Grambling State University

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Grambling State University is a public, coeducational university, which is among the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States. Located in Grambling, Louisiana, US, Grambling State was founded in 1901.

The school became Grambling College in 1946 named after a sawmill owner, P.G. Grambling, who donated a parcel of land for the school to be constructed. Grambling gained university status in 1974.

The university has distinction of being one of the top U.S. producers of African American graduates, to being the home of legendary football coach Eddie Robinson and its internationally renowned Tiger Marching Band.

[edit] Academics

A constituent member of the University of Louisiana System, GSU is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Its instructional programs are delivered through a School of Graduate Studies and Research and four undergraduate colleges:

• Arts and Sciences
• Business
• Education
• Professional Studies

The university offers 64 programs, leading to certification, associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. The university offers the only doctorate in developmental education in the nation.

[edit] History

Grambling State University emerged from the desire of African-American farmers in rural north Louisiana who wanted to educate other African Americans in the northern and western parts of the state. In 1896, the North Louisiana Colored Agriculture Relief Association was formed to organize and operate a school.

After opening a small school west of what is now the town of Grambling, the Association requested assistance from Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Charles P. Adams, sent to aid the group in organizing an industrial school, became its founder and first president.

Under Adams’ leadership, the Colored Industrial and Agricultural School opened on November 1, 1901. Four years later, the school moved to its present location and was renamed the North Louisiana Agricultural and Industrial School. By 1928, the school was able to offer two-year professional certificates and diplomas after becoming a state junior college. The school was renamed Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute.

In 1936, the program was reorganized to emphasize rural education. It became known as "The Louisiana Plan" or "A Venture in Rural Teacher Education." Professional teaching certificates were awarded when a third year was added in 1936, and the first baccalaureate degree was awarded in 1944 in elementary education.

The institution’s name was changed to Grambling College in 1946 in honor of a white sawmill owner, P.G. Grambling, who donated a parcel of land for the school. Thereafter, the college prepared secondary teachers and added curricula in sciences, liberal arts and business. With these programs in effect, the school was transformed from a single purpose institution of teacher education into a multipurpose college. During the 1950s, the college obtained full membership in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

In 1974, the addition of graduate programs in early childhood and elementary education gave the school a new status and a new name – Grambling State University.

From 1977 to 2000, the university moved and prospered. Several new academic programs were incorporated and new facilities were added to the 384-acre campus, including a business and computer science building, school of nursing, student services building, stadium, stadium support facility and an intramural sports center.

[edit] University presidents

Following the first university president Charles P. Adams, in 1936, Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones became the second president.

Five presidents served from 1977 to 2001: Dr. Joseph Benjamin Johnson, Dr. Harold W. Lundy, Dr. Raymond Hicks, Dr. Leonard Haynes III and Dr. Steve A. Favors.

The advent of a new millennium and the beginning of a second century of service ushered in Grambling State University’s first female president, Dr. Neari Francois Warner. Warner served a three-year interim term.

The present president is Dr. Horace Judson, who became the institution’s seventh president in 2004 after a controversial term at SUNY-Plattsburgh. Critics argue that Judson has given himself too much authority over spending matters, with few checks and balances.

[edit] Grambling State Launches $30 Million Comprehensive Capital Campaign

Student Government Association Announces $1 Million Scholarship

In a renewed emphasis of its commitment toward modernized university facilities, student housing and sustained scholarship support, Grambling State University kicked off a Comprehensive Capital Campaign, November 24, with the goal of raising $30 million over the next five to seven years. GSU students were among the first to contribute to the campaign with their contribution of a $1 million scholarship endowment to forge sustained financial support for academic programs. Their endowment was made by a $500,000 contribution which will be matched dollar for dollar and used for need based scholarships.

[edit] Athletics

Grambling's sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (I-AA for football) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

Grambling State plays its arch rival Southern University in the annual "Bayou Classic," which is hosted in New Orleans over Thanksgiving weekend at the Louisiana Superdome and broadcast nationally on NBC.

Former football coach Eddie Robinson held the NCAA record for most career wins as a head coach at the time of his retirement in 1997.

During Robinson’s stellar 57-year coaching career, the University gained a national reputation because of the large number of athletes who joined the professional ranks in football.

After Robinson’s retirement in 1997, former GSU standout and NFL Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams took over the reins of the University's football program.

Currently, the Grambling State University Department of Athletics sponsors Men's Intercollegiate football, along with men's and women's basketball, baseball, track & field, softball, golf, soccer, tennis, bowling and volleyball.

