reorganization to accomplish these aims. In
October President Cusic announced the appointment of former athletic director
Cliff Johnson, newly returned from graduate study at the University of North
Carolina, as head of a new placement bureau. In February, McNeese was accepted
as a member of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. (15) The 1955-1956 academic year was a good one for physical improvements, also. In
June the state Building Authority approved the purchase of a 280-acre farm for
$280,000, which was a generous price for the time. This resulted, in July, in
the purchase of the Gayle estate on the east side of Highway 14, which is the
McNeese Farm to this day. At about the same time the college let the contract
for a woman’s dormitory that was to cost $327,700. The State Board of Education
had asked the legislature for $25,000,000 for the colleges under its
jurisdiction, and of this McNeese was to receive $1,953,834, most of which would be
devoted to a new Science building. The sum of $100,000, which had originally
been allocated to McNeese for the College Library, was used instead for enlarging the
Cafeteria. It was announced in October that construction would soon begin on an
air-conditioned Student Center. In December Cusic announced that $170,000 would
be used to improve the Administration Building, now Kaufman Hall; more offices
and athletic dressing rooms would be provided on the first floor. In March he
announced that construction would begin immediately on the Armory at a cost of
$97,460. And finally, in January, the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency
agreed to lend McNeese $1,500,000 for the construction of more dormitories, for
men and for women, and five apartment buildings for married students. All this
growth had its costs; in February the parking problem had become so serious that
O. D. Hyatt was named a committee of one to develop some solution. (16) Numbers
of students distinguished themselves during the year. Emogene Lanier, editor of
the Contraband, and Jack Olmsted, business manager, accompanied by Mrs. Inez
Moses, attended the Annual Meeting of the Scholastic Press Association at
Columbia University and were no doubt delighted to learn that their paper had
been rated in the second highest category among college and university
newspapers for the year. At the Louisiana Student Nurses Association meeting in
Alexandria, Alice Abrahams and Mildred Alpha were elected to office. During the
fall semester ten students had a perfect A average: Ervan Hawkins, Elizabeth
Friesen, Mrs. Katherine Blum, Catherine Barker, Cecile Korsemeyer, Mrs. Helen Bouchard,
Julia Fessell, Mrs. Paula Gessen, Joyce Gant, George Fulton, and George V.
Deaton. (17) Science major Harold T. Pulliam won the Davidson Foundation Scholarship in
the spring of 1956. This scholarship, valued at $500, was then the largest a
McNeese student could obtain. Margaret Lynn Clark of Starks was the "outstanding
girl" in Home Economics, and Osborn Willis of Oakdale was the "outstanding boy"
in Agriculture. Twelve McNeese students were listed in Who’s Who in American
Colleges and Universities. They were Bessie Jean Ruley, Carol Ashburn, Emogene
Lanier, Arline Sarver, Margaret Clark, Jesse Castete, Martin Liprie, Paul Myers,
Roy Price, Lamar Robertson, Henry (Cotton) Kinney, and Theodore (Ted) Partin.
(18) A new social sorority, Theta Sigma Rho, came into being in 1955, and the
three sororities pledged a total of 59 young women. Delta Pi Chi social
fraternity was the first to affiliate with a national fraternity, becoming the
Beta Mu chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. Before the academic year was over, the Deacons
affiliated with Tau Kappa Epsilon national fraternity. The fraternity
sweethearts in the spring were Sara Newman and Linda Derouen for Pi Kappa Phi,
Yvonne Guidry for the Deacons, Francesa Womelsdorff for Pi Chi, and Marion
Vallery for Delta Theta Chi. (19) The supply of pretty young women did not run short. Julie Ann Christ was
Freshman Queen, with Olive Fay Hoffpauir, Patricia Ann Hathaway, June Ann
Dittman, and Connie Lee Clarke on her court. Homecoming Queen was Jo Ann
Medrano, and her maids were Carol Ashburn, Emogene Lanier, Julia Boone, Leavon
Rostrom, Beverly Helms, and Linda Derouen. In the spring Sara Newman was
LaBelle, with Yvonne Guidry, Emogene Lanier, Barbara Kramer, Peggy Addison,
Linda Derouen, Leavon Rostrom, and Marion Vallery on her court. (20) During the summer of 1955, Andre Dubus finished a six-week platoon leader’s
course at Quantico. After one more summer he would be commissioned a second
lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Lieutenant Colonel George Cole, who had been
professor of military science and tactics at McNeese for four years, was
transferred to a post in Alaska in the spring of 1956. His replacement at
McNeese was Lieutenant Colonel R. H. Yarbrough. Colonel Cole would not be away
long; after his retirement he would teach at McNeese until his untimely death.
(21) Jimmy L. Whitehead was elected president of the alumni; Lloyd Jones was his
first vice president, John Schroll second vice president, Desmond Jones third
vice president, and Elizabeth Duhon was secretary treasurer. Walter Cade, Allen
Commander, and Jack Doland were elected to the alumni Board of Directors. In
October it was announced that alumnus Cyrus Vaughn had received the honor award
scholarship at the LSU School of Medicine. The next summer, Dudley Carver,
Barbara Stevenson, and Allen Commander received from the Masonic Order
fellowships for graduate study. Finally, in June 1956, a newspaper picture
showed five recent McNeese graduates in uniform in Korea; Lester Landry, William
Campbell, Gene Booth, Charlie Baker, and Dan Brumfield. (22) The rapidly increasing enrollment necessitated a proportionate increase in
faculty in 1955-1956, and many of the new faculty would have long careers at
McNeese. One of them was Raleigh A. Suarez, who became associate professor of
Social Sciences. Later he would be dean of Humanities, academic vice president,
and provost. Edna Magaw Alexander returned as assistant professor of English
after five years away, and William Welch joined the faculty for the first time. Robert
Hill James came to McNeese as assistant professor of social science; he would
become assistant professor of psychology, then director of the night school, and
finally campus ombudsman before his retirement. Glen D. Johnson joined the
Agriculture Department in 1955, and Barbara Jean Belew and Frederick Tooley
became members of the Music Department. The Commerce Division added Richard
Oliver Bennett in Accounting, Ervin Alvie Johnson in Secretarial Science and
Armand L. Perrault in Business Administration. Perrault would become dean of the
College of Business. Other new faculty members were Lloyd R. J. St. Romain in
Chemistry, Harry C. Koenig in Spanish, Mary Wirtz in Mathematics, and George V. S.
White in Biology. White would remain at McNeese for the rest of his career and
would be named teacher of the year in 1980. (23) This was a year for meetings to be held at McNeese. One meeting was a credit
union institute, attended by representatives of credit unions in the Lake
Charles area. Another was the 33rd Annual Meeting of
Louisiana-Mississippi Section of the Mathematical Association of America jointly
with the Louisiana-Mississippi Branch of the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, which gathered at McNeese in February. The Second Annual Industrial
Chemistry and Engineering Conference, sponsored by the Southwest Louisiana
section of the American Chemical Society, met at McNeese with Dr. John M.
Brierly of the college as chairman. The Louisiana College Conference held its
1956 meeting at McNeese, and Francis Bulber was president of the organization
that year. (24) Faculty members who distinguished themselves during the year included George
Marshall of the Music Department, who earned his doctor of philosophy degree at New
York University. Four McNeese faculty were appointed to advisory committees for
the Louisiana Commission on Higher Education; they were H. H. Gauthe, Karl E.
Ashburn, C.A. Girard, and Raleigh Suarez. Ada Sabatier was chairman of the
editorial committee of the McNeese Review. A unique distinction for a
McNeese faculty member came about when the director of Nursing, Mrs. Robert E.
Sample, was chosen as Lake Charles’s entry in the Louisiana Mrs. America contest
at Monroe. (25) Again, many faculty attended professional meetings. Ada Sabatier, Raleigh
Suarez, and Donald Millet attended the Annual Meeting of the Southern Historical
Association in Memphis. Dean Ashburn attended the Southern Economic Conference
in Atlanta and also went to the 1955 meeting of the National Association of
Manufacturers. Dean Bulber again was present at the meeting of the National
Association of Schools of Music, and Bob Lee Mowery, Librarian, attended the 74th
Annual Meeting of the American Library Association, this time in Philadelphia.
(26) During the summer of 1955, Fine Arts students presented Gilbert and
Sullivan’s Trial by Jury over KTAG-TV, and the band gave three summer concerts
on the lawn in front of the Auditorium. The Bayou Players ambitiously presented
Jean Anouilh’s Thieves’ Carnival in the round in November 1955. George Marshall
wrote special music, all for clarinet, for the performance. The cast was made up of
Daniel Ieyoub, Lamar Robertson, and Larry Guillory as the three thieves, plus Jo
Ann Medrano, Eva Jo Ward, Carol Ashburn, Joe Grout, Charles Burrows, Tasca
Dickerson, Betty Jean Matthews, Layne Stone, Carl Lueg, Joe Gnerre, Charles Goen,
and Jesse Edwards. Charles Goen, a music major, was cast as a policeman in this
play. Critic Fritzi Krause described the performance, which was presented to a
capacity audience, as delightful "refined" slapstick. (27) By early October, the chorus of the Messiah numbered 225 persons, and
Dean Bulber announced that he could accept no more. Soloists for the 1955
performance were Mona Paulee, mezzo soprano, who sang with the Metropolitan
Opera; tenor Rudolf Petrak of the New York City Opera; Margaret Roberts,
soprano, who had sung with the Columbia Broadcasting System symphony; and
Richard Wentworth, bass-baritone, also of the New York City Opera. Once more
music from the Messiah was broadcast for the Christmas season, and 30
minutes of it was broadcast on Easter Sunday the following year.(28) In the spring the Music Department and the Lions Club, in their search for
scholarship money, presented The New Moon as the year’s light opera. In the cast
were Patsy Barrentine, Shirley Partin, Waddell Burge, Edward Brock, Remie
Vidrine, Jerry Malone, Pat Hathaway, Cecile Korsemeyer, J. M. Thom, William
Mauck, Lewis Spear, Larry Guillory, Lamar Robertson, William Himel, Mrs.
Margaret Malone, Nordhal Schroeder, Marcia Feldes, Daniel Ieyoub, Joe Gnerre,
and Kenneth Guillory. In the spring, the Bayou Players presented Sean O’Casey’s
The Plough and Stars. In this cast were Waddell Burge, Leslye Ann Ward, Larry
Guillory, Layne Stone, Ed Daugherty, Marion Vallery, Eva Jo Ward, Tasca
Dickerson, Charles Burrows, W. S. Cummings, Janet MacDonald, Joe Gnerre, Daniel
Ieyoub, Joe Grout, Reid Tyler and Roy Harmon. (29) Music faculty recitals for the year presented baritone Frederick Tooley,
accompanied by Barbara Belew; a duo-piano recital by Patricia Cavell and
Kathleen Allums; and a flute recital by Cavell, accompanied by Allums. Among
seniors of the Music Department, Charles Goen presented his oboe recital. The
band led the Momus Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans in February, later it went
on tour and played at six high schools, including Shreveport and Mansfield. In
November, the Lyceum program for the year presented R.G. Dundas, British
consul-general in New Orleans to speak on "The Situation in the Middle East." In
January the speaker was the United States Senator from Arkansas, J. William
Fulbright. Probably less informative, though almost certainly more interesting,
were the Dublin Players, who put on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being
Earnest. McNeese was doing more than its share promoting the cultural
development Southwest Louisiana. (30) New football coach John W. Gregory had a fine year, losing 1 game, tying 1,
and winning the remaining 6. Gregory was named Gulf States Conference Coach of
the Year, and two McNeese players, Jesse Castete and Charles Dees, were named to
the All-GSC team. The conference changed, however, as Louisiana College, with no
state funds for athletics felt compelled to withdraw from the GSC. (31) However
good the football team may have been, it was Ralph Ward’s basketball team that bred
excitement at McNeese in 1955-1956, and the center of that excitement was star
Bill Reigel. During the regular season, the team won 33 games and lost only 3,
and Reigel scored more than 1,000 points. During a February game with Louisiana
Tech, at Ruston, Coach Ward was back in Lake Charles in a hospital, but he had a
telephone in his hand and talked to his team during every time out. Reigel
repeated as an All-GSC player and received honorable mention on the United Press
All-American team. (32) McNeese won an invitation to the NAIA tournament at Kansas City by defeating
Centenary in a playoff. At the tournament, the team defeated Georgetown 88-65 in
the first game, then defeated Central State of Ohio 87-71. After beating
Tennessee A&I (76-68) and Pittsburg (Kansas) State (78-72), in the finals
McNeese won over Texas Southern (60-55) and won the NAIA championship. Reigel
headed the NAIA All-American team and
was named NAIA Player of the Year. When the team returned home from Kansas City,
the crowd at the airport organized an impromptu but joyous parade. Older and
retired McNeese faculty members, and alumni not nearly so old, have fond memories
of the basketball team of 1955-1956. (33) In baseball McNeese won the GSC championship in 1956-1957, and the brand new
golf team, under Ellis Guillory’s direction, took second place in the GSC
tournament. Lennie J. Olsen was track coach, and he began emphasizing indoor
track during the winter. The team placed third in the GSC meet. Arthur Lee and
Louis Reily were still coaching the tennis team, and it was runner-up in the GSC
tournament. (34) It would not be inaccurate to describe rodeo as a major sport at McNeese in
the middle 1950’s. The team roster for 1955-1956 included Clyde May from Luna,
New Mexico; Henry (Cotton) Kinney from Sulphur; Doyle Cannon, a transfer from
Oklahoma A&M; Paul Billy LeBlanc from Sulphur; Carl Martin from Stillwater,
Oklahoma; Jacques Campbell from Gueydan; and Russie Odom from Orange, Texas. Such
a list demonstrates rodeo’s attraction for students from all over the
southwestern United States. The McNeese rodeo attracted 75 contestants
representing 15 colleges, and the McNeese team won the Texas A&M Rodeo. (35)
At the end of the 1955-1956 year, Dr. Claude G. Wardlaw of the First
Presbyterian Church of Lake Charles delivered the baccalaureate address, and Dr. W.
Stanly Hook, librarian of the University of Alabama, was the commencement
speaker. One hundred and forty-six seniors were scheduled to graduate. More of
them were education majors than anything else, but a sizeable number were in
commerce (now business); and agriculture, fine arts and liberal arts
were well represented. Cum laude graduates were Carol Ashburn, Marjorie Ann
Harlan, Theodore Partin, Mary Louise Severs, Earl Matthew Olmsted, and Wayne P.
Laurents. (36) 4 The rapid growth in number of students went on unchecked. Summer school
enrollment in 1956 was 899 as compared to slightly over 800 in 1955. In the fall
total enrollment was 1,916, 1,018 men and 563 women. Freshmen numbered 298,
sophomores 390, juniors 289, and seniors 281. Two hundred and fifty-eight
students were in other categories. Despite the attrition among freshmen, spring
enrollment showed a slight increase of 1,942 students. (37) In the fall of 1957, after registration was completed the Board of Education
ordered that the "certificate of eligibility" requirement noted earlier be
applied to all students. This brought another round of civil rights action in
the courts. In February a court order forbade requiring such certificates from
black students, but on a temporary basis. Finally, the Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled that all of Louisiana’s school segregation laws, including the
certificate requirements, were unconstitutional. This at last brought an end to
attempts to keep black students out of McNeese and other Louisiana state
colleges. (38) During this year, the campus saw much building. The one women’s dormitory
began earlier was completed before summer school was over. Up to this time women
had been housed in the old Sweeney home on Ryan Street and in an apartment house
the college rented in University Place. One hundred and eight women moved into
the new facility, two to a room, but with separate sleeping and study areas.
Using the money, loaned by the federal government, the college received bids for
two dormitories and five family living quarters in September, but the first bids
were too high and new bids had to be taken before construction began in the
spring. Already under construction were a Science Building which would open on
March 23, 1957, an addition to the Cafeteria, the $354,000 Student Center, and
the Armory for ROTC. More or less as icing on the cake, in March 1957 Bishop
Schexnayder broke ground for a Catholic student center west of the campus. (39)
The Library now had grown to 25,000 volumes and subscribed to 375 magazines
and newspapers. Also, the college was complimented by the Southern Association
of Secondary Schools and Colleges for its report on academic progress since accreditation.
Among improvements, McNeese had begun giving all sophomores ETS achievement
tests in an attempt to evaluate McNeese performance in relation to national
norms. The deal for the new 280-acre college farm was completed, and McNeese
took possession of the new tract. McNeese could also give as well as receive; 15
acres on the northeastern corner of the 80 acres acquired during the junior
college years were transferred to the Calcasieu Parish School Board as the site
of a new junior high school. The new school would, of course, be used for
practice teaching by McNeese majors in education. (40) Keith Lyons served as president of the Student Council this year, and Stanley
J. Chelchowski was elected in the spring to head the fall 1957 Council, with
Kalil Ieyoub as his vice president. Andre Dubus won a first place and an
honorable mention in the Southern Writer’s Contest of Louisiana at Northeastern
State College in March 1957, making it three years in a row that the talented
young man had been a winner. In December 1956 a chapter of Blue Key Honorary
Fraternity was established at McNeese with Dean of Men Ellis Guillory as
sponsor, a position he would hold until retirement. (41) Nursing students Alice Abrahams, Julie Christ, Mildred Alpha, Dale Land, and
William Land attended the Annual Convention of Student Nurses in Shreveport in
November. Abrahams was the president of this organization, and Julie Christ was
elected to succeed her. In her official capacity, Miss Christ attended the
National Student Nurses Convention in Chicago in May. In March a McNeese team
made up of William Monismith, Wayne Harris, Durell Spivey, and Norman Alston
took first place in a stock-judging contest in Houston. Leneta Doucet, editor of
the Contraband, and Charlotte Clarke, associate editor, with Wylma Reynolds
accompanying, attended the Annual Convention of the Columbia Scholastic Press
Association. They were happy to learn that their paper had again won honors,
rated again in the second highest category among printed college newspapers. At
a meeting in Lafayette, Bessie Jean Ruley was named Miss Home Economist by the
Louisiana Home Economics Association, and in May she and Wayne G. Harris were
named as "outstanding students" in the Department of Agriculture. In June four
home economics students - Mrs. Elgie Dautriel, Mrs. Leavon Rostrom Ladner, Mrs.
Marie White, and Miss Barbara Penny, accompanied by Assistant Professor Ann Cash
- were able to attend the American Home Economics Association Convention in St.
Louis. (42) As usual, two honors day convocations were held, one in the fall for those
who made the honor roll during the spring semester and one in the spring for
those who had so distinguished themselves during the fall semester. Dean of Arts
and Sciences Cecil Taylor of LSU was the speaker in the fall, and Dean of the
Graduate School of Tulane University, R. M. Lumianski, was the spring speaker.
Taylor honored 248 students, and Lumianski 227. These figures, and earlier ones,
indicate a most obvious degree of grade inflation at McNeese before grade
inflation became a national problem. Of the regular day students in attendance
at the time, almost 15 percent made the honor roll in the spring of 1956, and
almost 15 percent in the fall of 1956. This problem of grade inflation,
unfortunately, would not improve. (43) During this year the debate team was a winner. It won most of the trophies at
the SLI speech festival in January and won six at the Louisiana Speech Tournament at
Northwestern in March. The team was composed of Mary Louise Zempter, Constance Shaheen, Joseph Perello, Walter Miller, Walter Calvert, Carroll Fox, and Keith
Lyons. McNeese’s debating record would continue to improve as the years went by.
(44) Sarah Jane Quinn was Freshman Queen in 1956, attended by Joyce Bell Kinney,
Frances Irene Greer, Barbara Kunze, and Marylane Crouch, Sara Newman Meadows was
Homecoming Queen; Bess LeBleu, Charlotte Clarke, Peggy Addison, Rebecca Ashburn,
Sheila Breaux, and Mrs. Leavon Rostrom Ladner were the Homecoming Court. The
weather was not kind in 1956; a torrential downpour that began in the first half
of the Homecoming game with Northeastern made it impossible to present the
beauties at the half, so the queen was crowned at the dance after the game.
Rebecca Ashburn was LaBelle in 1957, but so many coeds were named to the court
that they cannot be conveniently listed here. Lady Leah LaFargue was named Miss
Lake Charles and sent to Lake Providence to compete unsuccessfully for Miss
Louisiana and a trip to Atlantic City. Perhaps McNeese coeds were too
attractive. Three airmen from the air base were arrested as peeping toms after
they were found viewing women through the windows of the dormitory. (45) Lloyd Jones, onetime McNeese Junior College boxer, was elected president of
the alumni in the fall of 1956. Calvin Billings was first vice president, Fred
LeBlanc second vice president, Fred Flores third vice president, and Mrs. Robert
Finnegan secretary-treasurer. Curtis Skinner, who had graduated in May 1957, was
awarded a graduate assistantship in commerce at LSU in July. Also in July it was
announced that Jerry C. Pickrel, a 1954 graduate who was attending Tulane
Medical School, had won a $500 scholarship for summer study of allergic
diseases. (46) At the beginning of the 1956-1957 year, Francis Bulber was made Dean of the
College, second only to Cusic, and Ellis Guillory replaced Cusic as Dean of Men.
Dr. Ralph Squires replaced Bulber as Dean of Fine Arts. Thus Cusic as president,
and Bulber as dean of the college, presided over four academic divisions, each
headed by a dean: Dean Robert Browne in Education, Dean Karl Ashburn in
Commerce, Dean William H. Bradford in Liberal Arts, and Squires in Fine Arts.
There were also Agriculture under J. C. Barman and Nursing under Mrs. Sample,
each with the title of director. (47) There were radical administrative changes during the 1956-1957 academic year.
On May 2, Dean Browne announced that he had accepted the position of
superintendent of education for Lafayette Parish at a salary of $15,000 a year.
A few days later, Bradford resigned his position at McNeese to accept another
with Sandia Corporation in New Mexico. He made a statement: "I have found that I
am ineffective in my attempts to be an educator at McNeese State College due to
the political situation that I find existing." (48) Cusic’s reaction was to say
only: "In view of the fact that Dr. Bradford has accepted a position in industry
and that this represents a promotion for him, his resignation is accepted with
regrets." (49) Ashburn would remain one more year before he departed for
Montevallo College in Alabama. Cusic did not replace the departed deans. For a
number of years he operated with Bulber, Squires (until his death), and academic
department heads. If unorthodox, this administrative machinery seems to have
been efficient enough. (50) If some people departed, many more arrived. Robert B. Landers, holding a
doctorate from the University of Arkansas, arrived to head the Special Education
Center. Bruce Landers, as he was known to his friends, would become dean of
Education and dean of the Graduate School before his retirement. Clifford M. Bryne, who would in time be university librarian and head of the Department of
Languages, arrived in the fall of 1956. John Hebert, a Lake Charles architect,
became a part-time instructor in Fine Arts, teaching beginning courses in
architectural science. Finally William J. Casey joined the faculty as an
assistant professor of speech and as the debate coach. In the latter capacity,
Casey would accomplish much. (51) During the year Francis Bulber wand Ralph Squires went to Cleveland to attend
the National Association of Schools of Music Meeting. Dr. Zelma Green published a
volume of poetry and was the chief speaker at the Lake Charles Writer’s Club
Awards Meeting at the Pioneer Club, and Mrs. Inez Moses once more attended the
American Association of Collegiate Registrars Meeting, this time in Denver.
Paddy Ann Doll attended the Annual Convention of the Louisiana Association for
Retarded Children. Frank Rolufs was reelected secretary-treasurer of the Gulf
States Conference, and William Lademan, who taught English and Philosophy,
received his Ph.D. in the latter subject from Fordham University. One activity
of McNeese faculty too extensive to be recorded is talks made to local
organizations. For example, in October the League of Women Voters sponsored a
debate on the United Nations at the Pioneer Club, and Donald Millet and Robert
James were two of the participants. Newspapers reported fifteen talks by faculty
members from November 1, 1956 through April 1957; O. D. Hyatt was the busiest
speaker, appearing five times, newly-arrived Robert Landers spoke three times,
and Clet Girard twice. (52) Cultural activities began with the Third Festival of Contemporary Art Meeting
at McNeese in November. Visual art was represented by an exhibition of colored
lithographs by Benton Murdock Spruance and sponsored by the Louisiana Art
Commission. Musical recitals by faculty and students added to the occasion.
Helen Ininger gave a piano recital, and baritone Frederick Tooley and pianist
Barbara Belew, Patricia Cavell, Kathleen Allums, and Ralph Squires demonstrated
their considerable talents. Warren Signor played his violin, and Mrs. Claude
Kirkpatrick sang. In addition about a dozen students participated. (53) The Messiah was, as always a major event of the year. The guest
soloists were Saramae Endich, soprano, who had appeared with the Boston
Symphony; Jean Handzlik, contralto, who had sung with the Philadelphia Opera
Company and who had been in the Messiah once before; Norman Treigle, bass-
baritone, who had sung with the New York Opera Company; and Leon Drescoll,
tenor, who had been in the cast of Kismet on the Broadway stage. To deal with
the small children who had disturbed previous presentations, several of the area
churches established baby-sitting services so that parents could attend the
performance without having to worry about restless children. In the spring the
Messiah chorus sang "The Redemption" at McNeese on Easter Sunday; Remie
Vidrine, Fredrick Tooley, Edith (Mrs. Claude) Kirkpatrick, and Julie Chappuis were
the soloists. (54) The Bayou Players put on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in the fall.
Margery Wilson directed, Nowell Daste provided the décor, and George Marshal
provided original music for this in-the-round production. Marion Vallery, Roy
Harmon, Edward Daugherty, Layne Stone, Tasca Dickerson, Eva Jo Ward, and Charles
Burrows had the most important roles. In the spring semester, the Lions Club and
the Department of Music presented Oklahoma, in which Marcia Feldes, Frances
Greer, John M. Thom, Waddell Burge, Lewis Spear, Lamar Robertson, Leslye Ward,
Pat Allen, Layne Stone, and Charles Goen played lead roles. The spring play was
Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. The cast consisted of Marion Vallery, Charles
Burrows, Lady Leah LaFargue, Reid Tyler, Joan Adams, Martha Carnett, Raymond
Valdetero, Robert Guillory, William Hinch, Roy Harmon, Mary
Louise Zempter, and Raenell Lutgring. (55) During the summer of 1956 the band once more presented three open-air
concerts on the lawn in front of the Auditorium, and in the spring the band’s
tour carried it to Opelousas, Morgan City, St. James, Franklin, Abbeville, Lake
Charles High, Eunice, and Baton Rouge. The New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony
Orchestra, under Alexander Hillsberg, was presented in the Auditorium on
November 20. Lyceum speakers of the year included Professor Walter Richardson of
LSU, Boyd Professor of British History, and George Fielding Eliot, noted student
of military history. (56) The football season for 1956 was, at best, a disaster. As the games were
played, McNeese won 5 games and lost 5 games, but it was not that simple. In
late October, McNeese supporters were dismayed to learn that halfbacks Ray
Simmons and Ashton Cassedy had been dismissed from the football squad for
disciplinary reasons. The day after this, it was revealed that tackle Ray
Jamalkowski had played professional baseball in 1951 and therefore was not
eligible to play college football. This made it necessary for McNeese to forfeit
victories over Northwestern and Northeastern, reducing the year’s victories to 3
and increasing the losses to 7. On November 1, the public learned that right end
Warren Herrmann had been dismissed from the squad for breaking curfew. Jamalkowski, who was a solid student, remained at McNeese and graduated, but
Coach John Gregory did not survive. In February he resigned, as did coach Tom
Page, and Les DeVall from Louisiana College was named new head coach and brought
in Jack Doland as his line coach. Dowell Fontenot became McNeese’s athletic
trainer in fall 1956. Ray Simmons was drafted by the Chicago Bears, and Rudie
Soileau and Rogers Hampton were named to the All-GSC first team, and Richard
Salley and Glen Hathaway to the second team. (57) It was not inappropriate that the newly constructed athletic wing and
basketball court in the Arena should be dedicated by Lieutenant Governor Lether
Frazar on December 10, 1956, because the basketball team in 1956-1957 won 21
games and lost only 5, and was once more GSC champion. Ralph Ward was GSC
basketball coach of the year, as he richly deserved to be. The track team was
third in the GSC, the tennis team and the golf team second in the conference.
Kenneth Sweeney’s rodeo team competed in nine meets and won in most of them. In
June the team entered the National Intercollegiate Rodeo finals at Colorado
Springs and won it. Winners for McNeese were Henry (Cotton) Kinney, Warren Fry,
Carl Martin, Rudy Trahan, Jim Miller, and Clyde May. (58) As graduation approached in 1957, five McNeese seniors were selected by
Western Electric for a special opportunity. Donald Lambert, Bruce King, Eugene
Morgan, Tyra Albert Fox, and Wallace Materne, all science majors, were offered $8,000 a
year, more than any of their teachers at McNeese were making, to take an
additional year’s training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then go
to work for Western Electric. The Scottish Rite Masons awarded fellowships for
the study of government at George Washington University to Kenneth Jackson, Max
E. Jones, Keith M. Lyons, and Donald E. Ladner. Twenty-nine seniors were
commissioned in the Army, and every member of the class was invited to a shrimp
boil put on by the Alumni Association at Columbia Southern Park. This shrimp
boil would become an annual event. (59) Dr. Whitfield Jenks Bell, Librarian of Yale University, spoke to 169 students
at commencement exercises in May 1957. Thirty-three majored in education, 20 in
liberal arts, 13 in commerce, and 12 in agriculture. The 8 fine arts graduates
included Carolyn Piel, the first student to earn a degree in art at McNeese.
