Campus 1919 - 20

[Turbine]

Louisiana's Campus
1919-20

Aerial view of Louisiana's original 25 acre campus.

[NewsCopy]

The question of student fees has been on the front burner ever since UL was a struggling young institute. Then, as now, students were not always sure that they were getting fair fare for what they were paying. In fact, they expressed their feelings in 1919 by a boycott of the student mess hall. President Edwin Lewis Stephens said they only way to get better food was to pay more for it, and he wasn't sure that was such a good idea. On Dec. 22, 1919, Stephens wrote to The Dormitory Boys of Southwestern Institute: "Coach (T.R.) Mobley tells me you went on a 'hunger strike' and cut your afternoon classes last Wednesday. I am sorry to hear it. I know the fare isn't anything to boast of, but I didn't think you would express yourselves in that way. ... I have already tried to do something about the fare at the mess hall - and believe things are improving a little. "I still hope we shall not have to increase the price of board - because I know the cost of coming to school is a great hardship on the parents of a majority of our boys and girls. The rest of the story C'est Vrai Jim Bradshaw jbradshaw@theadvertiser.com 289-6315