Grambling State University

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Grambling State University
Motto	Where Everybody is Somebody
Established	1901
Type	Public, HBCU
Endowment	$1.9 million
President	Dr. Horace A. Judson
Students	4,988
Undergraduates	4,400
Postgraduates	588
Location	Grambling, Louisiana, United States 32°31′31″N 92°42′55″W / 32.5252°N 92.7153°W / 32.5252; -92.7153Coordinates: 32°31′31″N 92°42′55″W / 32.5252°N 92.7153°W / 32.5252; -92.7153
Campus	Rural
Former names	Colored Industrial and Agricultural School North Louisiana Agricultural and Industrial School Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute Grambling College
Colors	Black and Gold
Nickname	Tigers or Lady Tigers
Athletics	NCAA Div. 1 FCS
Affiliations	Southwestern Athletic Conference
Website	www.gram.edu

Grambling State University is a historically black (HBCU), public, coeducational university, located in Grambling, Louisiana. The university is the home of legendary football coach Eddie Robinson and is on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

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, and 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.^{[citation needed]}

History

Grambling State was founded in 1901 and accredited in 1949. 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. With the addition of graduate departments, Grambling gained university status in 1974. 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 part 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. In 1949, the college was accredited by 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 (1.55 km²) campus, including a business and computer science building, school of nursing, student services building, stadium, stadium support facility and an intramural sports center. 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.

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. On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, Judson announced his resignation effective October 31, 2009.

Student activities

Athletics

The Grambling Tigers represent Grambling State University in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Grambling's sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (I-AA for football) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). 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.

Tiger Marching Band

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• In 1999, President Bill Clinton performed with the band for a halftime show in Grambling, Louisiana
• The Tiger Marching Band have an average of 125 students with a grade points average of 3.00 or more each year.
• In 1999, the 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, alongside 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 performed in the Hollywood films Grambling's White Tiger (1981), and Drumline (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 (International Music Fraternity, 1903), and Silver Dogs, Inc. (Prestigious Campus Brotherhood, 1945).
• In 2009, the Grambling State Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha,(Omicron Lambda), was nationally recognized as the most active chapter of the fraternity on a historical black college or university campus. It is the most active chapter in Louisiana, Province 14.
• In 2009, the band was the only Louisiana entity included in the inaugural parade for U.S. President Barack Obama.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

Alumni of Grambling State include numerous MLB, NBA and NFL players. Eight-time Mr. Olympia winner Ronnie Coleman is a noted alumni as well as actress Natalie Desselle-Reid. Grammy-winner Erykah Badu and New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow are also alumni. Alumnus Pinkie C. Wilkerson, served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 until her death in an automobile accident on August 1, 2000. Singer Erykah Badu attended Grambling State University and once served as a campus Queen. Former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl XXII MVP Doug Williams, is not only an alumni, but also currently once served as the Tigers head football coach. West coast bay area rap artist E-40 also attended Grambling State University.

References

External links

• www.gram.edu -- Official web site
• www.gsutigers.com -- Official athletics web site
• www.gram.edu/band/ -- Tiger Marching Band web site