This ceremony also included the first graduates of the four-year nursing
program, namely Mrs. Frances Camp, Mildred Alpha, Earline Smith, Mrs. Dorothy
Ellis Knox, Mrs. Ruby Dougherty, and Alice Abrahams. Five of them passed their
state examinations and became registered nurses in August. Cum laude graduates were
Eldon Bailey, Harvey E. Kieffer, Mrs. Ann B. Worrell, Mrs. Verna Lee Thornton,
Mrs. Lorraine D. Shaw, Jack Olmsted, Thomas L. Miller, and Walter J. Calvert.
5 Students attending summer school at McNeese in 1957 may not remember the
courses they took, but they can never forget Hurricane Audrey. This killer storm
lurked in the Gulf for days, lulling the people of the coast into a false sense
of security, and then rushed inland with a tremendous tidal wave. In Cameron
Parish more than 500 people died; boatloads of bodies were brought to Lake
Charles by way of the Ship Channel. The winds were still at 75 miles per hour
when they struck Lake Charles, ripping off roofs and breaking off electrical
power and telephone service for days. Classes at McNeese halted on June 27 and did not resume until July 8.
The Arena
and other buildings sheltered more than 1,000 refugees, each with a tale of
horror to tell. The campus was a scene of feverish activity as helicopters came
in from the north with food and medical supplies from Fort Polk while others
went back and forth to the south, bringing survivors from Grand Chenier and
Creole and searching the marshes for more bodies. The summer session, when it
resumed, was extended to August 16, a week longer then the original schedule.
(60) Total enrollment in the fall of 1957 was 2,024, of whom 698 were freshmen;
390 sophomores; 281 juniors; and 281 seniors; plus 366 night, non-credit, and
special students, an increase of more than 100 over the previous fall. The
enrollment could have been higher, but the dormitories had been full since July,
and there was no place on campus for more resident students to live. In the
spring the total enrollment was 1942, a little less than in the fall but still
the greatest spring enrollment in McNeese history. The records quite properly do
not indicate the race of registrants, but pictures in the Log show 24 black
freshmen, 10 sophomores, 15 juniors, and 13 seniors. (61) The administrative organization of McNeese changed significantly in the fall
of 1957. The old Division of Liberal Arts was broken up into departments of
Sciences, Mathematics, Social Sciences and Languages. Stephen M. Spencer, holding
a Ph.D. from Duke University, was brought in from Louisiana College to head
Mathematics and Miller Clarkson was in charge of Sciences. Raleigh A. Suarez was
promoted to professor and made head of Social Sciences, and C. A. Girard headed
Languages. Landers, after only a year in Special Education, became head of the
Department of Education, in effect replacing Dean Browne. C. C. Baker became head
of Special Education, and Samuel J. Marino replaced Bob Lee Mowery as head
librarian. O. D. Hyatt, who had been an associate professor of horticulture and
Director of Grounds was named head of the newly created Department of
Plant Life; J. C. Barman remained as head of the Department of Animal Life. Roderick Rouse was
head of Accounting and Economics, and Albert D. Sterkx was acting head of
Business Administration. Robert H. James became coordinator of Evening School.
Mrs. Mabel Kitt requested relief from her administrative duties and became an
associate professor of education; Miss Linnie Lacy became Dean of Women. Growth
was obvious in another way. Clifford Johnson, now campus security officer,
informed students and faculty that designated parking lot were now available and
that the every-man-for-himself parking on a less crowded era was at an end.
(62) Other new facilities were becoming available. The apartment building for
married students north of McNeese Street on the main campus was now in full
operation, housing 20 student families for a rental of $50.00 a month, including
utilities. One women’s dormitory was in operation, and another, built to house
210 students, was to be ready for the summer term, 1958; the new three-story
men’s dormitory, which would house 114, was to be ready for the fall semester,
1958. A new Methodist student center had been completed in spring 1957, and the
Catholic student center was dedicated in October 1957. Thus the three religious
denominations with the most students now had centers adjacent to the campus.
(63) Three national sororities came to McNeese during the 1957-1958 academic year.
Chi Omega in effect took over the old local known as Alpha Zeta Phi and was
chartered January 25, 1958. Alpha Delta Pi took over the local Delta Alpha Delta
and was officially chartered February 1, 1958; it was followed closely by Delta
Zeta Phi Mu, which established a "colony" at McNeese in November, received a
full charter on March 15, 1958. Thus the college now had four national
sororities, and Theta Sigma Rho continued to function as a local. (64) Chancellor Homer Hitt of the University of New Orleans was the speaker for
honors day in October 1957, honoring 230 students who had made the honor roll in
the spring semester. Eldon Bailey, Mrs. Katherine Blum, Clair W. Graff, Robert
Hamburg, Lee L. Meade, Kenneth Reviel, Mrs. Rose Richardson, Dreaux Summers,
Mrs. Lilla Vincent, Jean Wilkinson, Walter Williams, and William York achieved a
straight A average. In the spring, Harold B. McSween, then a member of the State
Board of Education, spoke to 217 students who had achieved scholastic
distinction in the fall. (65) Andre Dubus won the grand prize, for a short story, in the College Writer’s
Society of Louisiana contest, and William L. Perkins and Mrs. Elizabeth Phillips
were also winners, making McNeese the winning college. Sharon Kraemer won an
award as the outstanding freshman Home Economics student of the year, and James
Hicks was named the outstanding Accounting student. Eldon R. Bailey and Keith
Dorman were cited by the Sabine Chapter of the National Association of Cost
Accountants as superior Accounting students. Norman Alston and Mrs. Elgie
Dautriel received plaques as outstanding students in Agriculture and Home
Economics, respectively, and in the spring Kalil Ieyoub succeeded Stanley
Chelchowski as president of the student body. The debate team for 1957-1958 was
Joseph Perello, Max Morris, Marie (Beb) Roy, Walter Miller, and Mona Champagne.
They participated in tournaments at the University of Alabama, LSU, and
Millsaps,
though they were not winners in these meets. Debate Coach William Casey was
building up his team’s experience level, and the teams he directed would be
winners soon enough. (66) Freshmen Queen in 1957 was Patricia Lowe. Jacqueline Bouquet was Homecoming
Queen, and Peggy Addison, Sue Coleman, Marie White, Sally Linker, Charlotte
Clarke, and Margie Hayes were on her court. Peggy Addison was LaBelle, and
Jennabeth Powdrill, Sally Linker, Joanna Steele, Frances Domingues, Patricia
Lowe, Brenda Bailey, Dena Christ, Lady Leah LaFargue, and Marie White were her maids.
Freshman Glenda Clark of Shreveport was McNeese Rodeo Queen. (67) Calvin Billings was elected president of McNeese alumni in fall 1957, with
Fred LeBlanc as first vice president, Fred Flores as second vice president, Asa
J. Weeks as third vice president, and Eva Jo Ward as secretary. Leneta Doucet,
LeRoy Gauthreaux, and Alyse Preston were elected to the Alumni Board. Preston,
incidentally, replaced Carol Ashburn, daughter of Dean Karl Ashburn, who
resigned. Among alumni whose accomplishments were noted was Dr. Paul Shorts, the
first McNeese student admitted to medical school, who opened a practice in
Kinder. Governor Earl Long named Keith Lyons to complete the term of D. W.
Devaney as Commissioner of Finance and Public Utilities in Sulphur, and Allen
Commander earned a master of arts degree from Georgetown University. (68) Increases in enrollment necessitated increases in faculty. In the sciences,
Mary Franciska Kordisch came to teach zoology, Clifton Q. Miller to teach
geology, Mrs. Nancy Hellwig and Richard Joseph Sullivan to teach engineering,
and Mrs. Ruby E. Dougherty and Mrs. Constance White to teach nursing. Mrs. White
replaced Mrs. Sample as director of the Nursing program and worked with it until
her retirement. New mathematics teachers were Billy J. Turney, Lionel Hebert,
Mary Robert Lademan, and James Bennett Lewis. In education, Marjorie McQueen,
Laura M. Patterson, Robert H. Pittman, and Don T. Lyons appeared on the scene.
Pittman would eventually become academic vice president, and Lyons would serve
in many capacities and remain on the faculty until his retirement at age 70.
Among other new faculty members were Maurice Pullig in speech, Grace Ramke in
art, and Benjamin Harlow in English. (69) There were also resignations. One was that of Dean Ashburn, already
discussed. Cliff Johnson resigned from McNeese to become youth director for the
Calcasieu Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Ham Reid. Norman Ledgin, assistant
professor of journalism and head of the news bureau, resigned to become the full-time
director of the Calcasieu Safety Council. He was replaced by I. J. (Jim) Wynn.
It should also be noted that this was the year that the Reverend Tom Lutner became
director of the Baptist student center, a post he would hold until his
retirement 30 years later. (70) Dean Ashburn, before his departure, published an article in the July 1957
issue of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Mrs. Walter Richard was chairman
of the editorial board of the McNeese Review in 1957 and 1958, and that
journal published a number of articles by McNeese faculty. In 1957 Clifford M.
Byrne's "The Philosophical Development in Four of Robert Penn Warren’s Novels"
appeared. The next issue included George Ruffin Marshall, "American Music and
History;" Rodney Cline, "Seaman Asahel Knapp;" Donald J. Millet, "Robert J.
Walker: Polk’s Secretary of the Treasury;" and Ralph A. Tesseneer, "Why Do So
Many Louisiana Youth Fail to Complete High School." (71) Among other faculty
activities and achievements, Dee Newland and William Knipmeyer took fifteen
geology and geography students on a 7,000 mile field trip in a college truck
that also carried sleeping gear. Onis D. Hyatt was elected president of the
Louisiana Camellia Society, and Ralph A. Tesseneer was certified as a
Louisiana psychologist. Nowell Daste had an exhibit of his drawings and
sculpture at the Lake Charles Public Library, and new faculty member Grace Ramke
received a Ford Foundation grant for nine months in Europe studying African art.
Dean Bulber, Ada Sabatier, Robert H. James, Wylma Reynolds, Donald J. Millet,
Inez Moses, Paddy Ann Doll, William Welch, Mildred Davis, and Mrs. Walter
Richard made up the largest delegation McNeese had ever sent out of Lake Charles
to the Louisiana College Conference. (72) Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Yarbrough remained professor of military science
and tactics in 1957-1958. Larry DeRouen, George P. Sougeron, Thomas J. Campbell,
Chester B. Arceneaux, Jr., Don R. McGowan, Billy W. Partin, and Jesse T. Perry,
Jr. were designated distinguished military students. DeRouen was cadet
lieutenant colonel in the spring, and he was named the outstanding cadet at the
end of the year. Twenty-eight seniors were commissioned. (73) The Fine Arts Department was becoming more active in the summer. Three outdoor
concerts were scheduled, but Audrey canceled one of those. A summer musical,
Down in the Valley, was presented in August 1957, with Frances Greer, Jerry D.
Malone, and J. M. Thom in singing roles. A new group, the McNeese String
Quartette, made its first appearance in August. Warren Signor played first
violin, George Marshall second violin, Florence Kushner viola, and Donald Goss,
a McNeese alumnus, the cello. (74) The Bayou Players presented Eugene O'Neill's Ah
Wilderness on November 20-23. The play had alternate casts. On Wednesday and Friday, Lady Leah
LaFargue, Jacqueline Bouquet, Ray Valdetero, Ken Cusic, Layne Stone, Ama Lee
McKague, Mrs. Layne Stone, and Mrs. Shirley Benefield appeared. On Thursday and
Saturday the audience saw Joan Adams, Roderick Guillory, Mary Ann Hamilton, John
Harmon, W. S. Cummings, Leslye Ann Ward, Barbara Breedlove, and Barbara Luttrell.
(75) The Messiah, with 225 voices and a 40-piece orchestra, presented
Frances Greer as soprano soloist, Marcella Uhl Robnett contralto soloist, and
Richard Wentworth bass-baritone soloist. This performance was broadcast
nationally over the Mutual Network on the night of December 14, 1957. The
Messiah chorus sang "The Hymn of Praise" at Easter 1958, with McNeese
students Roland Hebert, Shirley Partin, Mrs. Jerry Malone, and Marcia Feldes as
soloists. At the December Messiah performance Dean Bulber finally found
the solution to the problem of children. A nursery was provided on campus,
supervised by Mrs. Constance White of the Nursing Department; parents could not
take small children into the Auditorium. (76) The McNeese-Lions Club musical for the year was Victor Herbert’s
The Red
Mill, presented March 6-7. The cast was a large one: Patricia Allen and
Shirley Partin, Rod Guillory and Ray Valdetero, and Lamar LeBoeuf and Bernice Timpa alternated in lead roles. Others were Carl Lueg, Jr., Waddell Burge,
Marcia Feldes, Bill Blalock, Layne Stone, Lewis Spear, Don Land, J. M. Thom,
James Wolverton, Melba Hebert, Barbara Breedlove, Fred
Patterson, Burl Vincent, Larry Hauskins, Robert LeCour, and Barbara Luttrell.
The spring play was Moliere’s The Miser, and Roy Harmon, Roderick Guillory, Lady
Leah LaFargue, Layne Stone, Charles Burrows, Walter Farque, Raenell Lutgring, Barbara
Luttrell, Leslye Ann Ward, Ama Lee McKague, Mrs. Mary Louise Zempter Stone,
William Hinch, Don Land, and Ray Beasley had parts. Reviewer Fritzi Krause gave
the play high praise in the Lake Charles American Press. Roy Harmon, at the end
of the year, was awarded an acting fellowship with the Dunes Arts Foundation of
Michigan City, Indiana, a professional dramatic company. (77) Other cultural activities presented on campus, some of them by the Community
Concert organization, were worthy of note. The Lyceum program brought the Dublin
Players back to present Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock in January, and in
February Kathleen Allums and Patricia Cavell gave a duo-piano recital for the
public. The Community Concert program for February was the Minneapolis Symphony
under the direction of Antal Dorati, and for those with more plebeian tastes,
the college presented the Glenn Miller orchestra in May. The McNeese "Choraleers"
gave a public concert, as did the college Symphonette, both in May. Finally, an
exhibit of the art works of McNeese students was displayed at the Lake Charles
Public Library. (78) The spring band tour was as much for recruiting as for cultural purposes, but
it was successful in both senses. In 1958 the band went to Iowa, DeRidder, and
Leesville on April 16, to Pineville and Kinder on the 17th and to
Vinton and Westlake on the 18th. Perhaps the band got more attention
than usual this year because it was accompanied by Cowbelles Muriel Bruno,
Sandra Neff Fleming. Mrs. Bilece Curless Morrison, Jacqueline Bouquet, Geraine
Horton, Betty Trouard, June Cooper, and Brenda Bailey. (79) McNeese athletic teams were more successful than usual in 1957-1958. Les
DeVall’s football squad won 8 and lost only 2, and the two losses were not to
Gulf States Conference opponents. This record brought not only a tie for the GSC
championship; it also brought DeVall as conference coach of the year, and Robert
Morris, Rogers Hampton, Don Tunney, Gene Gibson, and Richard Salley as members
of the All-GSC team. The basketball team won 19 games to a loss of only 4 and
won the GSC championship for a third straight year. There was no NAIA bid;
however, the season seemed almost anti-climatic after the glories of 1955. Few
people noted or cared that the track, golf, and tennis teams also won GSC
championships. (80) McNeese had 201 seniors ready to graduate in May 1958. The Reverend C. W.
Williams of Trinity Methodist Church in Beaumont was the baccalaureate speaker,
and Dr. C. E. Hawley of the United States Information Agency gave the
commencement address. Cum laude graduates were Catherine C. Barker, Mrs. Lou
Guidry, Lucille Mae Duhon, Mrs. Imogene E. Kounter, Mrs. Ethel Davis Deaton,
Cloyd M. Allison, Sr.,
Constance Toelkes, Elizabeth E. Friesen, Mrs. Althea Davis Pitre, Mrs. Marie
Wallace, Sylvia Marie Funk, and Mrs. Colleen Frazer. (81) McNeese’s enrollment had increased from barely half a thousand (501) in the
fall of 1950-1951 to more than two thousand (2,024) in the fall of 1957-1958).
This was an average increase of well over two hundred per year. The college
could have been satisfied merely to hold its own when faced with the necessity
of constant expansion while financial resources always ran behind needs, but it
was not. The quality of education at McNeese was also increasing through these
years. Much remained to be done, much would always remain to be done, but a fine
beginning had been made. CHAPTER VI Bigger and Perhaps Better As had become customary, summer school enrollment in 1958 was greater than
ever before. But it was in the fall that, as a newspaper put it, an "Enrollment
Wave Engulf[ed] McNeese." Final enrollment for the fall semester was 2,444
students as compared to 2,024 in the fall of 1957. These included 891 freshmen,
438 sophomores, 306 juniors, and 313 seniors, 464 night students and 32 special
and non-credit enrollees. All dormitories were full to overflowing, and
classroom space had reached a saturation point. Not a single classroom was
unused from eight o’clock in the morning to two o’clock in the afternoon on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and they were full except for a few vacancies
the last two hours before two o’clock on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday classes, of course, have always been avoided by
students. Spring enrollment was another spring record, but at 2,163 it was
substantially below the fall and gave a bit of a breathing spell. (1) McNeese classes had now been peacefully integrated since the spring of 1955,
but in Baton Rouge the battle against integration had not yet reached its peak.
LSU was caught between the legislature and common sense when blacks began to
attend the Louisiana State University-New Orleans (now the University of New
Orleans), and the university’s administration issued a statement that Negroes
were "unwanted." Segregationist legislator Willie Rainach, who was convinced
that a "Red conspiracy against the West" was responsible for the integration
drive, sought once more to use the "eligibility certificates" referred to in the
previous chapter, but the lower court order against the certificate requirement
was upheld by the United States Supreme Court. Not all students had their
pictures made for the Log, and sometimes it is impossible to tell whether a
picture is of a black person or a white person, but the class pictures for
1958-1959 show 22 black seniors out of 304, 8 black juniors out of 307, 10 black
sophomores out of 409, and 52 black freshmen out of 842. Almost certainly there
were more blacks than that enrolled, but however many, there was no violence and
no recorded agitation. Yet students riding city buses to an integrated college
were still segregated on the bus, and the City Council refused to make any
change. (2) In September 1958, State Treasurer A. P. Tugwell said that the state was almost
out of money and a few days later Lieutenant Governor Frazar backed him up,
saying that Louisiana really was almost bankrupt. Governor Earl Long had
suffered an apparent nervous breakdown and was unable to provide leadership. The
State Board of Education and the LSU Board of Supervisors issued a statement in
November 1958 warning the legislature and the public that $140,000,000 worth of
new facilities would be needed for the state’s colleges over the next ten years.
A proposed bond issue of $73,000, 000 was introduced into the legislature, and
of
this Southwest Louisiana legislators sought $800,000 for a new library for
McNeese, and in time this would come about. (3) People who were at McNeese in 1958-1959 probably remember the cold January
day when an overheated boiler blew out in the Administration Building and
required the attention of the Lake Charles Fire Department before it was
subdued. It is comforting to note that the State Bond and Building Commission
came up with $11,000 for a replacement boiler. In November the McNeese Federal
Credit Union was organized, with Robert H. James as president, Bruce Landers as
vice president, Harry Champagne in charge of personnel, and Wallace Lee
assistant personnel officer. The Credit Committee was made up of Arthur Lee,
Brownie (Mrs. Roy) Boozer, and Dan S. Montz, Jr. Huey McFatter, Stephen Spencer,
and Mrs. William B. Underwood were the supervisory committee. Lastly,
Mrs. Emma Squires, daughter of John McNeese, and long time Lake Charles city
clerk, died on February 5, 1959. (4) At the beginning of the fall semester, McNeese offered students 52 four-year
curricula, almost certainly too many; 6 three-year curricula, all in Engineering;
and 5 two-year curricula. Agriculture and Home Economics offered 9 four-year
curricula, Education offered 10, as did Music and there were 8 in all the
Sciences. In Business Administration, on the other hand, there were only 4, and
there were only 3 each in Languages and Social Sciences. There has been a
tendency toward too many curricula at McNeese throughout most of its history.
The Catalogue for 1958-1959 listed no fewer than 655 courses. Art,
Business Administration, Chemistry, Education, English, Forestry, Geology,
Health and Physical Education, Home Economics, Music, Nursing, and Physics each
offered 20 or more courses, and Music offered 63. It should be noted here that
the Louisiana State Nursing Examiners approved the McNeese nursing program in
the spring of 1959. (5)
McNeese State College, which was established to meet the
growing educational needs of a rapidly expanding population in Southwest
Louisiana, dedicates itself to the task of giving every possible
consideration to each of its students. At this college the success of each
student in all aspects of his life is the primary concern of the teaching
and administrative staff.
The college tries to help the student toward maturity in
his personal life - intellectual, emotional, and cultural - by bringing him in
touch with knowledge of the heritage of civilized man, and helping him turn
knowledge of man and nature into understanding of life in the world today
and his role in that life. Special attention is given to the development of
critical thinking and that means of transmitting abstract and creative
thoughts into terms of positive action that will result in the
greatest good for himself and the world in which he lives.
The aim of the college to aid the student economically is
realized through helping him select the field of endeavor best suited to his
wishes and talents, and to provide him with experiences that will permit his
developing a high degree of professional competence. The student is shown
that the mature individual has a high regard for doing every job well; he
seeks to continue his professional growth and respects the job well done in
any field of activity.
Socially the student is taught to develop the ability to
judge trends and conditions in contemporary society according to the moral
and ethical values of Western Civilization, and become competent in weighing
the values of contemporary customs and attitudes against perennial values.
He is encouraged to see and respect various paths to individual and
collective goals, and to become effective both as a leader and as a
follower, working with other members of society in striving to attain the
goals that he judges compatible with the highest moral and ethical values.
McNeese State College expects that her students will
direct this personal, economic, and social maturity toward effective
citizenship and toward constant individual development, both spiritual and
material. (6) Various students distinguished themselves during the year, James Austin Hunt,
a freshman, won one of the four scholarships in forestry offered nationwide by
Textron Corporation. No names are available, but mathematics and science
students under Dr. Miller Clarkson’s direction put together an analogue computer
from a $2,000 kit purchased for the purpose. M. W. Veuleman and Walter J. Rusek
were honored by the Sabine Chapter of the National Association of Accountants as
outstanding accounting students, and society editor Marsha Lee Smith and sports editor Gary
Snyder of the Contraband attended the Annual Meeting of the Columbia Scholastic
Press Association at Columbia University. In the College Writers of Louisiana
contest, Rex O’Neal Miller won first place in short story, Ray Beasley was first with
his one-act play, and Clarence (Bubba) Monismith received honorable mention in
the feature story division. Benjamin L. Carroll of Dry Creek won a fellowship
for the graduate study of chemistry at the University of Iowa. Sixteen students
won listings in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. They were Henry
P. Decell, Jr., Julie Ann Christ, Irvin R. Bonnin, Marie S. White, Evelyn
Thompson, Harry Wilson Miller, Margaret Barman, John Maurice Thom, Jr., Fred
Nodier, Martha Dale Land, Jerome A. Long, Rex O’Neal Miller, Jr., George Treese,
Olen Clark, Claribel Stansbury Jones, and Leslye Ward. In January, Julie Christ
(the future Mrs. Kalil Ieyoub) became McNeese’s first female student body
president, replacing Fred Nodier, who graduated in December in the middle of his
term. If distinction it be, Ervin Gusik was chosen the ugliest man on campus and
given the title Mr. Le Goon in a takeoff on the LaBelle contest. (7) Freshman Queen at the beginning of the fall semester was Jeanette Carney, and
her maids were Suzanne Fuller, Robbie Kingrey, Sandra Sudduth, and Judy Gill.
Peggy Addison was selected as Homecoming Queen, attended by Grace Abrahams,
Marie White, Dena Christ, Connie Burnette, Suzanne Fuller, and Frances Domingues.
In March Frances Domingues was LaBelle, and her court was made up of Suzanne
Fuller, Betty Jo Potter, Grace Abrahams, Marie White, Joanna Steele, and
Jeanette Christ. Marie White was also Little Colonel for the campus ROTC. In
June, coed Mary Ann Hamilton was selected to represent Lake Charles at the Miss
Louisiana Beauty Pageant. (8) McNeese’s debate team was exceedingly active, entering eight tournaments,
including the LSU Intercollegiate Forensics Conference and meets at Louisiana
Tech, Millsaps, and Florida State. Debaters were Sandra Sudduth, Max Morris,
Gilbert Wiggins, Jr., William Robinson, Henry McGowen, Jr., Russell Fontenot,
Jerry Watson, and Marilyn Penn. The team won the first debate trophy in McNeese
history at the Tech meeting, but there would be literally hundreds more in the
years to come. In April the debate team began a tradition that has persisted, a
head-to-head debate with a Harvard University team. Harvard took the affirmative
on the proposition "that the further development of nuclear weapons should be
prohibited." Gilbert Wiggins, Jr. and Max Morris of McNeese lost by a vote of 5
to 4. (9) As a result of the elections in fall 1958, Fred LeBlanc became alumni
president, Fred Flores first vice president, Gene Booth second vice president,
and Asa Weeks third vice president. Kathy Coleman replaced Mrs. Eva Jo Mertina
as secretary. In November news arrived from Nashville that alumnus Lamar
Robertson was singing a lead role in a George Peabody College production of
Thieves’ Carnival. (10) A number of new faculty members came to McNeese in the fall. Lieutenant
Colonel George Cole, now retired from the Army, was put in charge of placement
and given a teaching assignment in Social Sciences. Jason P. Xenakis became
assistant professor of philosophy, and William P. Sullivan, who had taught at
McNeese in 1955, returned to the fold with a doctorate. Bessie Jean Ruley had been an outstanding
undergraduate home economics major at McNeese, and after graduation she earned a
master’s degree in Home Economics at the University of Arizona. She returned to
the McNeese campus as an instructor in the fall of 1958. Roy Dobyns became an
assistant professor of Mathematics, replacing assistant football coach Lee
Hayley in the classroom. Two new Nursing instructors were employed, Miss Annie
Mae Green and Mrs. Joan Ratchford. In the Department of Education, Ella Roberts
and Bernice Lowry became instructors. Finally, former Army chaplain Charles W.
Fogleman, Ph.D. in sociology joined the Social Science faculty as an assistant
professor. C. W. Fogleman would be a loved and respected teacher and, soon, head
of the Department of Social Sciences until his retirement. (11) During the year, a number of faculty distinguished themselves in various
ways. Mr. Armand Perrault of Business Administration and Miss Ann Tilton Cash of
Home Economics were married in September. B. Warren Signor of the music faculty
was named to direct the first performance of the Lake Charles Civic Symphony on
November 11; McNeese faculty were to play a major role in the Civic Symphony
from this time forward. Jason Xenakis published an article in The Christian
Scholar, a publication of the National Council of Churches. Constance White,
head of Nursing, was elected president of the Quota Club of Lake Charles, and
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Grant of the ROTC detachment was assigned to attend
the Army Command and Staff School at Leavenworth. In the spring, C. W. Fogleman
read a paper at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Sociological Society at
Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Kenneth Gaburo was no longer on the faculty, but his
"Elegy," performed by the New York Philharmonic, was praised highly by critic
Howard Taubman in the New York Times. (12) One way of estimating the qualifications of a college’s faculty is by the
number, or percentage, of terminal degrees they hold, which in most fields means
doctorates. When McNeese became a four-year college Clet Girard and Francis
Bulber were the only faculty members who had earned the highest academic degree,
and they were 5 percent of a faculty of 36. At the end of the next year, the
number of doctorates had increased to 5 as the faculty grew to 51, and the
percentage doubled to 10 percent. By 1955, 13 of 76 faculty had the doctorate,
and the percentage had climbed to 17 percent. The departure of a number of
Ph.D.s that year, and an increase in total faculty, brought the percentage down
to 13.5 percent in 1956-1957. By 1958-1959 there were 22 persons holding the
doctoral degree on the faculty, but the total faculty had grown to 130, so the
percentage of doctorates was back only to the 17 percent of 1955. The percentage
would go down before it would begin to rise permanently, but it must be
remembered that the 1950’s and early 1960’s were periods of tremendous
enrollment increases nationwide, creating a seller’s market of college faculty.
Ph.D.'s were on the market, but they could command high salaries; the Louisiana
legislature has devoted many words to the importance of education, but it has
never provided the kind of appropriations that would be necessary to gather a
truly top-notch faculty at any one of the Louisiana state colleges. What finally
made great improvement possible, as will be discussed later, was a temporary
decline in enrollment accompanied by an increased supply of persons with
doctoral degrees, creating a buyers market in some academic areas. (13) The fall presentation of the Bayou Players was William Shakespeare’s A
Winter's Tale. In the large cast were Roy Harmon, Lady Leah LaFargue, Curtis
Baggett, Layne Stone, Noel Meadows, Annette Pousson, Ama Lee McKague, William
Himel, Mildred Clarke, Barbara Breedlove, Leslye Ann Ward, Sara Wyman, Mrs. Mary
Louise Stone, Dolores Tanner, Arlene Welsh, Walter Farque, Jr., Don Land,
Richard Mercer, Jr., Thomas Watson, Henry Ray Beasley, Marvin Barber, and Marie
David, plus two children, Patrick and Lila Tritico. Fritzi Krause gave A
Winter’s Tale a highly favorable review. (14) Because of crowding, Dean Bulber reduced the number of voices in the
Messiah choir to 220 in 1958, though the orchestra remained at 40 pieces.