Traditions
Grambling State's colors are black and gold, with red as a tertiary color symbolizing the blood of people of African descent. The school's mascot is the "Tigers," and its slogan is "Where everybody is Somebody."

[edit] The World Famed Tiger Marching Band

• In (1999), President Bill Clinton performed with the band for a halftime show in Grambling, Louisiana and gave Grambling State's Marching Band the undisputed title of " The Best Band in the Land!"
• The Tiger Marching Band have an average of 125 students with a grade points average of 3.00 or more each year. This number is more than any other black college band and colleges in Louisiana.
• In 1999, the GSU "World Famed" Tiger Marching Band — along with GSU's female dance troupe, "The Orchesis Dance Company" — was featured in a nationally televised commercial as part of Procter & Gamble's "Tampax Was There" marketing campaign.
• In 1998, the band was featured in Super Bowl XXXII, along side Motown greats such as Boyz II Men, Martha Reeves, and Smokey Robinson.
• In 1981, the band appeared in "Marching Band/Coke Is It," an award-winning commercial developed for Coca-Cola USA.
• The band also was featured performing in the Hollywood films Grambling's White Tiger in 1981, and Drumline in 2002.
• In the 118th Tournament of Roses Parade, Grambling State's marching band was the marching band in the Star Wars Spectacular, in which all members were wearing Imperial officer uniforms.
• The band was the only Louisiana entity included in the inaugural parade for U.S. President George W. Bush.
• Along with the band directors there are many different student leaders that contribute to the success and order of the band. They are members of five distinct organizations, Phi Mu Alpha (National Music Honor Fraternity, 1898), Kappa Kappa Psi (National Band Honor Fraternity, 1919), Tau Beta Sigma (National Band Honor Sorority, 1946), Sigma Alpha Iota (National Music Honor Sorority, 1903), and Silver Dogs, Inc. (Prestigious Campus Brotherhood, 1945)
• The Grambling State Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha,(Omicron Lambda),is the most active black college chapter of the fraternity. It is also the most active in Louisiana.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• In 2006, Grambling State was the setting for the Black Entertainment Television network docudrama "Season of the Tiger," which chronicled the daily lives of members of the football team and marching band throughout the 2005 season.
• Composer Sam Spence wrote an instrumental piece for NFL Films entitled "Ramblin' Man from Gramblin,'" a nod to both the University as well as the Bob Seger song "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man".

[edit] Notable alumni

• Erykah Badu, singer
• Willie Brown, Hall of Fame cornerback
• Buck Buchanan, Hall of Fame defensive tackle
• Ronnie Coleman, IFBB Pro 8-time Mr. Olympia
• Willie Davis, Hall of Fame Green Bay Packers defensive end
• E-40, rapper
• Jason Hatcher, NFL football player for the Dallas Cowboys
• Randy Hymes, NFL football player for the Minnesota Vikings
• Charlie Joiner, Hall of Fame wide receiver
• Judi Ann Mason, noted playwright, and screenwriter for award-winning network television sitcom "Good Times"
• Antwahn Nance, NBA basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers
• Elfrid Payton, all-star and award-winning Canadian Football League player
• Kalvin Pearson, NFL football player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Leslie Randle, Miss Black Louisiana 2005-2006
• Willis Reed, NBA Hall of Famer - played for the New York Knicks from 1964 to 1974
• Matthew Reed, football quarterback in the WFL and CFL
• Doug Williams, named MVP after winning Super Bowl as quarterback with the Washington Redskins
• Ivory Nelson, President of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
• Chief Clarence Bradford, Former Head of Houston Police Department
• Richard "Rick" Gallot, State Representive of Louisiana
• Chris Moore, Emmy Award winning Producer
• Albert Lewis, NFL football player for the Kansas City Chiefs
• Ernie Ladd, NFL football player for the San Diego Chargers and WWE Hall of Famer
• Everson Walls, NFL Football Player for the Dallas Cowboys
• Clarence Hawkins, the first African-American to serve as mayor of Bastrop, Louisiana
• Essex Johnson, NFL Football Player for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Wilbert Ellis, American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer
• Dr. Lenton Malry, first African American to be elected as Bernalillo County, New Mexico Commissioner and to the New Mexico House of Representatives
• Dr. Penya Moses-Fields, City Attorney for the City Of New Orleans
• Dr. E. Faye Williams, National Chair of National Congress of Black Women
• Frank Lewis,NFL Football Player for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• U. S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley, United States Judge for Southern District of Texas
• Robert Bobb, Current Deputy Mayor of Washington D.C.
• Tammy Lee, Monroe Judge

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Grambling official website
• Official GSU Tigers athletics site
• Tiger Marching Band website