Soloists were William McGrath, tenor; Mary MacKenzie, contralto; Mac Morgan,
bass-baritone; and Beverly Bower, soprano. Once again the house was full, and
again the performance was broadcast over the Mutual Radio Network. (15) For the McNeese-Lions Club production, light opera and popular musicals were
forsaken for real one-act operas, Mascagni’s Cavelleria Rusticana and Minotti’s
The Telephone. These presentations were highly praised by Truman Stacy in the
Lake Charles American Press, especially the singing of imported soprano Ilona
Kombrink, McNeese alumnus Sanford Linscome, and ROTC Captain E. F. Faust.
Nonetheless these short operas did not draw the audiences that earlier
performances of musicals and light opera had drawn. Since the object was to earn
money which the Lions Club than used to establish McNeese music scholarships,
the public reaction was important. Incidentally, in 1958-1959, eleven music
students held Lions Club scholarships. (16) The Bayou Player’s spring presentation was Sean O’Casey’s
Cock-A-Doodle-Dandy. Don Land, Dick Mercer, Layne Stone, Annette Pousson, Ama
Lee McKague, Mary Louise Stone, Mildred Clarke, Marie David, Carl Lueg, Jr.,
Dennis Grady, Curtis Baggett, Boyd Williamson, Roy Harmon, William Himel,
Walter Farque, William Dickerson, and Ray Beasley made up the cast. So that
viewers seated in the front part of the Auditorium could see all the action, the
stage floor was slanted upward from front to back. (17) In addition to these productions, there were other noteworthy cultural
occasions. The New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra presented a concert
at McNeese on October 31, its third appearance on campus. Pianist Claudio Arrau
gave a Community Concert piano recital in the Auditorium on December 13, and when
the Little Theater building on Bilbo Street was ruined by fire, the last Little
Theater performance of Inherit the Wind was presented on the McNeese stage.
Community Concert also presented the Vienna Boys Choir, and as mentioned
earlier, Warren Signor conducted the first concert of the new Lake Charles Civic
Symphony in the Auditorium in November. (18) Nor was McNeese’s cultural effort confined to the campus. Undoubtedly
recruiting was one objective, but cultural development was another when the
college’s concert choir sang at Leesville, DeRidder, Pineville, Oakdale, Welsh,
and Vinton in January. Then in April the band’s tour took it to Welsh and Vinton
in January. Then in April the band’s tour took it to Bunkie, Marksville,
Istrouma in Baton Rouge, St. James, Morgan City and Rayne. In the 1950’s the
performance of a well-trained ninety-piece band was a sight seldom seen by high
school students. (19) A. I. Ratcliff was still athletic director in 1958-1959, and Les DeVall was head
football coach, aided by Lee Haley and Jack Doland. Dowell Fontenot was trainer.
The football season was not a good one, 5 wins to 5 losses; the worst DeVall was
to have in his career. The record in basketball was also a disappointment; this
was the first year since 1955 that McNeese had not been GSC champion in that
sport. It was partial compensation, perhaps, that the tennis team won the
conference championship for the third year in a row, and that the golf team also
was the champion. In track McNeese ranked fourth in the GSC. One McNeese team
that distinguished itself in 1959 was the rodeo team, which at the Colorado
Springs meet won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association championship for
the second time. McNeese stars were Jim Miller, Tommye Flenniken, and Miss Dean
Flenniken. Dezere Lynn Miller of McNeese was not only chosen as
Rodeo Queen, but also crowned by western movie star Tex Ritter. (20) In November, a three-judge federal court declared that Louisiana’s law
banning racially mixed athletics was unconstitutional, but the State Board of
Education kept the rule in effect for the state colleges. The McNeese team
withdrew from a round robin tournament at Barksdale Field because the Barksdale
team had some black players. By this time, of course, there had been black
players in major league baseball for almost ten years. (21) There were 224 graduates in the spring of 1959; they heard a baccalaureate
address by the Reverend David J. Coughlin of the Church of the Ascension in
Lafayette, and a commencement address by Dr. Forrest W. Murphy, Dean of
Education at the University of Mississippi. Fifteen men were commissioned into
the Army, and seven others had been commissioned in January. One graduate, Mrs.
Katherine Blum, had completed all four years of her undergraduate work with no
grade lower than A. Other cum laude graduates were Gaynell Theresa Verrett, Mrs.
Juanita G. Isaac, Malcolm Wayne Veuleman, Patricia Ann Hathaway, Mrs. Evelyn
Chester Thompson, Marjorie Nell Iles, Mrs. Dorothy Ann Lee, Benjamin Lester
Carroll, and Eloise E. Moses. Forty-eight of the graduates had majored in
secondary education, 31 in health and physical education, 32 in elementary
education, and an astounding 28 in geology, 16 in nursing, 8 in horticulture, 7 in
mathematics, and the remainder in various other curricula. (22) 2 Summer enrollment in 1959 was 1,263, an increase of 88 over the previous
summer. In the fall 2,502 students were on hand, only 56 more than the previous
year. There were actually 22 fewer freshmen than the year before, 8 fewer
sophomores, but 15 more juniors, and 6 more seniors. The increase came in night
students. Spring enrollment 1960, on the other hand, saw 200 more than the
number registered in the spring of 1959. (23) McNeese began the decade of the 1960’s with Wayne Cusic as president, Francis
Bulber dean of the college, and Ralph Squires dean of Fine Arts. Department
heads were C. A. Girard in Languages, R. A. Suarez in Social Sciences, O. D.
Hyatt in Plant Science, J.C. Barman in Animal Science, Miller B. Clarkson in
Physical Science, Stephen Spencer in Mathematics, George White in Biology,
Robert Bruce Landers in Education, R. L. Rouse in Accounting (acting head),
Constance White in Nursing, A. D. Sterkx in Business Administration, Robert
James, director of night school, and Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Yarbrough,
professor of military science and tactics, all of whom reported directly to Bulber, at
least in theory. In practice Cusic frequently dealt directly with department heads. (24) There were a dozen other administrators, many of whom also taught classes.
Samuel Marino was head librarian, Inez Moses registrar, and Arthur Lee auditor.
Ellis Guillory was dean of student life, and Miss Linnie Lacy was counselor to
women. A. I. Ratcliff, as noted earlier, was athletic director; John Oakley
functioned as purchasing officer; Roy Price was director of housing; George Cole
directed placement; and William H. Welch was attendance officer. Mrs. Margaret
Richard was director of publications, Miss Paddy Doll director of testing, and
Wallace Lee supervisor of buildings and grounds. (25) Student fees were now $27.50 in the fall, $22.50 in the spring. For resident
students, room and board was $256 a semester, but there still were only two
dormitories, Alpha and Beta, for women and one for men. There was a relative
abundance of scholarships, however. Band scholarships were freely available,
legislative fee exemptions scholarships were fairly easy to come by, and if a
student had a legislative warrant, he might get cash from the finance office.
For graduates there was a scholarship to LSU, and students who placed in the
literary rally received special scholarships to McNeese. Probably the most
prestigious awards available were the T. H. Harris Scholarships named for a
former state superintendent of education, but by now there were also 40 other
scholarships of various kinds accumulated by McNeese in its two decades of
operation. (26) The most important development of the year, insofar as facilities were
concerned, was the beginning of construction of a new library. The legislature
appropriated $800,000 for a library building in its 1959 session, but the money
was to come from mineral leases which had not been let at the time. By spring
the money was available, and bids were taken on the building. Bartley, Inc.,
made a low bid of $534,260, and the contract was awarded on March 16, 1960.
Construction began that spring. (27) One of the memories of the 1959-1960 year was the ordination of Harry E.
Benefiel, former faculty member, into the Catholic priesthood by Bishop Maurice
Schexnayder. But people who attended McNeese in 1959-1960 probably remember the
death of Lether Frazar more than any other happening of the year. Frazar had not
been in good health since becoming lieutenant governor; in fact, his health was
said to be responsible for his not being a candidate for governor in 1960. In
the spring he suffered a series of strokes, and he died in Lake Charles Memorial
Hospital May 16, 1960. Frazar was still highly popular at McNeese and among most
people of Lake Charles, and his death brought widespread grief. (28) On the positive side, an accrediting team of the National Collegiate
Association of Teachers of Education came on campus in October and reported
favorably on McNeese. Likewise McNeese was admitted to the Association of
University Evening Colleges, which meant that the evening school was accredited.
An arrangement was made with the East Louisiana State Hospital whereby three
McNeese nursing students could study psychiatric nursing there. Mrs. Eldridge
Harper, Mrs. Marion R. Carnahan, and Mrs. Sue B. Henning were chosen for this
program. On the less exalted side, vandals clipped the tails of six horses
belonging to the rodeo team, and City Councilman Sam Tarleton complained loudly
about McNeese students who exceeded the speed limit on Common Street trying to
make it to class on time. (29) Frank Sadler was president of the student body in fall 1959, but resigned in
February and was replaced by Harold Guillory. In August three students were
accepted for dental school, Brenda Lynn Bailey at Baylor, and Charles B. Frush
and Harry Snatic at Loyola. Eight juniors who attended summer camp at Fort Hood,
Texas, were named distinguished military students; they were Frank L. Setliff,
Bobby W. Smith, Peter L. Crawford, Charles R. Pratt, Shelby R. Adams, Freddie L.
Patterson, Tommy M. Partin, and Olen O. Clark. In 1959, Log editor George
Mitchell attended the Columbia Scholastic Press Association meeting, and the
1959 Log was given the highest possible rating. In March, I. J. Wynn announced
that Contraband editor C. H. Seiber and associate editor Gene Mearns, as well as
Log editor emeritus J. B. Smith, II, would attend this meeting and would also
visit the offices of the New York Times and Life Magazine. (30) Twenty-four students were named to Who’s Who in American Colleges and
Universities; among them were Carolyn Gay Hudson, Mrs. Eldred Harper, and
Barbara Breedlove. Robert L. Myers won a fellowship at the University of Houston
for graduate study in geology. McNeese writers as a whole placed third in the
Louisiana College Writers Society contest; Ray Beasley placed first in short
story, and Wilburn L. Maddox and Lynwood Hebert won honorable mention in that
category; William V. Booth and Lorena L. Bride received honorable mention in
personal essay and one-act play, respectively. Students Janet Pollard and Patsy
McClain, plus assistant professor Lynda Jane McCaskill, attended the convention of
the National Association of Student Nurses at Miami. Dena Christ, a senior who
was on the honor roll, Homecoming Queen, listed in Who’s Who, and an active
member of Chi Omega social sorority, had an exhibit of thirteen paintings and
three sculptures shown in the Lake Charles Public Library. Charles David Whitman
won a senior scholarship for study at the Tulane School of Law, and Floyd M.
Clay won a scholarship for graduate study in history at Louisiana State
University. (31) The number of students on the honor roll had become so embarrassingly large
that in 1959-1960 only those who made the President’s Honor Roll, reserved for
those with a grade point average of 3.5 or better out of a possible 4.0, were
honored on Honors Day. In October Mrs. Marianne Dunn, Floyd M. Clay, Virgie D.
Laughlin, Lester A. Parra, Barbara L. Romero, Earl D. Bruce, Jimmie Ann Meaux,
and Gaynel T. Verrett were recognized as having achieved a 4.0 average in spring
of 1959. In March President John Hunter of LSU spoke to only 89 honorees;
included were straight A students Mrs. Della M. Guillory, Mrs. Marjorie F. Ayer,
Mrs. Althea J. Pitre, Mrs. Leonide L. Tanner, Mrs. Betty Hobbs Delaney, Frank L.
Setliff, Don E. Bastion, Elsie M. Beard, Rita A. Calderera, Amy S. Deaver, Sharon
M. George, Virgie D. Laughlin, Arnetta M. Rider, Mrs. Mary U. Spates and Jimmie
Ann Meaux. The dominance of women, including a large proportion of married
women, is obvious. (32) As noted earlier, Dena Christ was Homecoming Queen in 1959; Frances Henshaw,
Janice McManus, Kathleen Ann Gordy, Frances Domingues, Judy Roberts, and Sylvia
Andrus were her court. Kathy Gordy was selected LaBelle, and her maids were Judy
Roberts, Beverly York, Julie Gayle, Janice McManus, Frances Domingues, Anne
Pellerin, Angela Terranova, and Dena Christ. Frances Domingues also had the
honor of serving as ROTC Little Colonel. (33) William Casey’s debate team had eleven people this year: Max
Morris, Gilbert
Wiggins, Russell Fontenot, Robert Hayes, William A. Robinson, Brenda Streeter,
Pamela Broussard, Amelia Franklin, Carole Carlin, Carolyn Thompson, and Richard
H. Mercer. Early in the year it placed second in the LSU Forensics Conference
and then again in a tournament at Louisiana Tech. In March the team finished
third in the Tulane tournament, with Wiggins and Morris, senior debaters, defeating
four colleges before going down before the University of Houston. In January it
was noted that Wiggins and Morris had won ten of twelve debates so far in the
year; in March they added to their score, and McNeese won the Louisiana Speech
tournament at Natchitoches. Nor was this all; in April Wiggins and Morris
defeated Harvard’s debaters to even that score. (34) In November Fred Flores was elected over Nyles Spurlock as president of the
McNeese alumni. Asa Weeks was first vice president, William Clarke second vice
president, and Alyse Preston third vice president. James Beam, Sam Liprie, Mrs.
Edward Daugherty, and Thomas D. Watson were elected to the Alumni Board. Three
nursing alumnae, Mrs. Rena Dupre, Carolyn Griffin, and Elizabeth Storer joined
the Calcasieu-Lake Charles Health Unit, and home economics major Mrs. Marie
White became assistant home demonstration agent for Calcasieu Parish. Finally,
McNeese horticulture graduate Larry Trammel was made supervisor of grounds for
the newly restored Governor Tryon Palace at New Bern, North Carolina. (35)
Grace Ramke of the Fine Arts Department returned home during the summer of
1959 after nine months in Europe studying African art. Paddy Ann Doll, director
of testing and assistant professor of psychology, spent the summer in Europe and
attended the meeting of the World Federation of Mental Health at Barcelona,
Spain. Ada Sabatier and Wylma Reynolds also traveled in Europe in the summer,
participating in a tour sponsored by the National Education Association. (36) The new faculty that the college had needed badly in 1958-1959 finally was
employed in 1959-1960, and some of these would become fixtures as the years went
by. Three reported to Fine Arts: Betty Jean Hinton in Speech; Franklin A. LeBar,
assistant professor of Music; and Juanelva Marie Rose, staff accompanist. In
Education new faces were those of Dr. George Kirchener in Health and Physical
Education, Bertha Walley in Elementary Education, and Dr. Edward F. McLaughlin
in Psychology. In Business, Anna Ruth Wallace joined the Business Administration
staff, Dr. Eldred C. Speck became assistant professor of Accounting, and
Patricia Benoit came to teach Secretarial Science. (37) Jack D. L. Holmes, who would be at McNeese only a short time but who would
become an internationally know historian, joined the Social Science Department.
Linda McCaskill became assistant professor of Nursing; Betty M. Walker was
assistant professor of Home Economics; Evelyn H. Chandler became circulation
librarian; and Errington M. Holt, Jr., became an instructor in Animal Husbandry.
Victor Monsour, who would become head of the Department of Microbiology, joined
the science faculty, as did Dr. B. E. Hankins, a chemist who would become dean of
the College of Science and then academic vice president of the university.
Donald L. Elfert became an instructor in engineering drawing, and Kalil Ieyoub
and Raymond Chavanne, both McNeese alumni, became laboratory assistants in
chemistry. Ieyoub would one day be head of the Department of Chemistry, and
Chavanne would be director of Basic Studies. (38) The Departments of Mathematics and Languages took the main onslaught from
large freshman classes. Harold Rugby Green and Mrs. Tommy Hyatt Carroll became
assistant professors of Mathematics, and alumna Mrs. Colleen Doane Frazer became
an assistant in Mathematics. Richard Covington was on sabbatical leave from
Languages, but he was more than replaced by seven new teachers. Martha Sue
Brown, Edward J. Czerwinski, and Curtis C. Whittington became assistant
professors of English. Albert N. Cole, Jr., became assistant professor of
Spanish, and Loris D. Galford, Glenn R. Swetman, and Horace Taylor became
instructors in English. Whittington would one day head the department. (39)
Patrick Ford of the Mathematics Department received a Danforth grant for work
on his doctorate at George Peabody College in Nashville, and Mrs. Bertha Walley
earned her doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Alabama. Mrs. W. E.
Roberts chaired the editorial committee of the McNeese Review, and the
1959 issue carried articles by Samuel J. Marino and Jason Xenakis. O. D. Hyatt,
in addition to many talks to local organizations spoke to a garden symposium at
Lamar Tech in Beaumont, and Donald J. Millet became president of the Southwest
Louisiana Historical Association. President Cusic was awarded an honorary
doctorate by Illinois College, where he had earned his bachelor’s degree. Nowell
Daste and Grace Ramke had works included in the Louisiana Art Commission exhibit
of faculty art in Baton Rouge. It was Jack D. L. Holmes, however, whose
scholarly papers and publications kept the name of McNeese State College before
the scholarly community. In the fall he had articles published in the United
Daughters of the Confederacy magazine and in the West Tennessee Historical
Annual. Early in 1960 he published a booklet, Selected and Annotated
Bibliography of the Planned Suburban Shopping Center, which is still in use. In
April he read a paper to the Southwestern Social Science Association meeting at
Dallas, and in May he spoke to the Southwest Louisiana Historical Association on
Spanish rule in Natchez. (40) Faculty members attended numerous professional meetings. Dean Bulber and Dr.
George Marshall were on the program of the Louisiana Music Teachers Annual
Meeting at LSU in October, and Dr. Ralph Squires attended the meeting of the
National Association of Schools of Music in Detroit in late November. Also in
November Robert B. Landers attended the meeting of the Southern Regional Board
of Education in Atlanta. In April Landers and C. C. Baker attended the National
Council for Exceptional Children meeting in Los Angeles, where Landers presided
over a panel dealing with a "Critique of College Courses and College Teaching in
Special Education." Finally, William Iglinsky was one of twenty genetics
teachers in the whole country selected to attend an expense-paid summer
conference on genetics at Colorado State University. (41) Cultural activities for the year included Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night,
presented by the Bayou Players November 4-6, 1959. Marie David, Layne Stone,
Douglas Robertson, Annette Pousson, Ronald Budge, Roy Harmon, Walter Farque,
Richard Mercer, Jr., Daniel Roberts, Don Land, Curtis Baggett, Henry Ray
Beasley, Mildred Clarke, Lady Leah Hathaway, and Barbara Luttrell composed the
cast. Critic Bill Mertina praised the play, though his review speaks more of the
play itself than of the performance. (42) The Messiah was, as usual, a major event. Soloists were contralto Ruth
Nikolaidi, soprano Ilona Kombrink, tenor Eugene Conley, and baritone Robert
Kirkham. Nursery service was provided once more, and announcements stated that
"pre-school children shall not be admitted." (43) Critic Charles Martin
described the performance as "uniformly expert." (44) Four people - Bulber, Arthur
Burch, J. L. Farque, and Miss Delia Gaunt - were recognized for twenty years with
the Messiah chorus, and Kathleen Allums and Mrs. J. L. Farque were
recognized for 19 years service. Bulber received a gift of matched luggage, and
Miss Allums received a silver chafing dish. The Messiah chorus planned to
present "An Evening with Faust" in the air-conditioned auditorium of Lake
Charles High School in late April, but torrential rain forced a postponement
until early May. (45) The 1960 the Lions Club-McNeese musical was Annie Get Your Gun, with Lamar
LeBoeuf and Louise Stone alternating in the lead role. Other members of the
cast, some on alternate nights were Don Dehm, Francis LaRocque, Marcia Feldes,
Barbara Luttrell, Sylvia Buck, Bernice Timpa, Layne Stone, Finers Cryer, Roy
Harmon, Burl Vincent, Don Land, and Dan Roberts. The musical received a good
review, and Lamar LeBoeuf was especially complimented. In May the Bayou Players
presented Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, with Carolyn
Thompson, Annette Pousson, Roy Harmon, Don Lands, and two children, John Harmon
and Mary Ellen Brocato. Newspaper reviews of college performances in Lake
Charles are never savage and seldom less than enthusiastic, but one is left with
the feeling that this difficult play did not go over very well. (46) Other cultural opportunities were abundant. On the evening of November 19,
the Julliard String Quartette appeared before a small but highly appreciative
audience. On the night of January 27, Isaac Stern presented a violin concert,
and the Lyceum program for February 10 was The Taming of the Shrew, performed by
a professional Canadian troupe. Also in early February a group of art students,
led by Carolyn Piel, put on an exhibit of their works in the Wesley Center. In
this busy February, actress Bette Davis and actor Barry Sullivan appeared in The
World of Carl Sandburg, readings from the poet’s works adapted for the stage by
Norman Corwin. The Lake Charles Civic Symphony presented George Marshall’s "An
Irish Overture," and Ralph Squires was a piano soloist for the performance. An
American version of the Oberammergau Passion Play was presented March 17-20;
more than 150 local volunteers, mainly McNeese students, participated. Finally,
on April 21, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra appeared in concert at 7:30 p.m. and
then moved to the Ranch (student center) to play for the college’s spring dance
later in the evening. (47) In 1960 the football team had another lackluster season, winning 6 and losing
3, but the three losses were to Northwestern, Louisiana Tech, and SLI at
Lafayette. Olen Clark, halfback, was McNeese’s outstanding player all season.
The Homecoming game was played on schedule Saturday, November 14, but rain fell
so abundantly that the parade and other Homecoming events were delayed until the
following Monday. In October Coach DeVall kicked six players off the team for
disciplinary reasons, which may have been the most interesting development of
the season. The year 1959-1960 was not an outstanding year in other sports,
either; all teams had an undistinguished season except that the rodeo team won
another national championship, this time at Klamath Falls, Oregon. Perhaps the
most exciting event of the year came when spectators at the Northwestern
gymnasium attacked McNeese basketball players at the close of a game there. Two
players, John Riddle and Don Troutman, suffered visible damage. They maintained
that the crowd got in most of its licks while Natchitoches police had the
McNeese players’ arms pinned to their sides. (48) Homer Hitt, chancellor of the University of New Orleans, was the graduation
speaker in 1960. Cum laude graduates were John G. W. Price, Jimmie Ann Meaux, F.
Lamar Setliff, Arnetta Mae Rider, Mary R. Strahan, Mrs. Myrtis Lee St. Pierre,
Marilyn Jane Penn, Dreaux Jude Summers, Jeanette Ada Christ, and Mrs. Mary U.
Spates. Graduate John G. W. Price was nothing if not persistent. He had first
enrolled at McNeese in 1946 and had persevered until he finally achieved his
goal. Almost half of the graduates had majored in education of one kind or
another, but 35 majored in one of the sciences, 28 in agriculture, and 22 in
business. Ten chose one of the fine arts as a major, 7 mathematics, 6 each
social sciences and languages, with only 1 each in medical technology and home
economics. Seven of the graduates were admitted to medical or dental school.
(49) 3 The 1960-1961 academic year was one of those that faculty and administrators
long in the system remember as a "bad year." The nation was in an economic
recession, Louisiana’s revenues were down, and the second Jimmie Davis
administration in Baton Rouge, preoccupied with a vain attempt to prevent
integration of the public schools, was one of the least competent since the
Second World War. The enrollment for summer school, 1,347 was a 14 percent
increase over the preceding summer, definitely forecasting heavy enrollment in
the fall, but the college’s budget was reduced rather than increased. (50)
The total fall enrollment was no less than 2,697, an increase of 195 over the
previous year. This enrollment included slightly more than 1,000 freshman, 478
sophomores, 348 juniors, and 341 seniors, a total of 2,174 regular students, and
this was an increase of 235 over 1959-1960. All dormitories were filled and some
70 resident men were housed in temporary buildings. In the spring the total was
2,506, including 831 freshmen, 425 sophomores, 339 juniors, and 422 seniors. An
enrollment increase of this size meant at least ten more sections of freshmen
English and ten more of freshmen mathematics, plus probably fifteen more classes
of one kind or another, and this had to be done with less money. (51) Nor did McNeese do well insofar as capital outlay funds were concerned. Out
of a $10,000,000 appropriation, the state gave the college only $575,000, less
than went to Northwestern, Northeastern, or Nicholls, schools that were not
growing as rapidly as McNeese. Representative Jim Brown tried to get $1,300,000
for expansion of the Fine Arts Building, but the House of Representatives took
no action on his bill. Bids were taken in February for furnishings for the new
Library under construction, and McNeese was able to borrow $500,000 from the
Federal Housing and House Finance Agency. This half-million dollars was to be
used to build housing for married students on the south side of McNeese Street
on the land originally purchased as a college farm, and the loan was to be
repaid from revenues from the housing. The contract for these was let before the
end of the year. (52) McNeese was involved in controversy during the 1960-1961 academic year. One
English instructor attracted attention, to say the least, when he flunked
twenty-four out of thirty freshmen in one of his classes. A newspaper editorial
was sympathetic to the instructor and insisted that there be no relaxation of
standards. Another editorial a month later, not necessarily related, deplored
the fact that high schools were sending their incapable students on to college
to be flunked out there. (53) Perhaps more serious were two letters to the
editor in June that accused President Cusic of getting rid of large numbers of
faculty and staff for political reasons. What prompted these letters is
difficult to determine. There were no public firings in 1960-1961, and the loss
of faculty members was not any greater than would be normal in any year. A
newspaper editorial prompted by the letters suggested that what Cusic needed to
do was to replace many of the hastily created faculty with more qualified
people. In fact, suggested the writer, Cusic might not be political enough: "To
accomplish anything in Louisiana public life today, you MUST be a politician.
Certainly the likes of Earl Long and Jimmie Davis will be moved by no other
appeal." (54) This prompted a number of additional letters to the
editor, including one from a lady who asserted that all the courses she had at
McNeese Junior College before transferring to LSU were excellent except a course
in educational psychology under Cusic that she had had to take over. One wonders
what dire set of circumstances had made it necessary for Cusic, a health and
physical education major, to teach educational psychology. A more sensible
letter pointed out that so far Cusic had been unable to improve significantly on
the percentage of Ph.D.’s on the faculty. Another sensible letter suggested that
one of McNeese’s biggest problems was lack of community support. In nearly all
of these letters, however, there is a curious assumption that standards at
McNeese were higher in Frazar’s day than in Cusic’s. In only one way was this
true. Professional education courses are notorious for low standards practically
everywhere, and McNeese offered many more professional education courses in 1960
than in the early 1950’s. But standards in languages, history, the sciences,
mathematics, and other basic college courses were just as high, and perhaps
higher, under Cusic than they had been under Frazar. (55) In July of 1960 Senator Jesse Knowles of Lake Charles said that a legislative
act to authorize McNeese to grant a master’s degrees in education would go into
effect about September 1, 1960. The legislature did take action to this effect,
and in late July the State Board instructed McNeese and other colleges to
prepare specific plans for such degrees. In March the college announced that
graduate work would begin in the summer and that education degrees would be
granted in administration and supervision, elementary education, chemistry,
biology, mathematics, English, and social studies. The plans were worked out by
a Graduate Council made up of R. A. Suarez, C. A. Girard, C. C. Baker, Stephen M.
Spencer, Thomas Zolki, and George White. Some welcomed the coming of graduate
work, but everyone realized that McNeese lacked both the facilities and the
faculty needed; there was much to be done. (56) During the year the nursing program was favorably evaluated by a team headed
by Dr. Jean Campbell, assistant director of baccalaureate and higher degree
programs for the National League for Nursing. The Board of Education approved
salary increases for college presidents and doubled the fees paid by
out-of-state students, though there was no apparent connection. But the most
noteworthy and nauseating event of the year came on November 14, 1960, when
McNeese, Sowela Tech, and all the other colleges and public schools in the state
were closed for a holiday declared by State Superintendent of Education Shelby
Jackson for the day set by the federal courts for the integration of public
schools in New Orleans. (57) Student body officers, elected in May 1960, were Louis Hobbie, president, and
Larry Gardner, vice president. Four senior cadets were announced as
distinguished military students in October; they were Henry Ray Beasley, George
V. Culpepper, Norman L. Beadle, and Douglas R. Courville. It is certainly
noteworthy, too, that identical twins Carolyn and Clarene Carver gave an organ
recital at First Methodist Church in Lake Charles during the summer. Contraband
staff members editor-in-chief C. H. Seiber and society editor Rochelle Kristal,
as well as Log staff members editor George Hurlbut,
sports editor Glenn Vincent, and associate editor Katherine Zerger, escorted by
Barbara Belew of the Music Department, attended a college publications workshop
at Millsaps College at Jackson, Mississippi. Janet Pollard of Sulphur was
elected president of Louisiana Association of Student Nurses, and W. R. McDonald
received a National Office Management Association scholarship. Robert Coffman
received the outstanding Accounting student award for the year, and Norman
Beadle was named outstanding cadet at ROTC Honors Day. Robert G. Lasater won the
McNeese State College Outstanding Science Student award from the Lake Charles Chapter of
the Louisiana Engineering Society and Edgar D. Mott received the first
Outstanding Engineering Student plaque from the same organization. (58) An important first took place in the spring of 1961 when Tommie Sue Carroll
was accepted by the LSU School of Medicine, the first McNeese coed to be so honored.
Don Cowick, George Mitchell, John Stubblefield, and Paul Zehnder were also
accepted for medical training at LSU, and Phillip Dater was accepted by the
Tulane School of Medicine. Two other students, J. B. Smith, II and Allen W.
Sibley, were accepted for dental training at Loyola University. The record of
George White and the McNeese pre-medical program was improving every year. (59)
In the spring of 1961 senior art major Dorothy Ratcliff exhibited twelve
oils, four pencil drawings, and four sculptures in the lobby of the Fine Arts
Building. James Michael Greene won the annual scholarship for graduate work at
LSU, and Wilbert E. McReynolds won the annual scholarship to the Tulane Law School. Honor
graduate Charles Raleigh Newman decided to enter law school after finishing
McNeese in the spring of 1961. Newman was no ordinary student; he had entered
McNeese Junior College in 1948, then dropped out to work as a shift worker in
industry for ten years. During that time he became world champion duck caller
and world champion goose caller, which presumably makes him unique among
McNeese graduates. He became, of course, a prominent Lake Charles attorney. (60)
The spring of 1961 saw a formal beginning of one of the best programs in
Louisiana higher education. The State Board of Education had taken note of
complaints that all-expense scholarships were freely available for athletes but
that there was nothing comparable for students of outstanding academic ability. In
1959 a few experimental "honorary scholarship" awards had been made to
outstanding high school graduates, and these had brought Alice Ann Phillips,
Mary Ann O’Bier, Mila Blount, Patricia Ann Kelly, Jane Hebert, Samuel Andrews,
and Roland Loup to McNeese. The first "regular" winners of these scholarships,
in May 1961, were John Hoskins, Rebecca King, Paula Farris, Ann Coleman, Judy
Mouhot, and Joan Vallee. These scholarships were to bring many fine students to
McNeese over the years to come, but it should be noted that they never numbered more
than a fraction of the total of athletic scholarships. (61) The debate team was rapidly improving. In December it placed second in a
tournament held at USL, and the fact that two freshmen coeds, Marianne Prejean
and Patricia Materne, won five of six debates was an omen of things to come. In
April Robert Hayes and William Robinson debated the Harvard team, suffering from
the affirmative on the proposition "That a system of compulsory health insurance
should be adopted for all citizens." The judges declared Harvard the winner,
giving that school a 2 to1 record in its debates with McNeese. (62) In October 1960, state school board member Dr. Boyd Woodard spoke to the 84 students
who made the president’s honor roll in the spring semester, 1960. In December it
was announced that 23 students had qualified for listing in Who’s Who in
American Colleges and Universities. For whatever it may signify, 8 of them were
education majors; 4 English majors; 2 each from health and physical education
and business administration; and 1 each from secretarial science, music, home
economics, accounting, drama, and social studies. Superintendent of Schools H. A.
Norton was the speaker to 88 students who made the president’s honor roll in the
fall semester. Willie Stephens Baty, Elsie Marie Beard, Barbara G. Bearden,
Veronica Ann Finn, Robert Eugene Hamburg, LaWanna M. Mills, Mary Ann O’Bier,
Robert Edward Coffman, Jr., Mrs. Jane W. Cummins, Perry Brooks Dennis, III,
James Michael
Greene, Charles Raleigh Newman, and Mrs. Virgie L. Regan had maintained a 4.0
average that semester. (63) Betty Wills was Freshman Queen in September 1960, and Lana Bozeman, Glenda
Ford, Carol Wills, and Linda LeBleu were her court. At Homecoming, Anne Pellerin
was queen, and Sandra Sudduth, Glenda Ford, Janice McManus, Frances Domingues,
Kathleen Gordy, and Suzanne Fuller were maids. Suzanne Fuller was LaBelle, and
her maids were Anne Pellerin, Kathleen Gordy, Angela J. Terranova, Betty Wills,
H. Bonnie Case, Maureen Talbot, Glenda Ford and Lynda Lee Scarber. (64) Attorney Fred Godwin was president of the alumni in 1960-1961, with William
T. Clarke, Miss Alyse Preston, and Coy Scott as vice presidents. Some
controversy arose when the alumni sponsored a closed-circuit showing of the
Johansson-Patterson heavyweight championship boxing match and were sued by the
state for a portion of the take in taxes. The first issue of The Arena, the
magazine in which works of students and alumni of McNeese are published, came
off the press in 1961, and it carried a contribution from Marine Corps First
Lieutenant Andre Dubus. Alumnus Milton R. Lege of Crowley was awarded a
fellowship to pursue graduate work in psychology at LSU, and four alumni,
Willard R. Williams, Larry R. DeRouen, Reva Chesson, and Constance M. Reynolds
were added to the teaching staff during the year. Worth Moffett, a 1958
graduate, became an administrative assistant on the staff of the Lake Charles
Association of Commerce. A sadder note was struck when a memorial fund was
established to honor former student and Air Force Captain Daniel Harvey, lost on
a reconnaissance mission over the North Sea. (65) The summer of 1961 saw no fewer than fourteen faculty members in graduate
school working on advanced degrees. William Casey, Robert James, Huey McFatter,
Eugene Richard, and George Cole were at LSU; Ruby Dougherty and Laura Patterson
attended the University of Texas; Barbara Belew and Wylma Reynolds went to the
University of Alabama; Edward Steiner and Roy Dobyns to George Peabody; William
Sullivan to Columbia; Clifford Byrne to Vanderbilt; Ada Sabatier to the
University of Rochester; and Benjamin Harlow to Tulane. Colleen Frazer went to
the University of Mississippi, Ella Roberts to the University of Virginia, and
Harold Green to the University of Alabama. This scattering to the winds is
evidence of the fact that many McNeese faculty did not hold terminal degrees,
but it is also evidence of a faculty that was rapidly improving itself. It
should be also noted that librarian Samuel Marino attended a joint conference of
the American Library Association and the Canadian Library Association in
Montreal in June, and that Jason Xenakis taught philosophy at LSU during the
summer. (66) During the regular year Miller Clarkson went on sabbatical to work on a
doctorate in physics at Northwestern University in Illinois. Patrick Ford, as
noted earlier, had won a Danforth Grant and went to George Peabody College to
work on a doctoral degree in mathematics. Both would earn the advanced degrees.
Clarkson returned to McNeese for only one year; Pat Ford became head of the
Mathematics Department and completed his academic career at McNeese. Also, at
the end of the 1960-1961 year, J.C. Barman retired after 37 years in Louisiana
education. (67) New faculty included Colonel J. F. Williams, a West Point graduate retired
from the Army, as assistant professor of engineering; Ronald D. Crain, who held
a Ph.D. from Purdue, as assistant professor of chemistry; and Martin Hall, who
had earned the doctorate from LSU, as assistant professor of history.
Dr. M. P. Weiss became assistant professor of Languages, teaching both German and
French, and Carlyle Cross became an instructor in English. James W. Batchelor,
who would remain at McNeese more than a quarter of a century, became an
instructor in geology; Ray M. Thibodaux came as a replacement for Patrick Ford
in mathematics; and Maxine D. Steckelberg and Ralph E. Denty joined the special
education faculty. Mrs. John F. Reedy came to the Library late in the year; she
would become head librarian and remain at McNeese until her retirement. Finally, Lieutenant Colonel J. L. Bryan became professor of military science and tactics,
replacing Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Yarbrough. (68) Jack D. L. Holmes was without question the most productive faculty member in
a scholarly sense in 1960-1961. In October he discussed Nathan Bedford
Forrest’s Civil War raid on Memphis with the Houston Civil War Round Table, and
in November he read a paper at Tulsa before the Annual Meeting of the Southern
Historical Association. In April 1961, he received a grant from the American
Philosophical Society to study the New Orleans Cabildo of the Spanish colonial
period, and in May he received a Fulbright grant for a year’s study in Spain.
His work in Spain eventually led to his being knighted by the Spanish
government, making him Sir Jack D. L. Holmes. (69) Kenneth Sweeny was elected to the Board of Directors of the Louisiana
Holstein-Friesian Association, and Onis D. Hyatt became president of the
Louisiana Camellia Society. Dr. Charles Faulk of the Education Department,
collaborating with Thomas R. Landry of LSU, published an article in The
Arithmetic Teacher. Dr. Horace Taylor of the Language Department won the Lake
Charles city chess championship for the second time. Athletic trainer Dowell
Fontenot became a registered physical therapist during the year, and he also
published an article in the Athletic Training News. (70) Margery Wilson’s Bayou Players presented Thornton Wilder’s play
The
Matchmaker in the fall. The cast included Monique Fleury, Larry Bruce Morgan,
Mary Crawford, Linda Walker, Roderick Guillory, George Zientowski, Jr., Richard
Mercer, Don Land, Annette Pousson, Walter Farque, Dan Roberts, Hardy Parkerson,
Richard Wallis, Layne Stone, Judy Whatnall, Donna Gauthier, and Anita Joe Savino.
Mrs. Wilson, hospitalized, did not see the production, but she was no doubt
comforted when critic Bill Mertina called the play "warm and amusing." The Bayou
Players turned to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard for their spring production,
presenting it in three-quarters round with original music by George Marshall.
Once more Monique Fleury had a lead role; other members of the cast were Larry
Morgan, Carolyn J. Tomlinson, Marsha Crain, Annette Pousson, Don Land, Malcolm
Fry, Walter Farque, Jo Ann McCollister, Arthur Bonvillian, Ray Beasley, Raymond
Valdetero, and Danny Roberts. (71) The Messiah had lost none of its appeal with the passing years.
Soloists in 1960 were tenor Albert DaCosta, mezzo-soprano Frances Bible, soprano
Betty Ann Busch, and bass-baritone Norman Treigle. A crowd of 2,000 filled the
Auditorium. Once more McNeese provided a free nursery service for pre-school
children, allowing none in the Auditorium. The McNeese-Lions Club musical was
Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. Patricia Guidry sang the lead role, supported
by Don Land, Don Behm, Finers B. Cryer, Billy Gueringer, Malcolm Fry, Francis
LaRocque, Rex Brashear, Dennis LeDoux Basile, Joyce Behm, Carole Dartez, Jo Ann
Chaput, Pamela Bounds, Martha Howell, Mrs. Nelda Boese, Patricia Guillory, and
Lamar LeBoeuf. Many of the cast alternated performances. Patricia Guidry was
especially praised. (72) The McNeese-City Opera workshop grew ambitious in the spring and set out to
produce Bizet’s Carmen. Actually, it would be just as accurate to refer to this
as a project of the Messiah chorus. Francis Bulber directed the
production, Maurice Pullig served as narrator, and Lamar LeBoeuf sang lead the
first night, Mrs. Donald Gene Doland the second. Two pianos and an organ
provided the music, and the chorus was not costumed. The opera was presented in
Lake Charles High School’s air-conditioned auditorium, and after the performance
Mrs. Constance White was in charge of a reception at which Mrs. Cusic and Mrs.
Gordon Gano presided over the punch and coffee. Truman Stacy, after high praise
for Lamar LeBoeuf and Robert L. Snead, optimistically concluded that Lake
Charles music lovers were developing a taste for opera workshops. (73) These did not exhaust the cultural opportunities open to McNeese students and
the public. The New Orleans Symphony appeared again in the fall, and in spring
the National Symphony, directed by Howard Mitchell and featuring Jaime Laredo as
violin soloist, gave a performance. Rear Admiral Frederick B. Warder, who had
commanded the submarine Seawolf in the Second World War, gave grim warnings
about the dangers of communism in December, and in March Dr. Peter B.
Carmichael, head of the Department of Philosophy at LSU, spoke on
anti-intellectualism in America. A number of McNeese students and alumni
appeared in the Lake Charles Little Theater’s production of The Boy Friend, and
the band gave its annual spring concert in April. Then in May five drama
students, Carolyn Tomlinson, Bill Dickerson, Annette Pousson, Paul Ellender, and
Richard Mercer, directed and presented one-act plays. (74) The athletic record in 1960-1961 was good. The football team lost only 3 of
10 games, though two of these were to Gulf States Conference opponents. In
basketball the record was 16 won to 7 lost, and Ralph Ward won another GSC
championship. The golf team managed to hold second place in the GSC for the
second year, and the tennis team won the conference championship for the fourth
year in a row. Apparently the baseball and track seasons were not distinguished,
but one member of the rodeo team, Wayne Foster, did get into the national
finals. Incidentally, E. M. Holt replaced Kenneth Sweeny as rodeo coach. (75)
On April 11, 1961, the city of Lake Charles observed Ralph Ward Day in honor
of McNeese’s basketball coach, who had brought the college four Gulf States
Conference championships and one national title in nine years. The main feature
of the day was a contest between the varsity and an alumni basketball team made
up of Bill Reigel, Roy Moore, Charlie Decker, Frank Glenn, Stan Kernan, Dick
Miller, Dudley Carver, Jesse Perry, Ruble Scarborough, Hugh Cole, Jerry Doland,
Dick McNabb, Jerry Simmons, Bill Breen, and Stan Chelchowski, coached by Ted
Chapman. How hard-fought a game it was cannot now be determined, but the alumni
won. (76) There were 271 candidates for degrees in the spring of 1961. The practice of
separate baccalaureate and commencement speakers was abandoned, and the only
speaker was the Reverend Sam Nader, District Superintendent of the Methodist
Church. Education majors were the most numerous, with 47 graduates in elementary
education, 46 in secondary education, 22 in health and physical education, and
13 in music education. Other popular majors were business
administration, with 31 graduates; sciences (all disciplines) with 19;
agriculture with 25; social studies (sociology, history, and pre-law) with 16; engineering with 13; and mathematics with ten. No other curriculum attracted
more than five students. Mrs. Virgie Ryan, Rita Ann Calderera, Mrs. Betty Hobbs
Delaney, Robert Eugene Hamburg, Mrs. Doris Reed, Mrs. Althea Davis Pitre,
Barbara L. Romero, Mrs. Lois Marie Fulwood, and Sandra Zita Sudduth graduated
cum laude. (77) McNeese State College had continued to grow and it had
managed to improve both in facilities for education and
in the size and quality of its faculty. This was no mean accomplishment because
financial support from Baton Rouge was stingy at best and in 1960-1961 woefully
inadequate. The college was more than adequately fulfilling its role as a
cultural leader for Southwest Louisiana. A beginning was made in graduate work,
a role for which McNeese was probably not ready, but the responsibility would be
met quickly and competently in the next few years. CHAPTER VII Struggling On Summer school enrollment in 1961 was another record, with 1,584 students. In
the fall there was an increase of 249 over the previous fall, to 2,946. One
thousand and seventy of these were freshmen, 493 sophomores, 384 juniors, and
401 seniors. But there was something new this time; 98 graduate students were
registered. The remainder included 455 night students and 2 non-credit students.
In the women’s dormitories were 217 people, and reservations were being taken
for the 1962-1963 year. There were 236 in the men’s dorm, which had been
designed for 214, and 64 more men were in a "temporary" frame building. Spring
semester enrollment was less than fall but greater than the previous spring. Of
the 2,704 registrants, freshmen numbered 790, sophomores 456, juniors 376, and
seniors 419. There were 520 night students and 87 graduates. Obviously the
attrition among freshmen was great, and inevitable consequence of open
admissions. (1) The most important development of 1961-1962 insofar as physical facilities
were concerned was the completion of the new Library, which was named Lether
Frazar Memorial Library in honor of the deceased former president. The building
was dedicated on November 14, Homecoming Day 1961. It was about time; the money
had been appropriated in 1959. More important, the Library now had about 35,000
books plus files of 625 periodicals and 21 newspapers. The space formerly used
in Kaufman Hall was entirely inadequate for any serious research work, even for
undergraduates. Mrs. Frazer participated in the dedication, and State Board
member Boyd Woodard made the dedication speech. (2) In 1960 the legislature had provided money for an addition to the
Administration Building, and bids for this work were called for in the summer of
1961. Bartley and Company submitted the low bid, $527,217; the contract was
awarded to that firm in September, and work began in October. It would not be
finished until early 1963, but this added the central offices, the offices at
the back of Kaufman Hall on the first floor, and the
classrooms at the back on the second and third floors. The legislature had
authorized $1,300,000 in capital outlay for adding 36,000 square feet, including
a 244-seat recital hall, to the Fine Arts Building and for the construction of
another men’s dormitory. The Bond and Building Commission released only $700,000
however, and work was limited to the Fine Arts addition. Bartley and Company was
again low bidder and began work on the project in late winter of 1962. (3)
There were a few minor administrative changes for the previous year. Roy
Price was once more director of housing, and Robert James was listed in the
Catalogue as head of a new "Evening Division," which meant that he was in
charge of night classes. Carroll Wilson had replaced Barman as head of the
Department of Animal Science, and Thomas P. Zolki was acting head of the
Department of Physical Sciences. Robert Landers of the Department of Education,
also chairman of the Graduate Council, took a six-week sabbatical leave during
the summer to tour graduate schools in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. (4)
A look at the Catalogue for 1961-1962 is instructive. Fees were now
$30 for the fall semester, $25 in the spring. A semester’s room and board for
dormitory students was $268. There were 53 four-year curricula, 6 three-year
engineering curricula, 4 two-year curricula, one of them now geology, and a
one-year secretarial science curriculum. For the first time master’s
degrees - master of arts, master of science, master of education, and master of
music education - were listed, but all were in education. These curricula were
supported by a listing of 687 courses. By this time, the list of scholarships
included band scholarships, high school scholarships, legislative fee
exemptions, legislative warrants, T. H. Harris scholarships, and Rally
Association scholarships. Also there were scholarships limited to students in
certain majors: five for agriculture, four for accounting and business
administration, eight for education, five for music, seven for nursing, plus
eighteen that did not fit into any of these categories. (5) There was also a cloud on the horizon, though at the time no one realized
that it was a bad omen. Chennault Air Force Base had closed; leaving an
installation that was well adapted to basing strategic bombers but of little use
for anything not connected with aeronautics. In July, a letter to the editor of
the Lake Charles American Press suggested that the base should be turned over to
McNeese. Two weeks later an editorial in the same newspaper demanded that
McNeese get the base. The next spring the Association of Commerce set up a
committee to "promote" McNeese. One of the things this committee did was
advocate giving Chennault to the college. Perhaps there was some good use to
which the base might have been put, but making it a second campus for the
college, was not that use. McNeese would soon get a large part of Chennault,
which turned out to be a hungry white elephant, devouring resources that could
have been much better applied elsewhere. (6) Students who lived on campus in the summer may very well remember that Alpha
and Beta Halls were emptied for two hours the last day of June because a woman
called State Police Headquarters and announced that a bomb would explode in one
of them shortly. Every student should remember that during an intensely cold
spell in January classes were called of for two days because gas pressure was
too low for heating. In fact, final examinations had to be delayed. Few will
remember, however, that State Superintendent of Education William Dodd spoke to
the annual Student Senate banquet. (7) C. H. Seiber was elected president of the student body, and William Robinson
and Mary Ann Maxey were chosen as vice presidents. Angela Terranova was
secretary, and Marjorie Rasmussen served as treasurer. Three other students, who
showed courage, if not leadership, were Everett B. Waddle, Kelly B. McWright,
and Dan R. Sistrunk. As part of an experiment directed by Professor Robert H. Pittman,
they spent 68 hours buried in a radiation shelter that had been constructed near
the president’s home. (8) Eight of the junior ROTC cadets who went to Fort Hood for summer camp were
cited as distinguished military students. They were Charles C. Browne, Daniel W.
Cupit, Reginald P. Fontenot, Eugene J. Leveque, James G. Manning Jr., James R.
Welch, John S. Boudreaux, Irving V. Hayes and Hunter C. Hess. Dean Edward Bane
Roberts of the LSU School of Education was the speaker at the fall honors
convocation. One hundred and four students had earned a place on the president’s
honor roll, 18 of them with a perfect A average. Dr. Stith T. Thompson,
professor emeritus at Indiana University was the speaker to 89 students honored
at the spring convocation. Among the 18 with a perfect average was Mrs. Barbara
Doland Coatney, who was to become chairman of the Home Economics Department at
McNeese. (9) Monique Fleury, now Dr. Nagem of the Languages faculty, won the
France-American scholarship. She was also one of the 32 students picked for
Who’s Who, as was Ted Brevelle, later McNeese athletic director. Dennis L. Scott
received a $3,000 graduate fellowship for foreign service studies at Georgetown
University from Louisiana District Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus. Mrs. Peggy
Ann Meadows, who graduated cum laude in January, received a fellowship at LSU
for work on her master’s degree in chemistry, and William Alan Robinson received
a scholarship to Tulane Law School. Robinson had an outstanding record at
McNeese; he served on the Student Senate, made Who’s Who, debated three years,
belonged to Blue Key, and was an active fraternity member. He was also active in
ROTC and decided to complete his obligatory two-year military service before
attending law school. (10) In the spring of 1962, F. H. Broussard was admitted to the University of
Tennessee School of Dentistry at Memphis, and Robert M. Tafel was accepted at
the Tulane School of Medicine. Six seniors were admitted to the LSU School of
Medicine: Larry Wendell Davis, Jay Noel Serve Meadows, Robert Dale Hayes, Harmon
Madison Knight, Beverly Ann Bertrand, and Marsha Lynn Cain. Six high school
seniors, Melody Allison and Edward F. Goshorn from Lake Charles High School,
Linda Bailey and David L. Nerien from LaGrange, Holly M. Davis from Sulphur,
and Sammie Kerry Cooper from DeQuincy, got the new State Board academic
scholarships to attend McNeese. (11) In 1962 the College Writer’s Society of Louisiana, from which McNeese
students had won many honors in the past, met on the McNeese campus. This
meeting was distinguished from others by the fact that the chief speaker was the
famous poet and critic Cleanth Brooks. McNeese did not sweep the contest this
time, but William Pelletier did win second place in the feature article
category. The debate team in 1961-1962 was made up of Ann Coleman, Patricia
Materne, Royland Miller, Carolyn Baker, Sherry Devereaux, and William Roberson,
and it was one of the best McNeese ever had. In the Millsaps tournament in
January, Coleman and Materne won nine straight debates without a loss, and
McNeese won the tournament. Then in February the debaters took first place in
the Florida State tournament. The Louisiana Speech Tournament at Northwestern
was no different; McNeese was the first out of twenty colleges and universities,
the University of Alabama second. In late March the time had come to meet
Harvard again, and the team of Materne and Coleman won, holding forth in the
auditorium of the science building, now Frasch Hall. (12) Barbara Saucier was chosen Freshman Queen at the beginning of the fall
semester, with Mary Louise Pack, Harleen Broussard, Jeanette McDonald, and
Sandra Benton as her maids. Suzanne Fuller headed the Homecoming court, with
maids Shirley Gilbeaux, Mary Ashburn, Glenda Ford, Mary Ann Maxey, Kathy Gordy,
and Angela Terranova. In March Mary Ashburn was LaBelle, and her court consisted
of Mildred (Terry) Barnett, Gary Lynn Curnutt, Diane Primeaux, Angela Terranova,
Glenda Ford, Suzanne Fuller, Mary Louise Pack, and Betty Wills. (13) William T. Clarke of the class of 1953 was president of the alumni for
1961-1962. Alyse Preston, Kalil Ieyoub, and Kathy Coleman were vice presidents. Alumnus Don Land,
who had been active in the Bayou Players as an undergraduate, had a role in the
Dallas Theater’s production of Naked to Mine Enemies, and closer to home,
alumnus Al Nesmith replaced Tony Byles as the basketball coach at LaGrange High
School. Former student body president Allen Commander announced that he would
run against United States Representative T. A. Thompson in the Seventh
Congressional District, but Commander was not successful as a Louisiana
politician. (14) In 1961 Loris Galford returned to the English classroom after a year’s leave.
George H. Weydling, Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg became associate
professor of German, and Dr. James H. Morriss, a psychologist, joined the
Department of Education. Albert L. Stoutamire, who held a D. Ed. degree, came to
Fine Arts, and last, but certainly not least, Thomas Leary, who would succeed
Cusic as president of McNeese, came to the college as associate professor of
engineering. (15) The 1961-1962 year was notable for the number faculty members
who earned terminal degrees. Before the beginning of the fall semester, Robert
H. Pittman received the doctor of education degree from the University of
Mississippi. Horace Taylor of the Language Department and Carroll Wilson of
Animal Science earned Ph.D.’s from LSU in mid-year, and William P. Sullivan
received the same degree from Columbia University. McNeese needed these advanced
degrees; at the beginning of the year, only 28 of 168 faculty members held
doctorates, slightly less than 17 percent. In one year, as a result of this
upgrading of existing faculty and the employment of people with the doctorate,
the percentage would reach 25. That was a highly significant improvement, though
it left plenty of room for more. (16) John Norris of the Language Department was on sabbatical at the University of
Texas for the summer. Recently promoted to full colonel in the Army reserve, he
was editing a technical treatise on atomic energy. Martin Hall’s Sibley’s New
Mexico Campaign was the first publication by a McNeese faculty member to occupy
a special faculty display case in the Library. Librarian Samuel Marino had
collaborated with Frank Monaghan to produce a bibliography, French Travelers in
the United States, which was published by the Antiquarian Press. Ronald Crain
was responsible for a grant of $17,000 from the National Science Foundation for
studying "Scent Gland Secretions of the Hemiptera." Finally, D. M. Alford, an
instructor in biology, read a paper on the diseases of ornamental plants to the
American Psychopathological Society at a meeting in Biloxi. (17) The year was not without tragedy. In January, Richard Joseph Sullivan,
assistant professor of engineering, died of a heart attack, leaving six small
children. Then in April Dean Ralph Squires, who was only 56, died a victim of
Hodgkin's Disease. Squires had been a major figure at McNeese, and his loss was
keenly felt. When the addition to the Fine Arts building was completed, the new
small auditorium would bear his name. (18) Francis Bulber’s Messiah was just as popular in 1961 as it had ever
been, and was far more professionally produced than had been the case twenty
years earlier. Soloists this year were soprano Sara Enlich, contralto Florence
Kopleff, bass-baritone Kenneth Smith, and dramatic tenor Charles O’Neil. The
presentation was on December 3, and once more a nursery was provided for small
children. Eight members of the chorus and orchestra - Roger Chassay, Jerome
Scalisi, Mrs. Charles P. Morrison, Arthur Reed, Donald Gene Doland, Lamar
Robertson, Mrs. Bessie Gibson, and Mrs. Dale Reichley - received awards for ten
year’s participation. An overflow audience heard the performance, and taped
excerpts were broadcast over the Mutual Radio Network on Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day. (19) In the fall the Bayou Players presented a second Jean Giraudoux drama, The
Madwoman of Chaillot, with a cast of 35 persons, in the round. The spring play
was Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Glenda McGee and Kathryn White alternated as
Juliet, John Sullivan played Romeo, Annette Pousson and Rosalie Robinson
alternated as the nurse, and David Franks portrayed Mercutio. Both plays were
well received, but one gets the impression that Romeo and Juliet had greater
appeal for the audience. (20) The opera workshop production for 1962 was Tosca, scheduled for April 26 and
27 in the air-conditioned Lake Charles High School auditorium under Francis
Bulber’s direction. A former faculty member, Robert L. Snead, was brought in to
sing a lead role, but participants Shirley Patin Hebert, Dr. H. H. Robinson,
Frederick Tooley, George Marshall, Jerry T. Crews, James W. Batchelor, Finers B.
Cryer II, and Francis J. LaRocque were also McNeese faculty, students or alumni.
Maurice Pullig was the narrator. Tosca was postponed because of Dean Squire’s
death, but it was presented in early May. (21) The spring operetta was Carousel, and after a quarter century, the records
still leave an impression of great fun had by all who had anything to do with
it. Carole Dartez and Francis LaRocque had the lead roles, but Joyce Behm, Lee
J. Monlezun, Jr., Orville Behm, Jr., Pamela Bounds, Rosalie Robinson, Joseph
Black Jr., Ellis LeBoeuf, Robert Spear, Mrs. Layne Stone, Samuel Douglas, Jerry
Delaney, Ruby Womack, Charles Ray Squyres, and Ronald Tilton all had singing
roles. According to a newspaper critic, a near-capacity audience saw one of the best
McNeese productions in some time. (22) The Lake Charles Civic Symphony, which gave its concerts in the Auditorium,
was almost an extension of McNeese in these years. In November George Marshall
conducted the Symphony and pleased critic Truman Stacy of the Lake Charles
American Press. Marshall also directed the chorus for the opening production of
the Shreveport Civic Opera Association; then in April he was made permanent
director of the Lake Charles Symphony and directed its last performance of the
year. In the meantime, in February, Frances Bulber had directed the orchestra,
and according to a review in the local paper, "the Civic Symphony players
reached a height of musicianship that numbers of persons in the audience did not
realize they possessed." (23) Two art exhibits were available during the year. Russell Guirl of SLU had a
show of 25 drawings in the Library in October, and J. Werlyn Martin of the
McNeese faculty exhibited 20 paintings at Sarver Art Gallery on Hodges Street in
early April. In February James T. Matthews led the University of Houston band in
a performance in the Auditorium, and in July the McNeese band began its normal
series of outdoor summer concerts. (24) As part of the integration controversy of the late 1950’s and 1960’s,
Louisiana colleges had been forbidden to recruit outside the state. This was a
handicap to some schools, including McNeese; because of its location. McNeese
could often attract good high school football players from East Texas. In
September, the State Board was persuaded to allow colleges to recruit up to 15
percent of their athletes out of state. The team would go far out of state in
1961, to Mexico to play the National Polytechnical School in Mexico City.
Thirty-two years earlier, Athletic Director Ratcliff had gone to Mexico as
captain of a Louisiana College team. The game was no contest, but presumably
those who made the trip enjoyed themselves. (25) The 1961 football season was a great success; the team won 7 games, lost only
2, and tied for the Gulf States Conference championship. Four players - Tom Sestak,
Johnny Steed, Don Breaux, and Don Bossier - were named to the All-GSC team. Don
Breaux signed a contract with the Houston Oilers, Julius Fincke, with the San
Francisco Forty-Niners, and Sestak with the Buffalo Bills professional football
team. One of the seniors on this team was Ted Brevelle. (26) The basketball team for 1961-1962 won 17 games and lost 8, earning third
place in the conference. Incidentally, James David Cain was a player on this
team. This season was Ralph Ward’s tenth at McNeese, in which time he had won
178 games, lost 86, won four GSC championships, and one national championship.
Fate was not kind to Ward this year, however, because in December baseball Coach
Reed Stephens resigned for reasons officially unknown, and Coach Ward became
temporary baseball coach. He was relieved in April when Ted Chapman took over
that job. (27) The number of graduates had become too great for all of them conveniently to
go through commencement exercises at the same time, so beginning in 1961-1962,
there were three ceremonies. At the end of summer school, G. W. Ford,
superintendent of the Lake Charles School District, was speaker. There were four
cum laude graduates at the August ceremony: Mrs. Barbara Isdale Bankens; her
mother, Mrs. Katherine Wincey Isdale; Mrs. Adrienne Parra Hunt; and Mrs. Barbara
Turner Chisholm. The first January commencement took place January 24, 1962, and
Dr. Boyd Woodard was the speaker. Cum laude graduates were Mrs. Willie S. Baty,
Mrs. Maude Gidlaw, Peggy Ann Meadows, Lena Wittler, and Marilyn Strait. (28)
General Troy Middleton, president of LSU, was scheduled as the graduation
speaker in the spring, but he became ill, and Dr. Nathaniel Caffee, vice
president and dean of academic affairs at LSU, replaced him. Cum laude graduates
at this ceremony were Betty A. Roberts, Mrs. Marjorie Ayer, James A. Hunt, Alice
A. Phillips, Monique Fleury, and Joseph P. Distefano. It was obvious that women
made much better grades than men, and it appeared that married women exceeded
single women in academic performance. (29) An examination of class pictures in the Log shows that far more seniors
majored in one form or another of education than in any other curricula; in
fact, between one-third and one-half had education majors. Other popular
curricula were business administration, agriculture, and nursing. This
publication also shows that integration had not gone far in 1961-1962. Only 4 of
the 228 seniors pictured were black, and only 8 of 268 juniors, only 17 of 460
sophomores, and only 64 of 946 freshmen. (30) 2 Summer school enrollment in 1962 totaled 1,268, of whom 141 were night
students, 146 in graduate classes, and 52 in education workshops. This was a
slightly smaller enrollment than in the summer of 1961, but any misgivings
aroused by this were relieved when the fall enrollment was 3,131, some 165 above
the previous fall. Day students totaled 2,537, 2,395 undergraduates, 132
graduates. The fall enrollment included 1,030 freshmen (40 less than in the
previous year), 504 sophomores, 406 juniors, and 417 seniors. It was in night
students and graduate students that the increase had come about. Total
enrollment in the spring was 2,607, and this was 97 fewer than the previous
spring. (31) The budget process for a Louisiana fiscal year begins about the middle of the
preceding year. President Cusic asked for a 12 percent increase for McNeese
($249,642) when the state colleges as a whole were requesting an increase of
twice as much. The other colleges presumably had asked for more, hoping that
something would be left after cuts. Cusic turned in a realistic estimate of
needs, so any cut would really hurt. He was criticized for this error in
bureaucratic tactics. The criticism must have had some effect, because the
college budget request came out of the State Board of Education at $250,000
higher. When the legislature met, McNeese asked the Budget Committee for
$524,868 more than had been received the previous year. The governor usually
controls the appropriation process in Louisiana, and this time Governor Davis
demanded heavy cuts. McNeese State College came out of the legislature with
$23,000 less in operating funds than had been available in 1961-1962. (32)
There was some comfort in the fact that work on the additions to the Fine
Arts Building and to the Administration Building (Kaufman Hall) was progressing.
These improvements would relieve overcrowding, which had been a problem almost
throughout the history of the college. In July, 48 new housing units for student
families were ready for occupancy, and no vacancies were expected. The old
"temporary" housing along Common Street was to be razed. Only families in which
the husband was a full-time student were accepted as tenants in the new
apartments. There was more talk of making use of Chennault Field, and no one put
a stop to it. (33) At its December 1962 meeting, the State Board of Education authorized
master’s degrees in biology, chemistry, mathematics, English, and history in
addition to the education degrees that had been previously established. It
should be noted here that students seeking degrees in secondary education
specialized in some academic subject, though they did not necessarily receive
their degrees in that subject. The Graduate Council now consisted of George
Marshall from Music, William Knipmeyer from Social Studies, Patrick Ford from
Mathematics, William D. Lademan, a philosopher, and William M. Smith from
Education. (34) By the end of the 1961-1962 academic year, the growth of student body and
faculty had made impossible the system of academic administration in which
President Cusic dealt directly with department heads. With the approval of the
State Board, Cusic created five divisions, each under a dean. Stephen Spencer
was dean of the Division of Sciences, which included Agriculture, Home
Economics, Engineering, Nursing, and Mathematics as well as the sciences proper.
Raleigh A. Suarez was dean of the Division of Humanities, including Social
Sciences, Languages, Accounting, Business Administration and Secretarial
Science. It was understood that the Commerce departments would be made into a
separate division as soon as possible. Francis Bulber, at his own request,
ceased to be dean of the college and became dean of the Division of Fine Arts,
with the departments of Music, Art, and Speech. Robert Bruce Landers became dean
of the Division of Education, which included Elementary Education, Secondary
Education, Special Education, and Health and Physical Education. C. A. Girard
headed the Division of Graduate Studies. (35) This made the appointment of new department heads necessary. In the sciences,
Miller Clarkson was chairman of Physical Science and Engineering, though Thomas
Leary would soon head a separate Department of Engineering. Clara Louise Jones
headed Biological Science, Carroll Wilson Animal Science, and O. D. Hyatt Plant
Science. Mrs. Constance White remained head of the Department of Nursing. In the
Division of Humanities, John M. Norris headed the Department of Languages, and
C. W. Fogleman was chairman of the Department of Social Studies. Robert H. James
was to direct Evening School; Roderick Rouse headed Accounting; and Albert D.
Sterkx headed Business Administration. (36) In the Division of Education, Robert H. Pittman became head of Elementary
Education and James D. Hobbs head of Secondary Education. Hans Leis was not
quite a department head; rather, he was director of Health and Physical
Education. Francis Bulber, for all practical purposes, was himself head of the
Department of Music, though George Marshall was assistant to the dean. Margery
Wilson was named coordinator of Speech, and Nowell Daste was named coordinator
of Art. (37) The administrative side of the college outside of academics remained much the
same, though James H. Morriss was added as director of testing. Mrs. Margaret
Cosse Richard, who had come to McNeese in 1951 and had become full professor and
publications director, resigned so that she could accompany her husband, who was
transferred away from Lake Charles. I. J. Wynn, already assistant in charge of
publicity, succeeded her as director of publications. Ellis Guillory was
promoted to dean of student life, giving him a wider clientele. (38) The dramatic arts curriculum underwent a name change to theater arts, and a
curriculum in botany was added to the Catalogue. The curricula in
agricultural, chemical, civil, and mechanical engineering had been three-year
curricula; in other words, a student would have to go to some other college for
the final year. Now all these became four-year curricula, and a new one,
petrochemical engineering, was added. This was a big bite, and not all of it
could be chewed; electrical and petroleum engineering were cut back to two
years. To support these curricula and the new graduate program, 56 new undergraduate
courses and 65 graduate courses were added to the Catalogue. (39) Among
other developments of the year, McNeese began the practice of early admission
for summer of high school juniors whose grades and whose principals indicated
that they could handle college-level classes. Credit for courses passed would be
given if these students enrolled at McNeese after graduating from high school.
In Alexandria, Timothy M. McNeese, son of John McNeese, died at age 75. Finally,
1964 would be the tenth anniversary of the college’s accreditation by the
Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges, which meant that
accreditation must be renewed. A self-study steering committee was set up with
Stephen Spencer, chairman, and Clifford Byrne, Nowell Daste, Bob Hankins, Robert
Bruce Landers, and Raleigh A. Suarez. (40) The 1962 session of the Louisiana legislature adopted a resolution expressing
its belief that all college and high school students in Louisiana should be
taught the dangers of communism and the advantages of "Americanism." It is
difficult to say what the legislature intended; Louisiana State University
concluded that it could comply with the resolution by requiring that all
students take courses in American history. However, the State Board of Education
ordered the state colleges to set up a one-hour course in "Americanism" versus
communism and ruled that no student could graduate without having taken and
passed this course. Without question, Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Shelby Jackson
equated communism and integration. Seminars on "Americanism" were held over the
state, one at McNeese. At one of these seminars, not at McNeese, a student
quoted Voltaire’s famous words defending another’s right to say something with
which he disagreed, and the State Education Department official conducting the seminar
asked if Voltaire had not been a radical. Insofar as it was possible within a
one-credit-hour context, the colleges attempted to give students some knowledge
of the theory and practice of communism on the one hand and representative
democracy on the other. When Superintendent Jackson attempted to go a step
farther, as will be noted later, a controversy of sorts was stirred up at
McNeese. (41) Student body president for the academic year was Donald C. Cornett; Frank
Brocato was first vice president, Mary Frances Chase second vice president,
William Corcoran treasurer, and Sylvia Wright secretary. Cornett was also cadet
commander of ROTC. Sixty-eight students had earned a place on the president’s
honor roll in the spring semester and were honored in October. Among them Linda
E. Gray, Mrs. Betty A. Roberts, Kathryn Claire Oakley, Mrs. Leonide L. Tanner,
Mrs. Alice Phillips Miller, Mrs. Marian Wadsworth, Mrs. Barbara L. Cooley, Wanda
Estes, Leitha B. Fisher, and James A. Hunt had perfect A averages for the
semester. No convocation or speaker was scheduled; presumably the honor was now
enough. (42) In the summer the Lions Club established a $300 a year scholarship in memory
of Ralph Squires, and Ruby Womack, a sophomore music major from Dotson, was the
first recipient. Students who made a straight A average in the fall semester,
honored in the spring, were Melody S. Allison, Mary Boyette, Rose Ann Camalo,
Patricia Gardner, Linda E. Gray, Mrs. Yolande L. Rossito, Leonide L. Tanner,
Mrs. Marian Wadsworth, Wanda Estes, and Mrs. Betty P. Johnson. Mrs. Althea Davis Pitre was the first person at McNeese to earn a master’s
degree outside the field of education, taking a master of arts in history at the
May 1963 graduation. Five high school seniors became McNeese freshmen with State
Board scholarships; they were Janet Ardoin of Iowa High School, John Hicks of
Marion, Gay Kirchner of LaGrange, Nancy Thornton of Lake Charles High, and Kitty
Wilson of LaGrange. Finally, the Student Senate recognized John Croom, Patricia
Materne, Ann Coleman, and Tom Sestak as outstanding students. (43) Two of the students recognized by the Student Senate were coeds who led one
of the best debating teams that McNeese had ever had. Patricia Materne and Ann Coleman
were the senior team, Paula Guillory and Dianne Gabriel the junior team, and all
four were graduates of St. Charles Academy. In December the team was sweepstakes
winner of the Louisiana Speech Association Festival at Lafayette, and then in January
Materne and Coleman defeated the University of Alabama in the final round of the
Millsaps tournament. Guillory and Gabriel reached the quarterfinals. In addition
to debate proper, Materne took second place in oratory, and Coleman second place
in extemporaneous speaking. Materne was ill at the time of the Mardi Gras
Tournament at Tulane, but Coleman and Gabriel nonetheless managed to salvage a
tie for third. It must be mentioned that in April Materne and Coleman, taking
the negative on "Resolved: That the world should establish an economic
community," defeated the Harvard debate team to give McNeese a 3-2 lead in those
encounters. McNeese has held a lead ever since. (44) Sandra Price was Freshman Queen in 1962, and Pat Shepherd,
Bernice Louviere, Judith Allison, and Sandra Bradley were her maids. Rochelle
Kristal reigned over Homecoming, Patricia Materne, Celina Demarie, Diane Primeaux, Glenda Ford, Abi
Heasley, and Patricia Shepherd as the court. LaBelle was Abi Heasley, and the
court she headed included Judith Allison, Terry Barnett, Celina Demarie,
Rochelle Kristal, Bernice Louviere, Patricia Materne, Rita Odom, and Diane
Primeaux. Nor was this quite all. Rita Odom was the ROTC’s Little Colonel, and
Rebecca Ann Simpson was Miss Lake Charles. (45) At Homecoming, William Clarke turned over the presidency of the McNeese State
College Alumni Association to Lloyd Hennigan, Jr., a 1956 graduate. The three
vice presidents were Albert Newlin, II, Kathy Coleman, and Sam Liprie. At the
business meeting the alumni agreed to devote part of their dues to a fund that
would be used, eventually, to erect an alumni building on campus. This would in
time come about. Four alumni of the Music Department had important parts in the
spring opera, Cavalleria Rusticana, presented in Lake Charles in April,
and alumna Monique Fleury was now working in the French Embassy in Washington.
Also, Captain Simon W. C. Moses, who had left McNeese in 1950 to enter the Air
Force, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for daring low level
reconnaissance flights over Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. (46) The trend toward faculty improvement was demonstrated by the fact that eight
faculty members were on sabbatical during the summer of 1962. New positions and
replacements added up to 16 new faculty members in the fall of 1962.
Unfortunately, with qualified instructors in great demand, only four of these
held doctoral degrees. They were Glynn Carver and William Lembeck in biology,
Wilmon H. Droze in history, and William Lademan in philosophy. The remainder
included John Carson in economics, Walter Mosely in English, Leo T. (Ted)
Chapman in health and physical education, and Ferdinand J. Tate in engineering.
(47) In addition to those who took summer sabbatical, two other faculty members
improved their formal academic credentials. Roy Price received a Master of
Science degree in school administration from the University of Southern
Mississippi, and Librarian Samuel Marino received the Ph.D. from the University
of Michigan. Other faculty members published scholarly works. Martin Hall and
E. A. Davis collaborated in editing A Campaign from Santa Fe to the
Mississippi, a Civil War regimental history. Jack D. L. Holmes was
researching in Spain and would not return to McNeese, but he published "Research
Opportunities in the Spanish Borderlands" in Louisiana Studies and
another article in the McNeese Review. Benjamin Harlow and Martin Hall
also had articles in the 1963 issue of the McNeese Review. Finally,
Thomas Leary had an article in the January issue of Chemical Engineering
Progress. (48) Roderick L. Rouse was a delegate to the Louisiana Education Council, and
Thomas Leary attended the Forty-Ninth Annual Convention of the American
Institute of Chemical Engineers in New York City. Donald Millet spoke to the
Southwest Louisiana Historical Society on "Population Movements in Southwest
Louisiana," and Samuel Terranova, a new member of the Music Department, became
concertmaster for the Lake Charles Civic Symphony. During the year, George
Marshall conducted the Symphony in four performances. Finally, the American
Association of University Professors was revived; William Lademan was president
of the new chapter, Nowell Daste vice president, and Laura Patterson
secretary-treasurer. Apparently the officers made up about half of the
membership. (49) One of the more unfortunate incidents in McNeese history took place during
the summer of 1962. As noted above, State Superintendent of Education Shelby
Jackson apparently looked on communist subversion and racial integration of the
public schools as synonymous. A book by Carleton Putnam, Race and Reason:
A Yankee View (Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press, 1961), somehow
came to his attention. Jackson recommended this book as a text for the
"Americanism Versus Communism" courses required by the State Board of Education.
The State Board did not adopt it as a text, but it did make the book required
reading for teachers. Teachers of "Americanism Versus Communism" were instructed
to make the book required reading for their students. (50) Race and Reason was a pseudo-scientific work that attempted to prove
the natural inferiority of black people. Any bright high school student could
have seen with a quick reading that it was really a racist tract. William P.
Sullivan, assistant professor of English at McNeese, wrote a highly critical
review (any honest review would have been highly critical) and submitted it for
publication to the Louisiana Register, a Catholic publication in
Lafayette. Eleven members of the University of Southern Louisiana faculty
followed up on this review with a letter to the Register that agreed that
Race and Reason was a terrible book. Practically all faculty members in the
state agreed, though some lacked the courage to say so, and others believed the
wisest course was to do nothing. If any student read Race and Reason, for
example, it was of his own volition. Sullivan’s review was picked by the Southern
Regional Council in Atlanta and reprinted, and this brought it to the attention
of Shelby Jackson. Jackson sent a copy to each member of the State Board, but
the board was wise enough to do nothing publicly. (51) When summer school began at McNeese, Sullivan was not employed. It must be
understood that nine-month faculty members had no contractual right to summer
employment. Actually, according to one source, President Cusic was ordered to
fire Sullivan, but wishing to keep a good teacher, settled for keeping him off
the faculty for one summer. Sullivan found a summer job in industry, but when
questioned by a reporter, he expressed his belief that he had been denied summer
teaching because of his review of Race and Reason. President Cusic denied
this, pointing out that cuts in the budget had made it necessary to reduce the
number of summer school classes. Also, Sullivan had worked five consecutive
summers, and Cusic said that this was another reason he had not been employed in
the summer of 1962. (52) All this was perfectly reasonable, but unfortunately, according to a local
newspaper, President Cusic said more: "I’ve made it clear to my faculty, that if
any of them speak out on something they shouldn’t, they can’t come to me with
their problems." He then went on, "I won’t fight for them…I don’t have tenure
like teachers. Jackson can fire me right now, and I can’t say a thing."
President Cusic was correct in his last statement, though technically it was the
state board rather than Jackson who could have fired him. On the other hand, he
made it clear that on the matter of race, academic freedom did not then exist in
Louisiana state colleges, and that he was not particularly concerned about it.
(53) The Bayou Players presented a melodrama, Fireman Save
My Child, in the
multi-purpose room of the Library during the summer of 1962. They presented
Eugene Ionescu’s Rhinoceros, a contribution to the theater of the absurd, in
October 1962, with Royland Miller, Jr., and Kathy White in lead roles. Critic
Bill McMahon gave the play a good review, with special praise for Miller, while
calling attention to some weaknesses. He also stated that the audience was
disappointingly small. In January Edward Albee’s The American Dream was
produced in the Library, with standing room only. The players presented
Chekhov’s Three Sisters in May 1963. Experienced members of the cast were
Arthur Bonvillian, Walter Farque, Jo Ann McCollister, and Annette Pousson.
Rosalie Robinson, Frank Spano, Patsi Collins, Jerry Brown, Katherine Guintard,
C. H. Seiber, Ray Squyres, and William Woods were newcomers to the McNeese stage.
Once more the audience was small - only about 50 people. (54) The Messiah was presented again, as it had been for 22 years. Soloists
were soprano Margaret Kalil; contralto Marcella Robnett, who had also appeared
in 1953 and 1957; tenor James Bailey; and baritone Bruce Foote. Kalil was a
member of the faculty at North Texas State, Bailey and Foote of the University
of Illinois. Once more the Auditorium was full to overflowing. (55) The McNeese-Lions Club musical for 1963 was the celebrated South Pacific.
Mary Smothers played Nellie Forbush, Francis LaRocque played Emile de Beque,
Ellis LeBoeuf was Luther Billis, Patricia York played Bloody Mary, Lady Leah
LaFargue Liat, and Roland Loup Lieutenant Cable. By all accounts this was one of
the best McNeese productions of all time, though it is impossible to say how
much of the audience’s enjoyment was due to the quality of the music, how much
to the ability of the performers. (56) The main athletic staff of 1962-1963 consisted of Albert Ratcliff, athletic
director; Les DeVall, head football coach; and Ralph Ward, head basketball
coach. Lesser lights were Lee Hayley, end coach; Jim Clark, line coach; Charles
Kuehn, chief scout; and Dowell Fontenot, athletic trainer. Ward in 1963 was also
golf coach, and Ted Chapman was assistant basketball coach and baseball coach. Kuehn doubled as
head track coach, and Milton White coached the tennis team. Jim Wynn was in
charge of sports publicity. (57) The football team had a fair record in 1962, winning 6 games, losing
3 and
tying 1. This earned a bid to the Golden Isles Bowl at Brunswick, Georgia, where
McNeese was to play Howard College of Birmingham, Alabama. The bowl game had to
be postponed because of weather, but it was played on December 1, 1962, and
McNeese won 21-14, thanks to an 85-yard punt return by Tommy Thompson. One
player, linebacker Walter Burden, was drafted by the Oakland Raiders. The
1962-1963 basketball team won 16 games and lost 9 but it won the right games and
became GSC champion once again. (58) Much more important than games won and lost is the fact that a number of
varsity athletes earned a place on the college honor roll. Bruce Dinsmore of the
tennis team and Joe Kazmar of the baseball squad made president’s honor roll.
Freddie Limbocker of the baseball team, Wilbert Moore and Don Upshaw in
basketball, Eddie Nelson of the golf team, Glen Guillory, a tennis player, and
Lou Eschete and Mike Ryan of the football team made the honor roll. (59) McNeese was now committed to three graduation ceremonies each year. Seventy-six
students earned degrees in the summer, when President Jay Taylor of Louisiana
Tech was the speaker. Mrs. Mary Ann Carrier and Mrs. Gloria Doucet Noel were
graduated cum laude, and Mrs. Mary Bailey, Mrs. Opal Lord, and Mrs. Ann Worrell
earned master of education degrees. The January graduation was notable chiefly
because 31 of the graduates had already accepted jobs in Louisiana public
schools for the second semester. Dean Joseph G. Tregle of the University of New
Orleans was the speaker at the May commencement. Cum laude graduates there were
Martin Kordas, Mrs. Margaret Guillory, Rose Ann Camalo, Mrs. Leonide Tanner,
Mrs. Marian Wadsworth, Mrs. Martha J. Thompson, and Mrs. Pat LeJune. Martin
Kordas, in addition, had the pleasure of graduating at the same
commencement as his son, Alex Kordas. (60) 3 Summer enrollment in 1963 was 1,772, an increase of 172 over the previous
summer term, but fall enrollment would tell a different story. Then the total
was only 2,827, a decline of 304 students, or a 9.7 percent, below the previous
fall. The freshman class almost held its own, 1,022 as compared to 1,030 , and
there were 490 sophomores, a loss of only 14. The junior class of 401 declined
by only 5 and the senior class actually increased, from 417 in 1962 to 484 in
1964. The number of graduate students increased from 132-164. The decline lay in
night students, only 213 in 1963 as compared to 594 in 1962, and this was
brought about by the closing of Chennault Air Force Base. There was a decline in
the spring also, from 2,607 students in 1963 to 2,588 in 1964. Once more, the
number of night students had dropped, from 338 in 1963 to 179 in 1964. When
students registered for the fall semester, they paid $30.50 in fees, reduced
to $23.00 in the spring. Dormitory residents paid $268.00 per semester room and
board. Freshman men were spared one indignity; their heads would no longer be
clipped, but all freshman were to wear a freshman cap. (61) The Catalogue for 1963-1964 contained a revised purpose for the college:
McNeese State College was established to bring to Southwest Louisiana an
institute of higher learning which would provide students with the education and
training needed to participate fully and wisely in the social, economic, and
political life of our democratic society.
The educational goals of McNeese State College are to expand and liberate the
capacities and interests of its students and prepare them for productive and
satisfying lives. Through academic divisions of the college, students may
acquire the broad cultural education which will enable them to have full, rich,
and well-balanced lives and at the same time provide themselves with specialized
training necessary for success in many of the professions and vocations.
McNeese State College is deeply interested in the physical and mental health
of its students. For this reason the Division of Student Life assists the
student in making the adjustments necessary for optimum achievement in college
through a continuing program of orientation and guidance. The college makes
every endeavor to provide opportunities for clean wholesome living and to assist
the students in developing the attributes of healthy, thoughtful, participating
citizens. (62) From the point of view of the faculty, and probably of
the administration as well, the most important development of 1963-1964 was the adoption and
implementation of a new salary schedule. This was delayed somewhat by some
bureaucratic infighting; the State Board instructed the college presidents to
use any funds available for salary increases, but the Division of Administration
in Baton Rouge maintained that it must approve these increases. The Legislative
Budget Committee refused to take any action, but Governor Davis stated that
since the funds had already been appropriated, neither the Division of
Administration nor the Legislative Budget Committee had any voice in the matter.
The revised college budgets were not always completed in time for first faculty
contracts to show the new salary figures, but they were ready in time for the
first payday. (63) Administrative changes were not great. Hans Leis formally became head of a
separate Department of Health and Physical Education, and all areas of
Agriculture were consolidated under O. D. Hyatt. George Cole became director of
scholarships, and Robert James became alumni secretary. Late in the year, Edward
F. McLaughlin was named head of the Department of Psychology and
Guidance. There was a revision of the personnel of the graduate council. Girard,
as dean of the Graduate Division, was secretary, and George Marshall was
chairman. Other members were Don Lyons, Pat Ford, Ron Crain, William Knipmeyer,
and Joe Gray Taylor. (64) In June 1963, the Louisiana Bond and Building Commission approved the
allocation of $1,500,000 to McNeese for building a football stadium. There was
as usual, some confusion over the bidding and contracting, but on December 20,
1963, Lanza Enterprises of Lake Charles was awarded the contract. There would be
a long wait before the stadium held a football game. That fall the state
authorized the installation of underground utilities on the campus, and late in
the year permission was granted to raze the old president’s home on Ryan Street
and build a new $75,000 home. In September, the band and some faculty members
began moving into the new addition to the Fine Arts Building, though it was not
expected to be in full operation before the middle of the fall semester. (65) The college now offered 59 four-year curricula and 4 two-year curricula. The
Catalogue listed a total of 788 courses, including for the first time a course
in computer programming. Of these, 575 were for undergraduates only; 121 could
be taken by upperclassmen or graduate students, and 92 were for graduate
students only. During the 1963-1964 year it was decided to add a master’s program
in health and physical education. Scholarships available to undergraduates
continued to include band scholarships, legislative fee exemptions and warrants,
Rally Association scholarships, and T. H. Harris scholarships. To these had been
added the State Board scholarships for superior high school students. In
addition there were now 50 more scholarships available, 8 in education, 7 in
nursing, 5 in agriculture and home economics, 4 in music, and 22 others. (66) People who were at McNeese this year may remember that everything had to be
closed down for three days in mid-August so that the electricity for the
addition to the Fine Arts Building could be connected. A folksinger group
scheduled for the concert and lecture series canceled because it refused to
appear for a segregated audience. It is probably true that no black students
would have attended the performance, but they could have done so. The death of
President Kennedy was a traumatic experience for everyone; McNeese’s football
game with USL was postponed, and the college closed for all of Thanksgiving
week. And finally, bomb scares twice forced the evacuation of Kaufman Hall as
final examination time approached. (67) Another death was that of Mrs. Overton
Gauthier, Sr., born Stella McNeese, daughter of John McNeese, at Jennings at the
age 85. Dr. Curtis Baker, head of Special Education died very suddenly in April,
and a student, Mrs. Barbara Miller, died unexpectedly of an illness. Mrs. Zola Czepiel of the nursing staff escaped death but was
seriously injured in an automobile accident in Roswell, New Mexico. (68) Many students earned laurels during the 1963-1964 academic year. Perry Dennis
was a cadet colonel, and cadet lieutenant colonels Mike Thibodaux and Jared East
commanded the two ROTC battalions. Nannette Benoit was ROTC Little Colonel.
Bruce Dinsmore, a varsity tennis player, was honored as the outstanding McNeese
engineering student. Georgene Fleming won a graduate assistantship in business
administration at the University of Arkansas; Arnold A. Perkins won one in
horticulture at the University of Florida; and Perry Brooks Dennis, III won
another in chemistry at the University of Texas. Guillermo A. Vasquez was
accepted by Tulane Medical School, and William D. Pelletier, Michael S. Tritico,
Roland Fontenot, Frederick R. Kirchner, Samuel L. Liles, Robert E. Hanchey, Steven
Snatic, and Maurice R. Rumbarger were accepted by the LSU School of Medicine.
(69) Carolyn Loup and Carolyn Tupper attended the American Home Economics
Association meeting in Detroit in June 1964. Lynwood Hebert and John Hicks won
honorable mention in the Louisiana College Writers annual contest. Eleven high
school seniors won state board scholarships to attend McNeese. They were Sharon
Collins, Laurine Annette Elkins, and Sonja Ellzey from LaGrange High School;
Barry Davidson, Gordon M. Propst, and John Worrell from Lake Charles High;
Lauryn Ann Martin from St. Charles; Lambert B. Austin and John R. Patin from
Landry; Barbara Jean Vincent of Sulphur; Kenneth V. Moss of West Lake; David E.
Lemoine and Gretchen Laureen Miller of Bolton High in Alexandria; and Jerry G. J. Walls
from Evergreen. (70) Thirty-four students were selected for inclusion in Who’s
Who in American
Colleges and Universities. Twenty of them were education majors. Other
majors represented were mass communications, secretarial science, chemistry,
music, business administration, nursing, home economics, French, accounting,
engineering, and mathematics. During the fall semester Linda C. Bailey, Eileen
M. Blessing, Timothy A. DeRouen, Linda Gray, Arnold Perkins, Elma Riley, Nancy
Thornton, Kitty Wilson, Roland Barras, Holly Davis, Betty Magee, Wanda Estes,
Mary Faulk, Henry J Hebert, Jr., Virginia Self, Bennie Stark, and Ruby Womack
made nothing but A’s. In the spring semester Ronald Bertrand, Sharon Bertrand,
Judith Churchman, Linda Gray, Royland L. Miller, Jr., Susan Pettit, Scotty Rozas,
Mrs. Leonide Tanner, Mrs. Marian Wadsworth, Judith Arnette, Mrs. Mary Boyette,
Barbara Cooley, Gene Couvillon, Kara Eberley, Arnold Perking, Paula Reynolds,
and Ruby Womack Dodson accomplished the same feat. (71) One coed who did not get listed in Who’s Who and who did not make all
A’s was even more noteworthy. Mrs. Annie Pinder of Starks was the mother of
three children and had ten grandchildren. She was also 70 years old. She had
taught in a two-room school as a girl, but then became a farm wife. In 1951 she
began taking night classes, and by 1964 was attending three days a week. Her
ambition, as she put it, was to die with a college degree, and
she earned that degree. (72) The McNeese debate team was not quite so overwhelming in 1963-1964 as it had
been the previous year, but it was still very good indeed. Patricia Materne had
graduated, but Ann Coleman and Paula Guillory were an outstanding senior team.
Junior members were Dianne Gabriel, Paul Schexnayder, Lynne Logan, Mickey Neely,
Noel Moss, Ronnie Bertrand, and Bette Talbot. In November they won the
sweepstakes at the Louisiana Tech tournament, and at Millsaps in January placed
third. At the LSU tournament in late February they placed first and second,
with the University of Mississippi third. Then on April 2, 1964, Coleman and
Guillory represented McNeese against Harvard and won on a 7-6 decision, making
the series 4 for McNeese and 2 for Harvard. (73) Sonja East was Freshman Queen in 1963. Diane Primeaux presided over
Homecoming, and Judy Elwell, Terry Barnett, Abi Heasley, Nannette Benoit, Jill
Methvin, and Sonja East were maids. In April Nannette Benoit was LaBelle and
Judy Elwell, Johnny Ray Long, Jill Methvin, Diane Primeaux, Becky Simpson, Rita
Odom, JoRaye Dunham, and Bernice Louviere made up her large court. (74) Alumni officers for 1963-1964 were Albert Newlin, II, president, and Max E.
Jones, Billy Frank Gossett, and Betty Lou McKellar, vice presidents, in that
order. Olen Clark, Jack Doland (then head football coach at Sulphur High
School), Paul Kitt, Billy J. Moses, and Mrs. Roy Price were elected to the
alumni Board of Directors. The annual alumni president’s cup was awarded to
Registrar Inez Moses. A larger than usual number of alumni had publicized
activities during the year. Joan Hebert, visiting the United States from Japan,
where she taught music to American children at a United States Air Force
Base, gave a slide lecture in the multi-purpose room of the Library in July.
Charles Glendon Hambrick, after earning a master’s degree at LSU, joined the
faculty as an instructor in physics. Dr. Charles Anderson, M.D. opened a
practice in Lake Charles, and Allen Commander, who had previously been assigned
to Thailand, was sent to the Agency for International Development team in Iran.
(75) Joe Distefano conducted the orchestra for the Little Theater production of
Carnival at the Arcade Theater in November, and in that same month Claire
Oakley, Purchasing Agent John Oakley’s daughter, was piano soloist with the
University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Symphony. In the spring she accepted a
position teaching music at West Virginia Wesleyan College. In June, Joseph G.
Spano and Richard Joseph Clement received their doctor of medicine degrees from
LSU. Barbara Luttrell joined the Peace Corps. And William Brown became the first
male nurse employed by the State Board of Health. (76) New faculty members included Sylvester Pendarvis and Doris Conway in
Education, Fred Sahlmann in Music, and Joe Gray Taylor in the Social Science
Department. The college annual, the Log, for 1964 recognized Kathleen
Allums, Dolive Benoit, Miriam Callender, Clet Girard, John Oakley, Wallace Lee,
and Ada Sabatier for 25 years of service at McNeese, and the alumni presented
Donald J. Millet and Wylma Reynolds with 20-year pins. Edward McLaughlin, when
he became head of Special Education, made Dr. George Middleton director of
clinical operations and Tony Byles director of special education administration.
Finally, a number of faculty members received promotions in academic rank. Don
Lyons, Edward F. McLaughlin, Robert H. Pittman, and Bertha Lee Walley, all of
the Division of Education, were promoted to full professor. Clifford M. Byrne,
Roy A. Dobyns, Victor Monsour, and Ella N. Roberts achieved the rank of
associate professor, and Ralph E. Denty, Jr., Maxine D. Steckelberg, and Grace
Ramke rose from instructor to assistant professor. (77) Nowell Daste and Grace Ramke presented an exhibit of their works at the
Camellia House Art Gallery in Lake Charles in October, and in the same month,
William E. Yates published an article in Louisiana Schools. In November, Wilmon
H. Droze read a paper to the Annual Meeting of the Southern Historical
Association at Asheville, North Carolina. George Cole, Donald Millet, Joe Gray
Taylor, and Clet Gary also attended this meeting. John Carson read a paper on
international trade to the Southwestern Economic Forum at USL in March, and in
that same month Dean of Humanities Raleigh A. Suarez was elected vice president
of the Louisiana Historical Association, which meant that he would automatically
become president the next year. (78) Mrs. Constance White, head of the Department of Nursing, attended the meeting
of the Southern Regional Educational Board Section on Nursing at Clearwater,
Florida in October. Members of the Library staff did not have to travel to
attend the Annual Louisiana Meeting of Academic Librarians, because McNeese was
the host for this group in 1963. Thomas Leary went to Las Vegas in his roles as
co-chairman of the technical program for the Annual Meeting of the American
Institute of Civil Engineers, and Hans Leis attended the National Convention of
the American Association for Health, Physical and Recreational Education at
Washington. (79) Frank Pigno of the Mathematics Department received a National Science
Foundation Grant, which he would use to enroll at LSU for work toward his
doctorate. Mrs. Lynda McCaskill Jones of Nursing received a grant from the
Southern Regional Education Board to attend a short course in nursing education.
In the summer of 1963, Roy Dobyns received his doctorate in mathematics from
George Peabody College; in January Robert Bryant of Agriculture received his
doctor of philosophy degree from Michigan State University and Donald Millet
received his degree from LSU. (80) During the summer term of 1963 two dramatic productions were offered.
Tennessee Williams’s Glass Menagerie was produced in the multi-purpose
room of the library. Mrs. Rosalie Robinson played the lead, ably supported by
Jeannie Guintard, Jo Ann McCollister, Royland Miller, Jr., and Alex Kordas. The
play was so well received that two more performances were added to the one
originally scheduled. Captain Lovelock, with an all-girl cast of Joyce
Behm, Donna Chapman, Pamela Bounds, Mary Koonce, and Mrs. Joanne Ellis was
scheduled for the lawn in front of the Auditorium for the night of July 25, but
an untimely shower forced actors and audience inside. The play received a good
review. (81) The Bayou Players were more active in 1963-1964 than they had been in
previous years. In October they presented Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding,
the first play performed in the new Squires Auditorium of the renovated Fine
Arts Building. Becky Hannie, Joyce Luttrell and Ray Valdetero played lead roles.
(82) The advent of Squires Auditorium was a boon to drama faculty and students.
The Auditorium seated 2,000 people, and it was indeed a rare dramatic
presentation that would attract an audience that large. Even a large audience of
500 was dwarfed by the empty seats, and the more common crowds of 100 to 200
people were so completely swallowed up that it seemed that nobody was there. Squires
Auditorium was much smaller, and since it would seat few more than 200, it kept
things in perspective. In January, the Players put on Ibsen’s Ghosts, with Jo Ann
McCollister in the lead supported by Wade Daigle, Frank Spano, Lamar Robertson,
and Jeannie Guintard. The audience was small but the newspaper review was good.
In April the ambitious Players put on Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.
This play had a huge cast: Joe Bellinger, Kathy White, Robert Sorrells, Carolyn
Foreman, Becky Hannie, Lynne Logan, Dave Franks, Jo Ann McCollister, Nancy
Thornton, Frank Spano, Jeannie Guintard, Mickey Neely, and Wade Daigle were part
of the cast. R. Young said in a newspaper review that Jere Broussard as Puck and
Dave Franks as Bottom almost stole the show. No doubt this was as Shakespeare
had intended. (83) The Messiah choir in 1963 numbered 225 voices supported by a 36-piece
orchestra. One of the soloists was Virginia Babikian, soprano, who had debuted
in Italy and who had 35 oratorios and 23 operas in her repertoire. Other
soloists were Juanita Teal, a contralto who had sung with the London
Philharmonic; tenor Howard Jarrett, who had sung Messiah more than
200 times; and
baritone Robert Kirkham, who was a member of the music faculty at Memphis State
University. (84) The McNeese-Lions Club operetta for March was the ever-popular
Brigadoon. Francis LaRocque and Henry LaFleur alternated leading roles, as
did Mary Smothers and Barbara Harris, Sammy Douglas and Ellis LeBoeuf, Lorraine
LeBoeuf and Patricia York. Other cast members were Sally Ann Short, Nancy
Thornton, JoAnn Chaput, Gary Meek, Rex Brashear, Dave Franks, Hope Hackler,
Robert Hackett, and Tom Graham. The newspaper review praised Brigadoon to
the skies, mentioning "many rounds of applause." Dean Bulber immediately
announced that the musical for the 1965 presentation would be My Fair Lady.
(85) The Montovani Classical Orchestra, sponsored by Community Concert, played at
McNeese on October 31, 1963. In February pianist Red Camp presented a
fascinating "Aural History of Jazz" as part of the Concert and Lectures program.
On March 20, McNeese pianist Fred Sahlmann gave his first concert since coming
to Louisiana, and "Lake Charles music lovers were enthralled." Finally, Francis
Bulber was guest conductor of the Lake Charles Civic Symphony in the spring. (86) The 1963 football season was Les DeVall’s time of glory. His team was
undefeated and unquestioned Gulf States Conference champion. Nationally, the
McNeese team was ranked fourth among small colleges. DeVall was himself GSC
coach of the year, and four of his players - Darrell Lester, Charles Anastasio,
Robert Young, and Horace Harrington - were on the all-GSC team. DeVall must have
been especially gratified when Charles Anastasio was named to the All-American
Academic football team. (87) The basketball team of 1963-1964 won 10 games and
lost 16 to place fifth in the GSC. The only thing noteworthy about it was the
fact that future McNeese basketball coach Glenn Duhon was on the squad. McNeese
could take pride in the new stadium on which work was progressing and in the
performance of athlete alumni. DeVall believed in the spring that the stadium
would be ready by October 17, 1964, but that was an overly optimistic view.
Alumnus Tom Sestak of the Buffalo Bills was named to the American Football
League All-Star defensive team. Alumnus Don Breaux was scheduled to be starting
quarterback for Denver against Buffalo, for whom Jack Kemp would be the
quarterback. (88) The most noteworthy feature of summer graduation 1963 was that no fewer than
37 master’s degrees were presented. Graduate work was obviously going strong.
Patricia Materne, half of McNeese's championship debating team of 1962-1963, was
one of the two cum laude students of this graduation, and Wilbur
Dahlquist, future faculty member and department head, was the other. Seven ROTC
cadets were commissioned at the January graduation. Shortly afterward the
Department of Biology announced that for the ninth straight year, McNeese had
placed more than half of its pre-medical graduates in accredited medical
schools. This included nine of eleven in calendar year 1962, ten of nineteen in
calendar year 1963. (89) The graduation at the end of the spring semester continued to be "the"
graduation for the public and for most students. In May 1964, John Hunter,
president of LSU, spoke to 250 graduates. Seventeen received commissions from
the United States Army, and 8, all women, graduated cum laude. The eight
were Wanda Layne Estes, a fine arts major; Barbara Lanelle Colley, mathematics;
Mrs. Betty Lucille Wade, elementary education; Mrs. Faye Fryar Anderson,
nursing; Anne Couvillion, English education; Judith Marie Arnette, social
science education; Delores D. Ogea, elementary education; and Pamela Jeanne
Bounds, vocal school music. (90) The Log for 1964 had the pictures of 406 seniors, 82 percent of the total who
enrolled at the beginning of the spring semester. Only 12 of those pictured can
be identified as black. Of 351 juniors pictured, only 9 are black, only 11 of
431 sophomores, and only 53 of 686 freshman. Integration still had not gone far.
A glance at the majors of the seniors pictured makes it clear that in 1963-1964
the main role of McNeese State College was as a teacher’s college. Eighty-three
of the 406 seniors majored in elementary education, 69 in secondary education, 37
in health and physical education, 3 in special education, and 11 in music
education. Combined, that amounts to exactly 50 percent of the seniors. Business
administration boasted 32 graduates; and engineering, English, social sciences,
agriculture, mathematics, and physics had between 10 and 15 each. Art,
accounting, horticulture, chemistry, pre-medical, and nursing had more than 5
each. (91) Despite a slight setback in 1963-1964, McNeese State College was still
growing in number of students and faculty and in facilities. The college was
also improving in quality, as can be measured by the qualifications and
accomplishments of faculty and the accomplishments of alumni, but the growth in
quality was much less rapid than the growth in size. Two things made improvement
of quality difficult. One was the fact that as a result of the baby boom that
followed the Second World War, every college and university in the country
needed more and more faculty to deal with the crowds of students who sought an
education. The salaries that McNeese could pay made it most difficult, if not
impossible, to hire mature and qualified faculty. The college had to hire young
men and women and hope that they would develop into mature scholars and teachers
and be willing to remain at McNeese. The other handicap was that McNeese, like all Louisiana state-supported
colleges, had open admissions. Any student who had graduated from an accredited
high school and who could pay the low fees could enroll at McNeese. This was
social democracy in action, no doubt, but it also made the freshman year into
one long, drawn-out entrance examination. This could have been remedied easily
by entrance requirements, but entrance requirements were not only politically
unattractive; the appropriations that colleges received from the legislature
were based in large part on
the number of students taught. No Louisiana college could have afforded to turn
away unqualified high school graduates even had it been legal to do so.
CHAPTER VIII Hard Times Summer enrollment in 1964 was 1,953, of whom 328 were beginning freshman,
almost 100 more beginning freshman than the previous summer. Also, the roll
showed 252 graduate students. The fall enrollment was 3,360, an almost
incredible 19 percent increase over the previous fall. There were 791 new
freshman and 623 carry-over freshman, for a total of 1,414. Sophomores numbered
522, juniors 428, and seniors 475, and there were 211 graduate students and 215
night students. Almost 100 special and non-credit students completed the total.
In the spring the total was 3,106, with 1,015 freshman, 506 sophomores, 449
juniors, and 489 seniors. Growth was continuing, but as usual freshman
made up a disproportionate part of the enrollment. (1) Of more than passing significance is the fact that more students were living
on campus. These included 244 single women and 362 single men. In October, 148
of the men were at Chennault, but they would move to the new men’s dormitory as
soon as it was opened. In addition, there were 68 apartments for married
students on campus and 43 were being rented at Chennault. Integration had not
gone far. The 1965 Log has pictures of 308 seniors, 12 of them black; 311
juniors, 10 of them black; 393 sophomores, 15 of them black; and 1,243 freshman,
only 76 of them black. (2) The Catalogue for 1964-1965 listed a revised purpose which was more
accurate than the purpose set forth the previous year:
McNeese State College was established to bring to Southwest
Louisiana an institution of higher learning which would provide students
with the education and training needed to participate fully and wisely in
the life of our democratic society. The purpose of the college is threefold:
(1) to meet the educational needs of its students, (2) to provide cultural
and educational leadership for this area, and (3) to contribute to the
expansion of knowledge through research, both scientific and creative.
The goals of McNeese State College are enlightened
citizens, increased competence, improved moral and ethical standards, and
expanded cultural horizons. To accomplish these goals the college provides
orientation and guidance services in addition to the curricula necessary for
a broad cultural education and the specialized curricula necessary for success in many
of the professions and vocations. (3) This would be the college’s official purpose until the 1973-1974 academic year. Those who were at McNeese in 1964-1965 might well remember it as a year of
sorrow. In December, Donald Joseph Smith was killed when hit by a car on U.S.
Highway 190 near Kinder. This tragedy, it must be mentioned resulted from a
fraternity initiation. In another incident, a young woman student, Meleene Marie Giles,
only eighteen, met an untimely death in an automobile accident in February. Then
in April football player Kenneth Vizier of LaRose, home on holiday, lost his
life, as did three other young men and the driver of the truck which collided
with them, near Golden Meadow. In May English professor Horace Taylor died in a
one-car accident on Highway 190 when returning from Baton Rouge in a blinding
thunderstorm. Last, but certainly not least, George Ruffin Marshall, a truly
outstanding faculty member and musician, died Saturday, March 20, after a long
and painful illness. (4) With enrollment up 18 percent in the fall of 1964, the college operating
budget was up only 5 percent for a total increase of $147,000. Insofar as
capital outlay was concerned, things were going fairly well. A new men’s
dormitory was nearing completion as the fall semester began. The president’s
home was under construction, though the cost had risen from $75,000 to $86,000,
and the local newspaper was unkind enough to say: "Wonder what they are building
it of - gold bricks?" More important, Governor John McKeithen promised in December
that McNeese would get a new science building "right away." This building would
cost $1,500,000, some of it appropriated by the legislature, some granted by the
federal government. In the summer of 1964, the State Board authorized McNeese to
ask the State Board of Liquidation for $100,000 for renovation of classrooms at
Chennault. President Cusic hoped to get $1,200,00 for this purpose in the fall,
but it was not forthcoming. The Board of Liquidation provided $50,000, all that
became available for 1964-1965. In April, however, the State Bond and Building
Commission did provide $693,047 for conversion of Chennault buildings for use as
Engineering classrooms and laboratories. (5) In administration, Louis Riviere replaced Robert James as alumni secretary,
and Linnie Lacy became dean of women, a change more in title than in function.
George Dukes became head of the Department of Biological Sciences. The power of
the purse was demonstrated when McNeese and seven other Louisiana colleges
pledged to obey the civil rights laws enacted by Congress and on the same day
received federal funds for grants to students for low-income families, grants
which would in time bring a significant increase in the number of black students
at McNeese. (6) The McNeese Foundation was established in the spring of 1965, and it has been
an important factor in McNeese’s history ever since. E. R. Kaufman was named
president, Cecil Colon vice president, and Marshall Abadie secretary. Arthur
Lee, business manager of the college, was automatically treasurer. Members of
the first board of directors were Ray Dominick, Jr., Frank Gibson, Judge J. T.
Hood, Jr., Harry Huber, F. F. Johnson, Voris King, Dr. Robert Looney, Joe
Pettijean, H. Moss Watkins, A. T. Raetzsch, Hugh Shearman, and Locke Paret. The
Foundation treasury began with a donation from the Lake Charles Kiwanis Club.
(7) In March 1965, names were approved for streets and buildings on the McNeese
campus. The Administrative Building became Kaufman Hall, honoring Leopold
Kaufman, founder of the First National Bank of Lake Charles. The adjacent
science building became Frasch Hall, named in honor of the man who invented the
Frasch method of forcing sulphur to the surface. What had been simply "the Ranch"
became Holbrook Ranch, commemorating W. A. Holbrook, who had been president of
the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury when McNeese was first established. Alpha and Beta
Halls, the first two women’s dormitories, became Sallier Hall and Bel Hall,
named for Caroline LeBleu Sallier, wife of Charles Sallier for whom Lake Charles
was named, and for Della Goos Bel, wife of John Albert Bel. The men’s "blue
dorm" became Watkins Hall, honoring the promoter who did more than anyone else
to bring settlers into Southwest Louisiana in the 1880s and 1890s; the "red
dorm" became Zigler Hall, named for a philanthropist of Jefferson Davis Parish.
The Health and Education Center became McNeese Memorial Hall in memory of alumni
killed in World War II and Korea. It should be noted that the Arena, the
Auditorium, and the Fine Arts Building, kept the same names. The streets also got
official names. The circle in front of Kaufman became McNeese Circle, others
became North Calcasieu Drive, Cameron Drive, Beauregard Drive, Allen Drive,
Vernon Drive, and Jeff Davis Drive in honor of parishes of Southwest Louisiana.
(8) Lee J. Monlezun was an active Student Government Association president in
1964-1965 despite the heavy academic load of a pre-medical student, and Maurice
Duhon and Tim Barker were vice presidents. Governor John McKeithen made the year
memorable for student officers by addressing the Student Government Association
banquet in May. During the summer of 1964, coeds Paula Guillory and Gary Curnutt
toured France, visiting with relatives part of the time. Honor student Rebecca
King received a grant from the French government for advanced study of French at
Sorbonne, and France-Amerique of Lake Charles gave her an additional
cost-of-living stipend. Bruce Dinsmore did not travel so far, but he received a
traineeship for a year’s study in the Biostatistics Department of the Louisiana
State University School of Medicine. (9) JoRaye Dunham was elected treasurer of the Louisiana Association of
Student
Nurses at the annual meeting in Alexandria, and Patricia York, soprano music
student who had already won many honors was selected to perform with the
Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. Spring graduate Arthur Baehr accomplished the
almost impossible by passing all parts of the certified public accountant’s
examination on his first try after graduation, and Russell E. Roy, Jr., graduate
student in Mathematics, read a paper before the Louisiana-Mississippi Section of
the Mathematical Association of America at its Biloxi meeting.
Thirty-one students were selected for Who’s Who; fourteen of them were
education majors, five were in nursing, three in biology and three in business
administration, two each in history and engineering, and one each in art and
music. (10) Six McNeese art students - Richard Broussard, Johnny Cryer, Patricia Haynes,
Pat McGowan, James Foshee, and Bobby Shores - exhibited works at Gates Gallery in
Port Arthur, Texas. In the College Writers Society of Louisiana competition in
1965, Larry Lee Fontenot took first prize in essay, and Marianne Davidson took
third prize in poetry. The Department of Agriculture honored Carolyn Loup as the
outstanding home economics student and Jack. A. Richard as the outstanding
agriculture student. Opal Peshoff led fourteen Louisiana delegates to the
National Association of Student Nurses meeting in San Francisco. (11) Ronald Guth won a scholarship to attend Tulane Law School, and Ruby Womack
won a fellowship for graduate work in piano at LSU. Chester A. Monceaux received
a graduate assistantship in mathematics at Wake Forest University, and Ann
Coleman and Linda Gray, both English education majors, were among the first
recipients of certificates of merit awarded by the Louisiana Council of Teachers
of English. Sonja Ellzey, who would one day be on the McNeese faculty, won a
freshman mathematics award. But probably the student most deserving of praise
was Mrs. Annie Pinder of Starks who, at the age of 72, received the degree in
elementary education on which she began work at the Lake Charles Junior College
in 1939. (12) Robert Landry was cadet colonel in 1964-1965, and Jill
Methvin was Little
Colonel for the year. The debate team - Louis Campbell, Gordon Propst, Mickey
Neely, Paula Guillory, Elizabeth Sparks, John LaVern, Bill Welch, Abi Heasley,
Clifford Newman, and Linda Gray - won more than its share of trophies. In April,
Paula Guillory and John LaVern defeated Harvard in what had come to be almost an
annual event, giving McNeese a 5 to 2 lead in the competition. (13) In beauty competition, Nannette Benoit was Homecoming Queen in 1964, with
Abi Heasley, Ann Coleman, Jill Methvin, Rita Odom, Charlotte Tyson, and Sheryl
LeBleu as her maids. Jill Methvin won the LaBelle title in 1965. Perhaps the
greatest tribute to McNeese beauty however was the disastrous career of Thomas
James Casey, "the kissing burglar," who received a five-year sentence for
burglarizing Alpha dormitory and attempting, apparently unsuccessfully, to kiss
some of the coeds whose property he sought to steal.(14) Max Jones was president of the alumni for the 1964-1965 academic year, and
Billy Frank Gossett, Paul Kitt, and Mrs. Elizabeth Benoit Lake were his vice
presidents. Genevieve Ancelet, Bobby Gauthreaux, Daniel Ieyoub, Patricia Materne,
and Larry Roach were elected to the Board of Directors. At the Homecoming
meeting, Alfred Guy, director of the Cafeteria, was the recipient of the alumni
president’s cup. One alumna and member of the board, Patricia Materne, now an
eighth-grade teacher at Pearl Watson, was named as an "outstanding young
educator" by the Lake Charles Jaycees. (15) Kathleen Allums, Dolive Benoit, C. A. Girard, Wallace Lee, John Oakley, and Ada
Sabatier completed 25 years of service at McNeese in 1965. New McNeese teachers
included James Hooper in Architectural Drawing, Jess Feist in Psychology, Joseph
E. Smith in Chemistry, and Mrs. Betty C. Copeland in Languages. Three newcomers
who would long be with McNeese were Eldon Bailey in Accounting, Mrs. LaJuana Lee
in Office Administration, and Raymond LeBlanc in Sociology. William Groves
returned to the Department of Music after a year at the University of Arkansas
working on his doctorate. (16) Lieutenant Colonel James L. Bryan, who was to retire from the Army in October
after three years in charge of ROTC at McNeese, was formally commended by the
Lake Charles Association of Commerce in September. Colonel Ferdinand J. Tate
(ret.) was one of 40 engineering instructors in the United States chosen to
participate in a Structural Engineering Institute at Oklahoma State University
in the summer of 1964, and Thomas Leary chaired a program at the National
Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering at Las Vegas. Ronald
Crain became general chairman of the Ninth Technical Conference of the American
Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineering. Hans Leis
became secretary-treasurer of the Louisiana State Lawn Tennis Association. (17) Mrs. Linda Jones of the Nursing Department attended the Annual Meeting of the
American Nursing Association in New York City and participated in a panel
working on
tests for the certification of nurses. Engineering instructor Paul Ritter, an
architect, became president of the Southwest Louisiana Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects. In March, when the Louisiana College Conference met at
LSU, McNeese was represented by Dr. Gene Erment, Mrs. Constance White, and Miss
Linnie Lacy. Thomas Zolki attended a Houston meeting of the heads of twenty
college and university chemistry departments who discussed their common
problems, and Dean of Student Life Ellis Guillory attended the National
Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ Conference in Washington D.C.
No particular person can be given credit, but cooperation among departments in
the sciences brought in a National Science Foundation grant of $11,300 to
finance an in-service institute in biology and mathematics. (18) Faculty members not only attended professional meetings, but they were
frequently on the programs. Raleigh A. Suarez became president of the Louisiana
Historical Association, and Joe Gray Taylor became chairman of the
organization’s publications committee. During the year, Taylor read papers to
the Southern Historical Association at its meeting in Little Rock, to the
American Studies Association of the Lower Mississippi at Baton Rouge, and to the
Institute of Southern Culture at Longwood College, Farmville, Virginia. Pianist
Samuel Terranova was a soloist with the Shreveport Civic Symphony, and Pianist
Fred Sahlmann appeared in a faculty recital that delighted all who heard it.
Barbara Belew gave a harp recital, and in the absence of the mortally ill George
Marshall, Francis Bulber conducted the Lake Charles Civic Symphony. (19) Donald Millet spoke to the Louisiana Academy of Sciences, and Thomas Leary
spoke to the Lake Charles sub-section of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers. The Louisiana Federation of Garden Clubs awarded O. D.
Hyatt a citation for his "outstanding work in the field of horticulture" at its
Alexandria meeting. A drawing by Grace Ramke was in the 1965 Artists of
Louisiana Exhibition at the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art in New Orleans. Finally,
George Middleton, Edward F. McLaughlin, and James Morriss were licensed as
psychologists under legislation enacted by the 1964 legislature. Two faculty
members of the Department of Mathematics, Mrs. Coleen Frazer and Bennett Lewis,
received grants from the National Science Foundation to attend mathematics
institutes, Frazer at Rutgers and Lewis at Oklahoma State. Associate Professor
Doris Conway of the Department of Elementary Education received her Ph.D. from
Oklahoma State, and Marjorie McQueen of the Special Education Department was
awarded the same degree, in social work, by Washington University at St. Louis.
(20) George Marshall was naturally memorialized after his
death. A George Marshall music scholarship was established in March, and
"Symphony Time" on radio station KPLC was devoted to his memory. The last concert of the Lake Charles Civic
Symphony, with William Kushner as guest conductor and Fred Sahlmann as piano
soloist, was likewise dedicated to Marshall’s memory. His "Irish Overture,"
composed for one of Sean O’Casey’s plays and then presented by the Lake Charles
Civic Symphony, was used as incidental music for O’Casey’s Juno and the
Paycock in October. (21) The Messiah, as presented in December 1964, had as soloists soprano
Francesca Roberto, who had been auditioned by the Metropolitan Opera and had
received a Ford Foundation grant, contralto Evelyn Reynolds of the University of
Illinois, tenor Joseph Sofer, who had made many stage and television
appearances, and bass Raymond Michalski, who had sung with the Philadelphia
Grand Opera Association and the San Antonio Opera Festival. At this performance
Francis Bulber, Delia Gaunt, and Arthur Burch were presented with the silver
bowls for 25 years of service with the Messiah. Dr. J. Malcolm Leveque,
Alma Leveque, Mrs. Margaret Mouton, Tim Dugas, Mrs. Myrtle Farque, Kathleen
Allums, and J. L. Farque were honored for 20 to 24 years’ service. Thirteen
members of the chorus had participated for 15 to 20 years, and 10 for from 10 to15
years. (22) The Bayou Players were busy. The first play of the year was Juno and the
Paycock, as noted above. Among those in the cast were faculty member
Frederick Tooley and students Becky Hannie, Wade Daigle, Nancy Wilson, Mickey
Neely, and Jere Broussard. Marie David gave the play a "rave" review in the Lake
Charles American Press. In January, Jean Anouilh’s Time Remembered was
scheduled for staging on January 15-16 but a power outage forced postponement of
the second performance. Then the approach of final examinations intervened, and
the play was not presented again. In the spring the Players put on Shakespeare's
great Macbeth, a performance dedicated to the memory of George Marshall.
James Tarver played Macbeth, Becky Hannie Lady Macbeth, Lowell Wilson King
Duncan, Rudy Kasarda Banquo, and Mickey Neely McDuff. Finally, the Players put
on the Greek tragedy Antigone, by Sophocles. Arlene Welch played Antigone
and Robert Hilton undertook the role of Creon. (23) The musical for 1965 was the always-popular My Fair Lady. Patricia
York, who had earned great praise the previous year as Bloody Mary in South
Pacific, had the role of Eliza Doolittle. Norris LeBoeuf played Professor
Henry Higgins, Ellis LeBoeuf was Alfred P. Doolittle, Sammy Douglas was Colonel
Pickering, and Buddy Hackett was Freddy Eynsford-Hill. The main auditorium was
practically full for the performance, and the audience was unstinting in its
applause, with York drawing special attention. In September a "Tribute to Rosa
Hart," consisting of reading from plays that she had directed was put on in
Squires Auditorium and drew a full house. In March both the McNeese Concert Band
and the Marching Band played in the Rex Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans under
the direction of Dr. Albert L. Stoutamire. They played in Jennings and Crowley
on the way to New Orleans. Vietnamese Dr. Tran Van Chuong, father of the then
notorious Madame Nhu, was a Lyceum speaker in February, and under the same
auspices the noted actor Hans Conried presented "An Evening with Hans Conried" in
April. (24) The athletics staff in 1964-1965 consisted of A. I. Ratcliff as athletic
director; Les DeVall, head football coach; Ralph Ward, head basketball coach;
James E. Clark and Milton F. White as assistant football coaches; Charles Kuehn
as track coach and assistant football coach; and Ted Chapman as baseball coach
and assistant basketball coach. The football team won 6 games and lost 3,
placing third in the Gulf States Conference. The basketball season was far less
than perfect, the tennis team was dead last in the conference, and the track
team placed fifth in the conference. It was not one of McNeese’s best athletic
years. But in another sense this may have been one of the best seasons in
the college's history. In the fall, ten athletes earned places on the honor roll.
These included football player Charles Anastasio, who was accepted for the LSU
School of Medicine; basketball players Tom Wunder, George Hoffner, Harold
Watkins, and Mike Pigott; George Smith of the tennis team; Brian Heinen, Roger
Bartee, and Craig Henry of the track team; and Bennie Hickman, who played
baseball. Seven former McNeese players were to report to professional football
teams in the fall of 1965. These were Tom Sestak, All-Pro tackle with the
Buffalo Bills, Dick Harris, defensive halfback of the San Diego Chargers,
quarterback Don Breaux of the Denver Broncos, and Ken Guilbeaux of Denver,
Darrell Lester of the Minnesota Vikings, Earl Hicks of the Canadian League, and
Curt Leggett of the Southern Football League, whatever that may have been. (25) Legally, an athletic team from a white Louisiana college could still not play
an opponent who had black players. This was obviously unconstitutional, and LSU
had disregarded the rule the previous year in the Orange Bowl. Even so,
Northeastern Louisiana University at Monroe had announced that it would no
longer schedule Stephen F. Austin University because the Texas team had two
black players. Dr. Boyd Woodard, member of the State Board from Lake Charles,
announced that he would introduce a resolution allowing Louisiana teams to
compete against blacks. Whether it was Woodard’s resolution or another, the rule
was abandoned, and it would not be long before McNeese teams would feature black
players. (26) Coach DeVall and practically everyone else had hoped and expected that all, or
most, of McNeese’s 1964 football games would be played in the new stadium, but
this was not to be. In September, the job was picketed by the Carpenter’s Union,
though this stoppage was soon abandoned. In October the construction was, in the
opinion of Michael Lanza, of Lanza Enterprises, complete, but McNeese found
fault with the seats. The State Board refused to accept the stadium on the
grounds that the architect, Blake Shipp, had made unauthorized changes in the
specifications. Lanza denounced the delay as a political attack upon Shipp, but
the acceptance was delayed until the football season was over. In December,
final acceptance came, and it was agreed that the stadium could be used for
graduation in the spring. Even in December, however, no furniture was available
for the offices of the complex. (27) At the end of the summer term, 1964, 109 students received a
bachelor's
degree and 39 received master’s degrees. William Beyer, from the State
Superintendent of Education’s office was the speaker and Rebecca King was the
only cum laude graduate. In February, there were 109 graduates, 9 of them
receiving master’s degrees. Board member Woodard spoke to the 290 spring
graduates, of whom 11 were commissioned as officers in the United States Army.
Honor graduates in the spring were Brantley Cagle, Mrs. Matilda E. Coffey
Hickman, Ann Coleman, Linda Gray, Mrs. Gayle Smith Lafitte, Ronald Martin
Kratzer, and Ruby Lynn Womack. (28) 2 Summer enrollment reached 2,252 during regular registration, and probably 130
more were added in workshops. For the fall, there was much confusion over fees.
The colleges and universities raised fees, then the State Board reduced them,
and in the end tuition at McNeese became $50 per semester.
Other fees brought the cost of registering up to $75 in the fall and $67.50 in
the spring, and dormitory room and board were now $280 per semester. Registrar Inez Moses announced total enrollment in the fall as 3,807, 2,165 men and
1,642 women. The count showed 1,723 freshman, 723 sophomores, 462
juniors, 499 seniors, 295 graduate students, 82 special students, and 23
non-credit students. The early admissions program, now in its third year,
enrolled 53. In the spring the total was 3, 309, 1,421 freshman, 664 sophomores,
449 juniors, and 427 seniors. (29) McNeese’s budget request for 1965-1966 was for an unrealistic $5,046,920, of
which almost $2,000,000 was to be used for renovating facilities at Chennault
Field. When the legislature had finished, $187,000 was cut from equipment,
$325,000 from repairs, and $1,500,000 from renovation money. The remaining
$3,161,241, was nonetheless a substantial increase over the previous year. Even
so, the State Board found it necessary to order colleges to rework the budget so
as to give bigger raises to instructional personnel and less to administrators
and to limit athletic scholarships to $600 each. (30) President Cusic was in the new president’s home by the beginning of the fall
semester. In June, the State Board had authorized McNeese to issue revenue bonds
to finance facilities for students, and when the bonds were sold in October, it
was understood that the money would be used to construct 48 apartment units for
married students south of McNeese street, for a women’s dormitory, a new
cafeteria, and an infirmary. Work began on the married student housing and the
infirmary almost immediately, and in December, Lake Charles Lumber won the
contract for a new student center and cafeteria. In addition, the State Capital
Construction and Improvement Commission allocated McNeese $126,751 for repairs
and maintenance, mainly for the arena. (31) In January, when McNeese was asking for almost $2,000,000 to be used at
Chennault, there was much optimism, and when Governor McKeithen hinted that the
money would be forthcoming, hope was unrestrained. In August, President Cusic
believed that a full engineering school could be in operation at Chennault
during 1966. Actually, the only thing material toward the rehabilitation of
Chennault that occurred in 1965 was a gift by Cities Services of $20,000 worth
of used equipment that the corporation did not need but that a school of
engineering might be able to use. At long last, in March 1966, McNeese was
allocated $346,523 for rehabilitation of buildings at Chennault, not nearly as
much as was needed if anything was to be accomplished. (32) Frasch Hall was entirely too small to house all the science classes and
laboratories needed by a school as large as McNeese had become. The 1965
legislature appropriated $1,200,000 for a new building, and then the Louisiana
Higher Education Facilities Commission allocated McNeese $500,000 in federal
money that had become available. The State Bond and Building Commission came up
with $250,000 more, and the legislature found another $100,000, bringing the
total to about $3,100,000. Construction began early in January on a new home for
the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. (33) Administrative changes in the 1965-1966 year were minor. In January 1966, the
Board authorized McNeese to establish a Division of Commerce under a dean who
would be paid $14,500 a year. Before the fall semester, this had been
accomplished and Armand Perrault had become dean of the new division. During the
summer of 1965, Roy Price had been transferred from director of housing to
property manager, and Vernon Keating had been employed as dean of men; then in
April 1966 Louis Bonnette became assistant director of publications. His real
function was to handle publicity for athletics. (34) Death stalked McNeese again in the fall of 1965. In September, Dr. Joseph T.
Farrar, first dean of McNeese and president of Northwestern until his
retirement, passed away. In November, Colonel Oswald McNeese, 84, son of John
McNeese, died in Washington, D.C. Jack Waters, a junior, was killed in an
automobile accident in September, and in December McNeese alumnus Perry Dennis
was found dead in his pickup truck in Texas while on a hunting trip. Historian
Joseph Robert Brown, who had joined the McNeese faculty in September, died in
December. But the death that struck home particularly to students and faculty
was that of Donald C. Cornett, 1964 graduate who was killed in action in the Ia
Drang Valley in Vietnam on November 17, 1965. Cornett had been a cadet commander
of McNeese ROTC, president of the student body, active in the college’s social
life, and an honor student. (35) A "temporary" frame building, which stood where Farrar Hall is today, housed
I. J. Wynn’s office, campus printing, and seven sororities and fraternities, all
except one fraternity on the first floor. On the second floor were the Log
office, the Contraband office, campus security, and several student
organizations. In the night of January 27, 1966, a fire broke out that badly
damaged the first floor and for all practical purposes destroyed the second. The
Log, almost ready for final editing, had to be put together again. More
important, many records of both publications were destroyed, records and
pictures that might have been useful in composing a history of McNeese. (36) A student forum sponsored by the Speech Department was active in 1965-1966.
Bombing in Vietnam was the subject of a December forum, and in January McNeese
students sent a petition to President Lyndon Johnson supporting his policies
in Southeast Asia, but it is obvious from the Contraband that doubts concerning
Vietnam and compulsory ROTC continued. In April the forum voted three to one in
favor of permitting the governor of Louisiana a second consecutive term; this
must have reflected statewide sentiment, because such a constitutional amendment
did pass, and John McKeithen became the first two-term governor in the twentieth
century. In May the forum decided after discussion that compulsory class
attendance should be abolished. This would in time come to pass. As long hair
and beards for men and strange dress for all spread on campuses of the nation,
the rather strict dress regulations in force at McNeese came under more and more
question, but this would not come to a head for several years. (37) In August the Mathematics Department announced that it would offer a degree
in statistics beginning in the fall of 1965; this was then the only degree of
its kind in Louisiana, but other colleges soon followed suit. The 1965
legislature passed, and the governor signed, a student loan bill under which the
state paid interest on student loans so long as the student was in school; this
would help many in years to come. The "Friends of the Library" came into being
to help develop the Library, which was suffering from repeated low budgets.
Finally, the McNeese Foundation began a fund drive that by April 1966 had raised
$18,000. (38) Charles Poe was student body president for the year, and John LaVern and John
Kuntz were vice presidents. Charles Davies was ROTC cadet colonel, and Jill
Methvin was Little Colonel. Thirty-one students were name to Who’s Who;
nine of them were education majors, but this year five were nursing majors. Four
were in accounting, three in music, two each in mathematics, engineering, and
biology, and one each in history, English, and business administration. John
James Caruthers was named as outstanding engineering student by the Lake
Charles Chapter of the Louisiana Engineering Society, and Charles Mims, a botany
major, was awarded a graduate assistantship by the University of Texas. Richard
Tharpe was selected by McNeese for a Tulane Law School scholarship, and Margaret
Istre, a social studies major, received a graduate scholarship to LSU. Rita Odom
was named outstanding home economics student and Douglas Hayes outstanding
agriculture student. It should be mentioned too, that a group of McNeese
students who got summer jobs picking melons in Arizona for $1.40 an hour plus
fifteen cents a crate were such good workers that the growers asked for more.
(39) Renee Collet was Freshman Queen in 1965, with Pam Lyons, Pam Johnson, Jackie
Porter, and Laura Faye Daigle on her court. Becky Simpson was Homecoming Queen,
attended by Paula Guillory, Jill Methvin, Charlotte Tyson, Sonja East, Renee Collet, and Joyce Wyninger. Freshman Laura Faye Daigle was LaBelle, and Becky
Simpson, Paula Guillory, Charlotte Tyson, Paulette McDonald, Pat Milner, Joyce
Wyninger, Janet Pack, and Tina Hoffpauir were her maids. Another freshman,
Cheryl Darlene McGrath, was selected as Miss Lake Charles. (40) John LaVern, Bill Welch, Jr., Gordon Propst, Louis Campbell, and Michael
Neely were the veterans on the debate team, backed up by Carla Elliott, Jude
Theriot, James Hopkins, Rodney Guillory, Mike Adams, Brenda Kelly, Clinton (Wes)
Shinn, and Diane Laborde. The debaters placed sixth in the Birmingham Debate
Tournament, but in the Baylor University Tournament they placed second among 50
colleges and universities participating. They placed second in the Azalea
Tournament in Mobile and in the LSU Tournament, and they were third in the
annual Louisiana Tournament at Natchitoches. The high point of the year came in
March when Propst and Campbell defeated the Harvard debate team, making the
series 6 to 2 in favor of McNeese. (41) Billy Frank Gossett was alumni president for the year, with Paul Kitt, Mrs.
Betty Benoit Lake, and Bobby Gauthreaux as his vice presidents. New members of
the board were Mrs. Leslye Ward Quinn, Dr. Charles Anderson, Dr. John R.
(Mickey) Royer, Floyd A. Roddy, and Rudolph (Bo) Young. The alumni president’s
cup went to Peggy Petty of the News Bureau. The most distinguished alumnus of
the year was almost certainly Andre Dubus, whose novel, The Lieutenant,
was published by the Dial Press. (42) The Catalogue for 1965-1966 lists 33 faculty out of a total of 164 as
holding a doctoral degree, or 20 percent. An unusually large number of new
faculty came to the college in the fall. These included Ronald Skinner in
Speech, Benjamin L. Carroll, a McNeese alumnus, in Chemistry, Glenn W. Cobb and
James Lane in Biology, Frank W. Carter in Mathematics, Joseph Robert Brown and
Thomas P. Coffey in History, William Greenlee in Philosophy, Maria Bustillo in
Spanish, Lise B. Pedersen in English, and Kathleen Pittman, Thomas Jordan,
Benjamin Ruhl, and Larry Covin in the School of Education. Woodrow James and
William Groves in Music both earned doctorates before the end of the year. (43) J. B. Lewis and Frank A. Pigno, both of the Department of Mathematics, went on
sabbatical for the fall semester, and Mabel Kitt, Robert H. James, Norman Smith,
Edward C. Steiner, John H. Carson, Huey K. McFatter, Clet J. Gary, and Glen D.
Johnson returned from summer sabbatical. Numerous faculty members received
promotions. Mrs. Margery Wilson became head of the Department of Speech and
Thomas S. Leary was promoted to full professor and head of the Department of Engineering.
Victor Monsour became full professor and head of the new Department of
Microbiology, and Joe Gray Taylor became professor of history, William P.
Knipmeyer professor of Geography, and Ronald D. Crain professor of Chemistry.
Nowell Daste became associate professor and head of the Department of Art, R.G.
Carver associate professor of Botany, William J. Lembeck associate professor of
Microbiology, and Mrs. Mary Lofton associate professor of Nursing. (44) John M. Norris, Jr., of the Department of Languages, was named a regional
judge in the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards program,
and Onis D. Hyatt presided over the Gulf District Rose Show in the Arena. Bob E.
Hankins was elected chairman of the Southeast Louisiana Section of the American
Chemical Society, and Eugene D. Richard was named to head the regional radiation
emergency team. Ellis Guillory became a consultant to the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare on the allocation of federal funds for higher education;
Dr. Glynn Carver was selected to attend the 1966 Summer Institute of Radio-Botany
at Oak Ridge; and Ray M. Thibodaux was one of twenty mathematicians selected to
attend a National Science Foundation Institute at the University of Illinois.
(45) Grace Ramke had two sculptures selected for exhibit in a show at the LSU
Union, and one in Springfield (Missouri) Art Museum. L.C. Penland put on a
one-man exhibit of his paintings in Lake Charles. Raleigh A. Suarez delivered
the presidential address at the New Orleans meeting of the Louisiana Historical
Association, and Librarian Samuel Marino was on the program of that
organization. Albert L. Stoutamire and William C. Groves had an article
published in Louisiana Musician. Joe Gray Taylor spoke to the initiation meeting
of Phi Kappa Phi at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and he had an
article published in Georgia Review. (46) The Messiah was presented on the afternoon of December 5, with soprano
Anna Maria Conti, contralto Eunice Alberts, tenor James Wainner, and baritone
Robert Frankenberger as soloists. On December 19 the entire performance was
broadcast over radio station KAOK, and as usual excerpts were broadcast over
more than a hundred stations during the Christmas week. The Music Department
contributed largely to the fall festival of modern art at McNeese in December.
The college choir participated, as did student pianists Pepe Bowman and Melba
Hebert, soprano Patricia York, and baritone Samuel Douglas. For the faculty,
Patricia Bulber and Kathleen Allums provided a duo piano
recital, Frederick Tooley sang, and Mrs. Betty Crossley and Dr. Albert
Stoutamire
played the violin and trombone respectively. (47) During the summer of 1965, the Bayou Players presented Noel Coward’s
Blithe Spirit, with Van Walker, Selma Chambley, Nancy Wilson, and Dorothy
Betbeze taking major roles. Then the chorus put on Carmen again, with
professional Robert Kirkham and former faculty member Robert Snead reinforcing
the student cast. Janet Assunto Doland played Carmen and Patricia York Micaela,
to great applause. The first performance of this classic had been with two
pianos and an organ; this time there was a full orchestra. In the fall the Bayou
Players’ presentation was The Queen and the Rebels, with Hope Hackler as
the queen. Others in the cast were Selma Chambley, Wade Daigle, James Tarver,
Van Walker, Johnny Desselle, Gene Hay, Nancy Martin, Chris Morgan, Eva Airhart,
Ronald Berglund, and Will Moody. A newspaper review said that the play kept the
audience spellbound. Next came the then popular but soon forgotten Oh Dad,
Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Bad, with Mrs.
Sandra Sterns and Norris LeBoeuf starring. The McNeese-Lions Club staged their
first full-length opera, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, with Patricia York
and Robert Snead in the lead roles. (48) The cultural activities available on campus during the year were numerous. In
early October 1965, the Lake Charles Civic Symphony presented a "pops" concert
in the Auditorium, and at the end of the month Arthur Fielder directed the
Buffalo Philharmonic there under Community Concert sponsorship. The college
presented Tong Il Han, a noted Korean pianist, in November; then in January,
Community Concert sponsored a recital by famous baritone Robert Merrill.
Community Concert followed this with a recital by French pianist Jean-Paul
Sevilla, then in February put on the entertaining Varel and Bailly’s "Chanteurs
de Paris." In March a capacity audience heard popular writer Harnett Kane speak
in Squires Auditorium, and in May poet and editor John Ciardi spoke to a
largely student audience in the Main Auditorium. The Student Government
Association brought popular singer Brenda Lee to the campus in March, and in
April, Community Concert presented the Beau Arts Trio in a contemporary chamber
of music recital. Late in April the Civic Symphony, under the baton of guest
director Charles Rosekrans of Houston, gave its last performance of the year.
Before this performance, one of the players in an afternoon youth concert was
Keith Gates of LaGrange High School. (49) The new stadium, which had remained tantalizingly empty during the 1964
season, was ready for play in 1965. Senator Guy Sockrider made the formal
dedication with State Board member Boyd Woodard, Louisiana state senators A. C.
Clemons and Jesse Knowles, and state representatives Mike Hogan, Harry Hollins,
and A. F. Lyons plus all members of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and
officials of the Association of Commerce looking on. Despite a publicity
campaign, the stadium was not full when McNeese met Tampa and lost in the first
game of the season, and there were other troubles. Former City Judge Albert J.
Cox died of a heart attack in the stadium during the first game, and traffic
problems brought much ill will from fans seeking a way out of the parking lots.
The parking problem was pretty well solved by the second home game. Even
if the stadium was not usually filled, crowds were so much greater than previously
that the football team produced income equal to 27.8 percent of the money
actually spent on all athletics. (50) The beginning of a program of putting restraints on McNeese college athletics
came in June 1965 when the Gulf States Conference limited schools to 58
scholarships for football, 20 for basketball, 13 for track, 7 for baseball, and 1
each for golf and tennis. Ernie Duplechin and Marvin Adams joined the coaching
staff as graduate assistants, and Desmond Jones, though he was employed as
baseball coach, gave a hand in football. The team record was not particularly
good, 5 games won to 4 lost, but that was good enough for a tie with the
University of Southwestern Louisiana for the GSC championship. Five McNeese players were
named to the All-GSC team: Merlin Wallet, Errol Eschete, Tony Bor, Felix Simon,
and Paul Guidry. Guidry and Wallet signed with professional football teams,
though neither would become a starter. (51) Soon after the last game of the season, Leslie DeVall, who had been at
McNeese for 9 years and never had a losing season, who had had an undefeated
season in 1963, and who in 21 years of coaching had seen his teams win 159 games
while losing only 45, announced that he would step down as head coach. He went
away to graduate school in the spring semester, 1966, and Jim Clark was named to
replace him. Now Desmond Jones became line coach, Milton White backfield coach,
Ernie Duplechin full assistant, and Charles Kuehn chief scout. (52) With the exception of golf, in which McNeese placed second in the GSC despite
losing 5 matches out of 6 in April, other teams did not fare well in 1965-1966.
The basketball team lost 17 games and won only 6 for perhaps the worst McNeese
record of all time. The tennis team, which had been last in the conference in
1965, did not score a single point in the 1966 GSC tournaments. The track team
ranked fifth among the six teams in the conference, and the baseball team ranked
last behind Nicholls State. (53) Speaker at the summer graduation in July 1965 was former McNeese faculty
member Father Harry E. Benefiel, who still had many friends and admirers on
campus. Dr. David W. Beggs, III, assistant professor of Education at Indiana
University, was the speaker for 280 graduates in the spring. Fourteen of
these - Ilene Blessing Bruegman, Sharon M. Bertrand, Linda C. Bailey, Ruby J.
Cormier, Holly Davis, Sandra S. Denty, Pamela S. Franks, Anita M. Gilley, Mary
E. McPherson, Charles W. Mims, Sally J. Montgomery, Ida W. Pope (later to be a
well-loved faculty member), Virginia Self, and Carolyn Blue Terranova - were
graduated cum laude. (54) 3 Enrollment in the fall of 1966 topped 4,000 for the first time for a total of
4,316. Of these 996 were beginning freshman, 973 carry-over freshman, for a
total of 1,969. Sophomores numbered 754, juniors 578, seniors 655, and graduate
students 333. In the spring there were 1,745 freshman, 713 sophomores, 558
juniors, 527 seniors, and 362 graduate students, with enough in other categories
to give a total of 3,917. The Board of Education raised fees $10 per semester,
so students paid $85 for registration. The terrible attrition resulting from
open admissions was demonstrated by the fact that despite 1,969 freshman in the
fall of 1966 and 1,745 freshman in the spring of 1967, there were only 894
sophomores at McNeese in the fall of 1967. (55) Plans to make Chennault Air Force Base a permanent site for Engineering and
Technology instruction continued. Between the legislature and the federal
government, slightly more than $1,000,000 became available to rehabilitate and
equip seven buildings for Special Education, Engineering, and Technology.
McNeese was to get title to 242 acres of the former air base. Special Education
moved to Chennault in November, even before Lake Charles Lumber Company was
awarded a contract to convert the Chennault facilities. The Department of
Engineering was to begin full operation from Chennault in the fall of 1967.
Thomas Leary’s department now had six full-time faculty members, and there was
talk of graduate work in engineering. (56) The Agriculture Department announced in August 1966 that a curriculum in
Wildlife Management would be available in the fall, and in November Dean Landers
declared that an education specialist degree would be offered the next academic
year. In January 1967, the State Board authorized McNeese to proceed with a new
two-year program in Mortuary Science. George White made an announcement
concerning the McNeese pre-medical program that should have aroused interest.
Over 50 percent of McNeese applicants for medical school had been accepted over
the preceding 27 years, as compared to 20-30 percent for most colleges, and in
all that time only one student who entered medical school from McNeese had
dropped out for academic reasons. (57) Financially, McNeese did relatively well in 1966-1967; the budget was up over
$600,000. The new women’s dormitory was ready for occupancy in the fall, and
this provided on-campus living space for 440 single women. The building was
named Collette Hall in honor of Ida King Collette, a pioneer Calcasieu Parish
teacher. The new cafeteria did not open until spring, and even then the work on
the student center was unfinished. The infirmary, named for Dr. Thomas Henry Watkins,
an early twentieth-century physician in the area, was in operation before the
end of the year. The bookstore, post office, and publications office moved into
the old cafeteria space when it was vacated. In January President Cusic
announced that if federal financing could be arranged, a new three-story
education building and a "unique" circular administration building would go up.
(58) The Sixties were in full sway among American college students by 1966, but
little of this turmoil affected McNeese. The McNeese Forum, gatherings of
students to discuss current issues, did take note of the foreign affairs. In
October a vote at the end of discussion was that foreign aid should be
continued, and the November forum narrowly supported United States foreign
policy in general. There were strong reservations about "over-commitment" in
November, but in February the vote of participants was over three to one in
favor of escalation in the Vietnamese War. A January discussion on the existence
of fraternities and sororities resulted in a strong endorsement of such
organizations, and in May the topic was whether Ronald Reagan should be elected
president in 1968, to which the students voted no. Obviously, however, the most
enjoyed discussion centered on whether coeds came to college primarily to find
husbands. The strongest speaker for the affirmative, by the way, was a coed, but
the forum voted down the proposition. (59) John LaVern was Student Government Association president for the year, with
Jim Hopkins and Kathy Bourgeois as vice presidents, Louis Campbell as treasurer,
and Brenda Clark as secretary. Timothy DeRouen was cadet colonel. Lemuel E.
Hawsey, III, who would play a large part in campus affairs while at McNeese,
received the first McNeese Foundation Scholarship, a $1,000 a year for four
years. In January 1967, graduate student Edgar King, Jr., received a grant from
the United States Department of Agriculture for the study of a new termite that
had appeared in Louisiana, and senior pre-medical student John A. Worrell won a
merit scholarship to the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Kenneth V.
Moss, a brilliant young man who completed the requirements for a degree at
McNeese in two and one half years and was McNeese’s first recipient of a Woodrow
Wilson fellowship, received a grant of $2,500 from the Atomic Energy Commission
for advanced study at any university on the Commission’s approved list. (60) Two McNeese music students, Mrs. Ruby B. McClung and Patrick Trimble, tied
for second place in the Louisiana Federation of Music Clubs competition contest.
In April Mrs. Josie DiGiglia gave her senior piano recital, and her husband, Dr.
John A. DiGiglia, a special art student, presented a one-man exhibit in the
lobby of the Fine Arts Building. Another music major, Robert L. Hackett, won a
scholarship to the Tulane University Law School, and Annette Chevalier, a botany
major, won a graduate assistantship at the University of Massachusetts. Kenneth
R. Tyree, who was honored as an outstanding accounting student by the Lake
Charles Chapter of the Society of Louisiana Public Certified Accountants, was
awarded an assistantship for graduate work in accounting by the University of
Maryland. Four Mathematics Department graduates distinguished themselves.
Charles Braught received a National Science Council traineeship at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute, and Timothy DeRouen received a National Defense Education
Act fellowship to the same institution. Larry Fontenot was awarded a graduate
assistantship at Florida State University for work in that school’s computer
center, and John Patin received a biometry traineeship at the Louisiana State
University School of Medicine. (61) Before the end of the 1966-1967 year, all fraternities and sororities on the
campus had national affiliations. On December 10, 1966, Delta Theta Chi
fraternity became Kappa Sigma. The others were Pi Kappa Phi, Alpha Kappa Lambda,
and Tau Kappa Epsilon. The three active sororities were Chi Omega, Phi Mu, and
Alpha Delta Pi. Two of the sororities, Phi Mu and Chi Omega, rented houses off
the campus during this academic year. Thirty-five students were selected for
Who’s Who, and 12 of them were education majors. The other 23 represented 11
disciplines, with 4 from mathematics, and 3 each from biology and pre-law.
Twenty-five students had a 4.0 average in the fall semester, slightly more than
one half of one percent of the student body; this percentage would grow with the
years. A study by the registrar's office on the fall semester’s grades provides
some interest; of 2,979 full-time students who had completed at least one
semester at McNeese, freshman overall averaged 1.78, sophomores 2.28, juniors
2.45, and seniors 2.70. More interesting perhaps, is the fact that women
averaged 2.36 and men only 1.95. (62) The debate team, in its eleventh year under William Casey, but with Ronald
Skinner now helping as a coach, had an erratic year. The team placed fifth in
the Louisiana Tech Forensic tournament in December, but placed second against
stronger competition at the University of Arkansas in December. In the latter
contests Jude Theriot and Mary Frances Casey particularly distinguished
themselves. At the Tulane tournament in January, the unheard-of took place and
McNeese was eliminated. In February, however, Theriot, Casey, Wes Shinn, Louis
Campbell, Gordon Propst, and John LaVern won the Azalea Tournament at Spring
Hill, then went on to win the Gulf States Invitational at Hattiesburg. But when
Harvard’s team arrived in April, the judges ruled in a 10 to 3 decision that
the Ivy League debaters had won, making the series 6 to 3 in favor of McNeese.
(63) Queen of the freshman in 1966 was Sandy Kendrick, attended by Kay Wallace,
Judy Eagle, Jan Cossey, and Tina LeBlanc. Linda Kaye Smith was Homecoming Queen,
and Sherry Kordisch, Charlotte Tyson, Joyce Wyninger, Sheryl LeBleu, Laura
Daigle, and Jan Cossey made up her court. Sheryl LeBleu was LaBelle, and her
maids were Vivian Barbee, Rita Faulk, Pam Ford, Joanie Guillory, Sheila Sierra,
Linda Kaye Smith, Melissa Stewart, and Cheryl Veron. Finally, McNeese coed
Connie Berry was Miss Lake Charles in spring 1967. (64) Larry A. Roach was president of the alumni in 1966-1967, with Mrs. Pat
Domingues and Daniel Ieyoub as his vice presidents. At Homecoming, W. T. Burton,
Dr. R. Gordon Holcombe, Jr., Harry Huber, and E. R. Kaufman were made honorary
members of the Alumni Association. O. D. Hyatt received the alumni president’s
cup, and "coach" Ratcliff and Louis Reilly were awarded 20-year pins. During the
year First Lieutenant John R. Croom, class of 1964, won the bronze star in
Vietnam for adjusting artillery fire while himself under heavy fire, and John C.
Odom, a 1962 graduate, became a pilot for United
Airlines. (65) Many new faculty came to McNeese in the fall of 1966 including
Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert J. Romero as Professor of Military Science and
Tactics. Among a number of new appointments in Science, Kalil Ieyoub was
appointed assistant professor of Chemistry, and Anthony Mayeux was among new
teachers in the School of Humanities. Don Wilder joined the Music faculty, as
did Ruby Womack. Womack, a 1965 graduate, had earned a master’s degree and was
returning as staff accompanist. New Education faculty included Toffee Nassar,
Ralph Womack, and Loretta LeBato. Jim Brown, who had played on the 1959-1961
McNeese tennis team and then had earned a master’s degree and served a year in the
Peace Corps, became an instructor in Health and Physical Education and tennis
coach. Ernest Duplechin and Al Tregle were ranked as instructors in Health and
Physical Education, but their actual function was as assistant football coaches.
(66) Among those returning to graduate school in the summer of 1966 were George
Cole and Clet Gary from the Department of Social Sciences, Robert Glynn Carver,
J. Bennett Lewis, Frank A. Pigno, and Betty M. Walker from the Sciences, and
Maurice Pullig, Edward Steiner, and Fred Sahlmann of the Division of Fine Arts.
Sahlmann received his doctorate from the Eastern School of Music, and during
the year, Glen Johnson earned a doctorate from the University of Arkansas.
Clarence Hughes received a doctorate in education from Arkansas, and
Kalil Ieyoub received the Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. Joseph Smith in
Chemistry, Doris Conway in Education, and Clifford Byrne in Languages were
promoted to full professor, and Maria Bustillo in Languages was promoted from instructor to assistant professor. (67) Zoologist James D. Lane, normally a bat specialist, spent the summer of 1966
collecting chipmunks in the desert Southwest. In August Warrick J. Dickson
attended a two-week workshop on biological electron microscopy at the University
of California at Berkeley. President Cusic attended a Community Leader Seminar on
the role of the United Nations in United States foreign policy in New York in
October, and John Norris spoke to the National Reading Conference at its meeting
in St. Petersburg, Florida. Francis Bulber, as usual, attended the annual
meeting of the National Association of Schools of Music, this year in Dallas.
From the Division of Education Bruce Landers attended the meeting of the
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; Don Lyons
attended the Association for Student Teaching; and James Hobbs
attended the meeting of the Association for the History of Education. For much
more extended travel, George Dukes left in September for England, where he did
post-doctoral study at the University of London, and in the Spring Glen Johnson
took a year’s leave to serve as agronomy adviser to the Kingdom of Nepal. (68) Members of the faculty of the Division of Fine Arts were especially active in
1966-1967 in the demonstration of their creative talents. Sculptures by Nowell
Daste were selected for showing with a traveling exhibit sponsored by the
Southern Association of Sculptors, and Arthur R. Bond had a one-man exhibit at
the Camellia House Gift Shop on Iris Street. Don Wilder became the new conductor
of the Lake Charles Civic Symphony, and Woodrow James scored a first and a
second in the Louisiana Federation of Music Clubs composition competition.
Flutist Patricia Bulber and baritone Edward Steiner presented a joint faculty
recital, and Fred Sahlmann gave another of his extremely popular piano recitals.
(69) Albert Stoutamire had articles accepted by three publications,
The Instrumentalist, Music Educator’s Journal, and American Music Teacher. Head
Librarian Samuel Marino contributed an essay to a festschrift in honor of
Rudolph H. Gjelsness, longtime chairman of the Department of Library Science at
the University of Michigan, and Glen Johnson published an article in
Agricultural Education Magazine. Pat Ford read a paper at the meeting of
the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in New Orleans, a meeting also
attended by Roy Dobyns, and John Beverly of the Department of Agriculture
presented a paper to the American Society of Animal Science at its meeting at
Rutgers University, a paper accepted for publication by the Journal of Animal
Science. Joe Gray Taylor had a booklet published by Teachers’ College Press
of Columbia University and was elected president of the Louisiana Historical
Association. Obviously, the faculty of McNeese State University was rapidly
growing in professional competency and reputation. At the beginning of the
1966-1967 academic year, the number of faculty holding terminal degrees exceeded
20 percent. (70) Professional soloists for the Messiah on December 4, 1966, were
soprano Patti Thompson, mezzo soprano Inci Basarir, baritone Richard Best, and
tenor Blake Stern. The performance was broadcast over the country and much of
the world on December 24. The Messiah chorus was disappointed, however,
when lack of money prevented its accepting an invitation to sing in Taxco,
Mexico, in the spring. The invitation resulted from the fact that former chorus
member Ruby Nickel was the wife of the mayor of the Mexican town. The Bayou
Players were almost incredibly active. In June they presented Ibsen’s attack
on water pollution, An Enemy of the People, with Lowell Wilson playing
the chief character. In the fall the audience saw Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple,
and in December Arthur Miller’s All My Sons had a four-night run with
David Streeter in the main role. Finally, in the spring, came Shakespeare’s
Merry Wives of Windsor. (71) The McNeese-Lion’s Club presentation for 1967 was The Music Man,
presented in the Auditorium March 9-11, and at Bolton High School in Alexandria
on March 20. Frederick Tooley was stage director, William Groves chorus
director, Lady Leah LaFargue Hathaway choreographer and dance director, Patricia
Bulber and Mrs. Betty J. Crossley orchestra coaches, and Ruby Womack
accompanist. Forty-seven singers and dancers participated and no fewer than 19
songs were sung. Donna Chapman played Marian the Librarian, and Richard Leff and
Maurice Serice alternated as Howard Hill. The newspaper review by J. Stacy gave
the performance high praise. (72) In the Spring Bob Hayes was hired as track coach, and he would hold that job
for many years. The football team won 5 games and lost 5, and the basketball
team did better with a 12-10 record. In baseball the record was 14-13, and
apparently the golf and tennis record was equally mediocre. No McNeese athletes
were black or, if so, their pictures in the Log do not reveal the fact.
(73) Mr. A. D. Smith of the State Board of Education was the speaker when 144
summer students were awarded degrees. Mrs. Glynn Ann Kline was the only cum
laude graduate in the group. In January, the number of graduates was 119, and
three of them were McNeese’s first engineering graduates. State Board member Fred
Tannehill was the speaker when 299 undergraduates and 34 graduate students
received degrees in May 1967, and as befitted the times, his speech attacked
"defiance of authority." Cum laude graduates were Mrs. Barbara Ann Beard,
Timothy Allen DeRouen, David E. Ellender, Larry Lee Fontenot, Mrs. Betty Paige
Hanchey, Joel Hext, John A. Hicks, Kenneth Van Moss, Peggy Ward Myers, John R.
Patin, Mrs. Madeline Hearn Reynolds, Mrs. Evelyn White Roberts, and Nancy Lynn
Thornton. (74) McNeese was growing in size and in quality as the sixties wore on. While the
Vietnamese War raged in Asia, and while college and university campuses were the
scene of student protests that grew more and more violent and unruly, McNeese
students and faculty concentrated upon academic and material improvements. The
college would not be able to remain isolated in the years to come, but because
it did concentrate on essentials, it would not be damaged nearly as much as
could have been the case. CHAPTER IX Growing Ambitions Enrollment in the fall of 1967 came to 4,542, a 5.2 percent increase over the
previous fall semester. Contributing to this total were 1,995 freshman, 894
sophomores, 643 juniors, 687 seniors, and 308 graduate students. Registration
fees were still $85, but dormitory room and board had gone up to $320 a
semester. Even so, for the first time in McNeese history, mote than 1,000
students lived on campus. In the spring there were 4,366 survivors: 1,870
freshman, 867 sophomores, 642 juniors, 599 seniors, and 376 graduate students.
Parking decals were issued for more than 3,000 automobiles. (1) During the summer two students, Donald J. Frederick and Howard White, Jr.,
both from Abbeville, were killed in an automobile accident near Jennings, and in
November student Manuel Franklin Green died in a crash on Interstate 10 near
Vinton. The next spring, Mr. John McNeese, last surviving child of the John
McNeese for whom the college was named, died in Mississippi at the age of 83.
(2) The Catalogue for 1967-1968 showed a total of 56 four-year curricula,
5 in the Division of Commerce, 15 in the Division of Education, 12 in the
Division of Fine arts (all but three in music), 7 in the Division of Humanities,
and 24 in the Division of Pure and Applied Sciences. Half of the Science
curricula were in Agriculture and Home Economics, and four were in Engineering.
One was a new four-year degree in Environmental Science offered by the
Department of Microbiology. In addition to the four-year curricula, there were
five two-year programs, including a new one in Mortuary Science. These curricula
were supported by a total of 919 separate courses, of which 149 could be taken
by undergraduates and graduates, 139 by graduates only. The Music Department offered a new master of music degree, and a veritable
plethora of graduate degrees was planned for the coming year. The Division of
Science would offer a master of science degree in microbiology and the Division
of Commerce announced a a master of business administration and a master of
business education. The Division of Education, already offering an education
specialist degree in reading, announced that now that degree would be available
in school administration, counseling and guidance, health and physical
education, and elementary education. Then in January it was announced that
McNeese would begin awarding a doctor of education degree. (3) The granting of doctorates, even doctorates in education, was a highly
controversial matter. The wisdom of the action was doubted by many McNeese
faculty members, including some who served on the Graduate Council. Nonetheless,
at its November meeting in 1967, the State Board authorized McNeese and most
other state colleges to offer the degree. Cecil Taylor, Dean of Arts and
Sciences at Louisiana State University, questioned the worth of such degrees and
suggested that they might lead to a "quality gap." For this he was roundly
censured, one could almost say damned, by five state college presidents. On
campus, Dean of the Graduate Division Girard and Dean of Education Landers
insisted that a doctorate in education from McNeese would be just as good as
such a degree from anywhere, and they may well have been right. On the other
hand, in a few years the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges
would take a dim view of the doctoral program, and the Louisiana Board of
Regents would eventually order it terminated. (4) McNeese did extremely well in gaining new facilities during the 1967-1968
academic year. In July Bartley, Inc. won the contract to build the new science
building, and construction began soon afterward. In May 1967 the college had
obtained from the federal government and the legislature almost $2,000,000 for
the Education Building and the circular administration building planned earlier,
and this construction began February 15, 1968. Then in the spring a legislative
appropriation and a grant from the United States Office of Education provided
the money for an Agriculture and Home Economics building west of
Ryan Street. Finally, philanthropist W. T. Burton gave $65,000 to McNeese’s new
computer center. (5) A curious incident of the spring of 1968 was a controversial plan to build a
six-story, privately owned dormitory and cafeteria complex on the campus east of
Ryan Street over Contraband Bayou. The rationale was that since the state was
constitutionally forbidden to pay more than five percent interest, it could not
sell the bonds to finance this project. Three members of the State Board of
Education - A. D. Smith, J. Marshall Brown, and Boyd M. Woodard - were on the board
of directors of the non-profit corporation created to promote this plan, and the
State Board went so far as to state that it would seek bids for lease of the
campus land to be used for this purpose. The project was short lived; it seemed
to have been viewed with considerable suspicion by the public, and when the
Louisiana State Attorney General announced that in his opinion the plan was
illegal, it was quietly dropped. (6) The year brought some significant changes in academic administration. William
F. Matthews became head of the new Department of Mortuary Science, and Willard E.
Hohnstein was appointed head of a new Department of Economics. Samuel Marino
resigned after nine years as head librarian, and Clifford M. Byrne of the
Department of Languages was named his replacement. Benjamin Harlow replaced
Byrne as Coordinator of the Evening School, a position he would retain through
many changes in title for more than twenty years. Maurice D. Pullig was
named acting head of the Department of Speech with the understanding that he
would become head when he received the doctoral degree. Finally, in the spring,
Mrs. Constance White retired as head of the Department of Nursing and was
replaced by Mrs. Lynda Jones. (7) Those who attended McNeese in 1967-1968 may remember that in January the
college joined the area public schools in closing down for part of one week
because of a near-epidemic of influenza and other respiratory diseases. There
was some shock when five students were arrested and charged with possession of
marijuana. More memorable, no doubt, was the fact that the kudzu along
Contraband Bayou became infested with rats; some of the rodents were said to be
chasing girls! (8) Student opinion focused on a number of subjects during the year, but the
radicalism abroad on so many campuses hardly touched McNeese. The Contraband had
a "Radical Corner" column, but the most radical proposals were the abolition of
compulsory attendance and doing away with compulsory ROTC. There was only one
"demonstration," if it might be called that, and it was certainly not radical.
In fact, it was disgracefully racist; when the flag was flown at half-staff
after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., a small group of white students
sought to raise it again to full staff. A racial conflict was about to break out
when President Cusic ordered the flag struck. Students demanding change did
accomplish something when they got the president to agree that one student
should serve on each of the standing faculty committees, but the impetus for
this came more from the State Board of Education than from the student body. (9) Some students favored getting out of Vietnam; others favored enlarging the
war. Almost nobody favored continuing without doing one or the other. The
student forum voted down drafting women, but by a narrow margin; opinion was
much more decisively in favor of the investigation of the Kennedy assassination
then being carried on by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. By a
decisive margin, students participating in the forum also disapproved of the
legalization of marijuana, and they concluded that the United States was not in
a state of decline. No presidential candidate had a majority at McNeese in April
1968, though Richard Nixon led with 23.3 percent. George Wallace was second,
Robert Kennedy third, Eugene McCarthy fourth, and Lyndon B. Johnson, who had
already announced that he could not be a candidate, fifth. Hubert Humphrey, who
was eventually the Democratic candidate and a near winner, was not even on the
ballot. (10) James Hopkins was president of the student body in 1967-1968, with John
Caulking and Wes Shinn as vice presidents and Ira Spears treasurer. William G.
Mitchell was cadet colonel, and Sharon LeBleu was Little Colonel for the ROTC.
Peter Leathard received a merit award from the auxiliary of the Louisiana
Engineering Society chapter of Lake Charles, and Wayne L. Broussard got a cash
award from the Society. Mary Rosalind Breaux was the outstanding home economics
student of the year, and William Davis was outstanding agriculture student. A
number of students distinguished themselves in the Louisiana College Writers
Society contest: David Vancil took first place in short story; Patricia Pofahl
was second in personal essay; David Ragona placed third in a one-act play; and
Gayle Marshall and Sally Gerber earned honorable mention in general essay. (11) Laurine Elkins, senior in piano, won a three-year fellowship for graduate
work at the University of Texas, and Wesley Harold Martin was awarded a
fellowship in mathematics by the University of Oklahoma. R. S. Young, Jr., a
physics major from Sulphur, was offered no fewer than five fellowships; he
accepted one from the National Science Foundation to be used at the University
of Texas. Ira Spears, a senior in business administration, received the Wall
Street Journal Student Achievement Award, and Sonja C. Ellzey earned a National
Defense Education Act fellowship to the University of Kansas and a major
scholarship offered by that university. Mrs. Jeri Sue Smith won an assistantship
in veterinary physiology at Texas A&M University, the first woman ever to
receive this honor. Finally, seven McNeese graduates were accepted for medical
training: Barry Davison at Baylor, and Steve Price, Jr., Foster Kordisch,
Jackie Graham, Edmund Nagem, Jr., John Snatic, and Terrell Murphy at LSU. (12) The debate team had a good start when three outstanding high school
debaters - Lemuel Hawsey, III, of Lake Charles High School, Bob Kennedy of
LaGrange, and Dian Guillot of Lafayette, Northside - chose to attend McNeese.
William Casey was on sabbatical in 1967-1968, leaving coaching entirely on the
shoulders of Ronald Skinner, who certainly proved equal to the task. Senior
debaters were Jim Hopkins and Gordon Propst; juniors were Mike Adams, Jude
Theriot, and Wes Shinn. Mary Frances Casey, Connie Stewart, David Tolin, Bryant
Kuntz, Karen Wyatt, and Dare Summers were sophomores. Freshman were those
mentioned above, plus Nelson Moss and James Jacobs. The team ranked fifteenth
among 69 teams in the Texas Christian College Tournament in November, second
among 22 at the Louisiana Tech Forensics tournament, and first among 45 at the
University of Arkansas. Finally, the team was third in the Great Midwestern
Speech Tournament at Oklahoma State
University. For the debaters however, the high point of the year was almost
certainly the night when by a unanimous vote of the judges, Gordon Propst and
Jude Theriot defeated Harvard before KPLC television cameras. (13) Diane Dunphy was Freshman Queen in 1967, and Amy De Cook, Willie Landry,
Cheryl Prejean, and Sharon Andrus were her maids. Melissa Stewart reigned over
Homecoming, with Joyce Wyninger, Allison Dark, Cathy Berry, Laura Daigle, Connie
Berry, and Diane Dunphy in her court. Allison Dark was the daughter of Adrienne
Managan Dark who had been the first homecoming
queen at John McNeese Junior College. Laura Faye Daigle was LaBelle a second
time, attended by Connie Berry, Dottie Daws, Terri Hollingsworth, Bonnie
Johnson, Melissa Stewart, Joanie Guillory, Nancy Ray, and Joyce Wyninger. One of
the Berry sisters, Connie, was queen of the Louisiana Dairy Festival in
Abbeville, and Terri Hollingsworth was McNeese’s entry into Glamour Magazine’s
Ten Best Dressed Coeds contest. (14) Daniel Ieyoub became president of the alumni in October 1967, with Bobby
Gauthreaux, Leland Parra, and Genevieve Ancelet as vice presidents. New members
of the Board of Directors were James Beam, Dr. Robert O. Emmett, Bob E. Finnegan,
William C. Fontenot, and Jerry Trouard. Margery Wilson was awarded the alumni
president’s cup, a well-deserved honor. At Homecoming the alumni promoted a
reunion of the first graduating class and were pleased at the high attendance.
Lee J. Romero was recognized at honors night at Loyola University as the
outstanding law student of that university. Romero was a recent graduate of
McNeese, but as alumni grew older and more numerous, they were becoming more and
more influential members of Southwest Louisiana society. (15) A large number of faculty were away on sabbatical in 1967-1968. Huey McFatter
and Frank Ingraham took summer sabbatical from the Division of Commerce, Barbara
Belew from Fine Arts, Roy Dobyns and Mrs. Emerite Wilkinson from the Division of
Pure and Applied Science, and Raymond LeBlanc and Joe Gray Taylor from the
Division of Humanities. Loris Galford from the English Department, William Casey from Speech,
Eldon Bailey from Accounting, and John Carson from Business Administration were
on sabbatical for a semester or the entire year. He was not on sabbatical leave,
but Don Wilder and two students, Mary Ann Giltner and Darrell Carriere, spent
the summer in Pennsylvania working in summer stock. (16) Fifteen new faculty members reported in the fall of 1967. Many of them were
transitory, but they included Roy G. Robinson, Wilbur L. Dahlquist, John C.
Young, James C. Watson, and Clifford L. Gaither in the sciences; Jerry W. Brown
in Speech; Dr. Nicola Vulkovic, Robert Turner, and Duford Henry in Commerce, and
William G. McCall, alumnus Theodore L. Moon, and alumnus Curtis S. Nelson, Jr.,
in Humanities. In Fine Arts, Albert Stoutamire was promoted to professor, Fred
Sahlmann to associate professor, and in the Division of Education Robert H.
James and Thomas Brand were advanced to associate professor. Thomas Brand
received his doctorate from Baylor University in August, the same month in which
Wilbur Dahlquist, onetime McNeese football letterman, was awarded the Ph.D. in
physics from LSU. In the spring Don Adams of Engineering received his Ph.D. from
Oklahoma State. Not yet on the McNeese faculty, but soon to be, alumnus Larry
DeRouen, assistant professor at USL, earned the Ph.D. in French from LSU. No
faulty member was busier than Anthony Mayeux. In July he was selected to attend
an institute on electronic teaching devices at Tulane University, and in
September State Superintendent of Education William J. Dodd selected him to serve
as a consultant to the Louisiana Foreign Language Advisory Council. Then in
December, at Shreveport, he was elected vice president of the Louisiana Foreign
Language Teachers Association, and in April he attended a conference on
education opportunities for Mexican Americans at Austin, Texas. (17) Other faculty members and administrators were moving about the country.
Armand Perrault attended an institute for deans of schools of Business on the
campus of the University of Indiana, and Bruce Landers went to an Educational
Development Laboratory conference in Austin, Texas. Kathleen Allums, Franklin
LeBar, and Fred Sahlmann attended the Regional Convention of the Music Teachers
National Association in New Orleans, and Ellis Guillory attended an institute
for student personnel officers at Michigan State University. Tony Byles
conducted a one-day seminar on special education at the University of Virginia
on April 12, then went on to New York City to attend an International Council
on Exceptional Children. He had hardly returned to the campus when he departed
for Denver and a conference on improving the education of the handicapped. (18) Don Wilder of the Music Department conducted the Shreveport Symphony
Orchestra in two concerts in October 1967, and Fred Sahlmann gave piano recitals
at Sam Houston College and at Elon College in November, and then an organ
recital to dedicate a new Music Department organ in March. The Louisiana
Association of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation presented its annual
state honor award to Hans Leis. Ralph Womack was on the program of the San Diego
meeting of the Association for Childhood Education, and E. F. Stallings read a
paper to the Southwestern Division, Association of American Geographers, meeting
at Dallas. A composition by Woodrow James won first prize in the instrumental
category in the Louisiana Federation of Music Clubs competition, and William
Groves spoke to the National Catholic Music Education Association meeting in
Houston. (19) Three faculty members had significant publications during the year. Albert L.
Stoutamire published an article in The American Music Teacher, and Joe Gray
Taylor's presidential address to the Louisiana Historical Association was
published in Louisiana History; Ray Dobyns collaborated with John D. Baum to
produce a mathematics textbook, The Structure of the Real Number System. The
most important contribution to knowledge by a member of the McNeese faculty was
the discovery by Dr. Joe Black of a new species of crayfish. Black named his new
discovery Cambarus macneesei in honor of John McNeese. (20) During the summer of 1967, the Messiah chorus presented "An Evening of
Opera," with Mrs. Lois Ferguson, Patricia York, and Barbara Vincent Cady in lead
roles. A newspaper critic gave the performance a stellar review, with particular
praise for Patricia York and Charlotte Palmer. The annual Messiah presentation
came on the afternoon of December 2, and Kathleen Allums and Tim Dugas were
given silver bowls for 25 years’ participation. The program noted that the trip
to Mexico that had been impossible earlier in the year would take place in 1968,
but in the end money was as big an obstacle as before and the trip was never
made. (21 The first dramatic production of the year was the Jean Anouilh adaptation of
Antigone that had been presented some years earlier. Jude Theriot played the
chorus, Mary Margaret Miller the title role, and Norris LeBoeuf portrayed King
Creon. Contraband editor Jim Stacy’s review had high praise for Miss Miller,
less for the remainder of the cast. In December the stage story of Helen Keller,
The Miracle Worker, was performed. This was directed by Jerry Brown, with Brenda Bachrach as Annie Sullivan and Brenda Manuel as
Helen Keller. The spring musical
was Where’s Charley, a musical adaptation of the play Charley’s Aunt. Maurice Serice had the title role with Charlotte
Palmer as his romantic lead.
Other singing roles were taken by Patricia Sandlin, Lloyd Nelson, Richard
Ramsey, Barbara Cady, Douglas Lee, Eddy Johnson, David Slaydon, Gregory LeDoux,
and Darrell Carriere. The last play of the year was Shakespeare’s Tempest, with
James Cuplin as Prospero, Maureen Griffs as Miranda, Bill Stratton as Ariel,
and Paul A. Thomas as Caliban. (22) Other cultural opportunities during the year, highbrow and lowbrow, were
numerous. An art gallery of sorts opened in the former lounge on the second
floor of the Fine Arts Building in September, and religious art by Sister Mary
Corita, I. H. S., of Los Angeles and James D. Robison of Lafayette went on exhibit
in November. In October, the Lake Charles Civic Symphony opened its tenth season
in the Auditorium under the baton of Don Wilder of the McNeese faculty, and in
November a professional French stage company, Les Comediens Francaise,
sponsored by France-Amerique, presented Le Troisieme Temoin. Editor, publisher,
and critic Bennett Cerf spoke on December 1, and then in March the New Christy
Minstrels displayed their talents. The Concerts and Lectures Series presented
The Battle of the Sexes, a pastiche of famous scenes from various plays in which
the age-old battle was fought, and which had done well on Broadway. Agnes
Moorehead appeared once more on April 22, far better known now from her role on
the television comedy Bewitched than she had ever been during her great days on
the stage. Finally, not long before final examinations began, Duke Ellington and
his orchestra appeared, presumably to raise money for a Lake Charles zoo, which
never materialized. (23) The 1967-1968 academic year was a banner year for McNeese
athletics. The
coaching staff changed little, with A. I. Ratcliff still athletic director, Jim
Clark head football coach, and Ralph Ward head basketball coach. Desmond Jones
coached baseball and assisted with football, Charles Kuehn coached track and
assisted with football, and Ernie Duplechin and Alfred F.
Tregle concentrated on assisting Clark with football. Don Scott became golf
coach, and Jim Brown, who had played on the championship tennis team of 1960,
became tennis coach. (24) The football team had an overall record of 4 games won and 5 lost, but all four
victories were over GSC teams,
Cheryl Ware and Tom Fox
FOREWORD
I. The Beginnings
1902 – 1938
1938 – 1940
1940 – 1941
1941 – 1942
1942 – 1943
1943 – 1944
1944 – 1945
1946 – 1947
1947 – 1948
1948 – 1949
1949 – 1950
1950 – 1951
1951 – 1952
1952 – 1953
1953 – 1954
1954 – 1955
1955
1955 – 1956
1956 – 1957
1957 – 1958
1959 – 1960
1960 – 1961
1962 – 1963
1963 – 1964
1965 – 1966
1966 – 1967
1968 – 1969
1969 – 1970
1970 – 1971
1971 – 1972
1973 – 1974
1974 – 1975
1976 – 1977
1977 – 1978
1978 – 1979
1979 – 1980
1980 – 1981
1982 – 1983
The Beginnings
1
1880-1902
1902-1938
1938-1940
1940-1941
1
1941
The earth was a far darker planet in the autumn of 1941 than it had been in the
fall of 1939 when Lake Charles Junior College opened its doors. France had been
defeated a year earlier, and England had barely survived the Battle of Britain.
Nazi armies had plunged deep into the Soviet Union and were menacing Moscow, and
Nazi submarines threatened to cut supplies going from the United States to
Britain. In the Pacific the Japanese had ignored our objections to their
invasion of China and then had occupied Indochina and Thailand.
1941-1942
1942-1943
1943-1944
1944 -1945
Enrollment for the fall quarter, 1944, was as sparse as might be expected in
the middle of a war for the nation’s survival. This quarter, however, brought a
most important administrative change. Dean Rodney Cline was appointed Dean of
Northeastern Center, now Northeastern Louisiana University, by former McNeese
Dean William Hatcher, who had become president of Louisiana State University. To
replace Cline at McNeese, Hatcher selected Lether E. Frazar, former president of
Southwest Louisiana Institute (SLI), now the University of Southwestern
Louisiana. Frazar, who would preside over the transition of McNeese from a
junior college to a four-year institution and become a legend in the process,
held a bachelor’s degree from SLI, a master’s degree from Louisiana State
University, and had done graduate work in education at Teacher’s College of
Columbia University. Before becoming president of SLI he had been a school
principal in Beauregard Parish, and after the war began he had served as
Louisiana director of the federal Office of Price Administration (OPA), then
from Washington as a field director of the OPA. He would make a great imprint on
McNeese. Until the 1980’s most senior faculty had begun their careers under
Lether Frazar, and to this day many prominent citizens of Southwestern Louisiana
have vivid memories of Frazar as a college head and, if needs be, a champion of
the student body. (27)
1
1945-1946
1946-1947
1947-1948
1948-1949
1949-1950
1950-1951
1
1950-1951
1951-1952
1953-1954
1954-1955
1
1954-1955
1955
1955-1956
1956-1957
1957-1958
1
1958-1959
The Catalogue listed a new and elaborate purpose for the college in
1958-1959:
1959-1960
1960-1961
1
1961-1962
1962-1963
1963-1964
1
1964-1965
1965-1966
1966-1967
1
1967-1968