UL Desegregation, 1954

[CajunFun]

UL was the first school in the US to desegregate after Brown v Board, and the first historically white southern school to desegregate in any meaningful way.

The University Press of Florida has given ultoday.com permission to reprint the history of UL's Desegregation. We will serialize the story over the next few weeks.

First article is up on...

Complaining about the University on the boards and in public hurts UL,
and it hurts the Ragin' Cajuns.

Negativity undermines our recruiting, fundraising, attendance, and ticket sales.

[CajunFun]

_ UL was the first school in the US to desegregate after Brown v Board, and the first historically white southern school to desegregate in any meaningful way.

The University Press of Florida has given ultoday.com permission to reprint the history of UL's Desegregation. We will serialize the story over the next few weeks.

Installment #5 is up, talking about how the unique culture of Lafayette opened the way for desegregation.

[UL_Cajuns]

_ Installment #5 is up, talking about how the unique culture of Lafayette opened the way for desegregation. _

And Jerry Baldwin thought UL was Racist. HMMM

[CajunSaint]

THE University of Louisiana: Leading the Way--Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
how ironically sweet to look back in history and see just how far ahead of the curve we were than our faux masters across the basin. may they hang their collective heads in shame! geaux UL! geaux cajuns!

[HoustonCajun]

_ THE University of Louisiana: Leading the Way--Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
how ironically sweet to look back in history and see just how far ahead of the curve we were than our faux masters across the basin. may they hang their collective heads in shame! geaux UL! geaux cajuns! _

That's right. Not just another reason, but a very important and impressive reason, UL has been and clearly is THE leader of the UL System and why we MUST capture the UL name, athletically. We cannot waiver in our quest.

[LFTCajun]

_ That's right. Not just another reason, but a very important and impressive reason, UL has been and clearly is THE leader of the UL System and why we MUST capture the UL name, athletically. We cannot waiver in our quest. _

OK, and you're right. But, where are we in putting to rest the name issue legislatively? How many elected officials who came up with the "City Tag" rule are even still in office now? And how would we stand legislatively were it challenged today?

Enough of this "City Tag" nonsense. Forget the fact that we are deserving of the name, but its a political issue and will require political muscle to resolve it.

[CajunFun]

_ OK, and you're right. But, where are we in putting to rest the name issue legislatively? How many elected officials who came up with the "City Tag" rule are even still in office now? And how would we stand legislatively were it challenged today?

Enough of this "City Tag" nonsense. Forget the fact that we are deserving of the name, but its a political issue and will require political muscle to resolve it. _

It doesn't need to be done legislatively. It needs to be done athletically.

I don't despise ULM, but until we're in different conferences, we'll have a hard time selling "UL".

Once we're in separate conferences, our conference members will change our name for us if for no other reason than economic motivation. "The University of Louisiana" will sell more tickets than "Louisiana-Lafayette".

Once that happens, the media will start using it, and it will be all over. Back in 1999, I argued that the AP would change our name, no one else. One of our people even had a powerful connection in the sports department at AP, and they were ready to start calling us "Louisiana" whenever we told them to.

Alas, the administration did not move on it.

[HoustonCajun]

_ It doesn't need to be done legislatively. It needs to be done athletically.

I don't despise ULM, but until we're in different conferences, we'll have a hard time selling "UL".

Once we're in separate conferences, our conference members will change our name for us if for no other reason than economic motivation. "The University of Louisiana" will sell more tickets than "Louisiana-Lafayette".

Once that happens, the media will start using it, and it will be all over. Back in 1999, I argued that the AP would change our name, no one else. One of our people even had a powerful connection in the sports department at AP, and they were ready to start calling us "Louisiana" whenever we told them to.

Alas, the administration did not move on it. _

I agree with you. For comparison purposes, look at what ULM uses vs. UL in trying to gain name recognition. Fortunately, they want ULM which leaves the door open to our capturing the UL and Louisiana names, athletically. But, when will be do it in such a consistent way as to get the media to recognize us that way? I also agree that conference affiliation with ULM negatively impacts our cause.

Below also is what ULM puts in their Game Notes, very prominently on the first page:

We Are ULM
In all reference, please refer to us as ULM.
We are ULM, not Monroe, La.-Monroe, LAM, La.-
Mon, UL Monroe, UL-M or any other variation
We are the University of Louisiana at Monroe,
not Louisiana-Monroe


UL, on the other hand, makes no mention of what to call us. We just use LOUISIANA throughout the Game Notes, including the following (I thought our enrollment was over 16,000 and we were founded in 1898):

Louisiana
Athletic Media Relations

University Information
Name _ ___________________ University of Louisiana
Location___________________________ Lafayette, La.
Founded _________________________________1900
Enrollment _________________ 15,035 (Spring, 2009)
Nickname_ ________________________Ragin’ Cajuns
Colors _______________ Vermilion (PMS 193) & White
Stadium (Capacity) ____________ Cajun Field (31,000)
Surface ____________Pro Grass Synthetic Turf System
President____________________ Dr. E. Joseph Savoie
_________________________________ (Louisiana ’76)
Athletics Director_ __________________ David Walker
_________________________________ (Louisiana ’76)
Website _ _________________ www.ragincajuns.com

I really like the way we Louisiana and UL in the Game Notes, but consistency is not our forte'. Hence, continued confusion on what to call us.

This is what we put in our Football Media Guide and we don't put it under MEDIA INFORMATION, we put it under PLAYER PROFILES next to Antwyne Zanders. Wonder why everyone is confused about what to call us? Who cares about the history of our name and mascot? Just put a simple statement about what to call us NOW in a very conspicuous place. If we want to be called LOUISIANA as we state, why do we _____foot around the issue like this?



WHO WE ARE
The story behind our name and nickname.

Our Name
We started as Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute on
Sept. 18, 1901. Dr. Edwin L. Stephens was named the first president,
as SLII opened its doors with 100 students and eight faculty
members. In 1921, the school became known as Southwestern
Louisiana Institute when it was designated as one of the state’s
institutions of higher learning. Upon achieving university status
in 1960, our name was changed to the University of Southwestern
Louisiana. That name lasted until 1999 and was replaced by
the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Athletically, using the
reference “at Lafayette” is not necessary in the same examples as
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Texas at Austin and Tennessee at
Knoxville.

Our Nickname and Mascot
In 1921, then-SLI adopted the nickname and mascot Bulldogs.
The first use was a drawing voted on by the student body. Famous
architect Hays Town did the first rendition of the bulldog while he
was a student.
The first use of a live mascot dates back to 1937. During
the 1937-38 school year, the first dog was actually a pit bull. The
following season, the school used an English bulldog as its mascot
and continued to use English bulldogs every season with one
exception. In 1943-44, the school mascot was a stray dog named
Willoughby.
For the next several years, all bulldogs were named “Gee” after
the popular coach George Mitchell. Mitchell served as boxing
coach from 1940-1942 and head football coach from 1947-49,
compiling an 18-8-1 record on the gridiron.
Beginning in 1963, just a few seasons after the name change
to USL, university football teams were dubbed the “Raging Cajuns”
by then-Sports Information Director Bob Henderson and head
football coach Russ Faulkinberry. In addition, the team switched
from gold helmets to white helmets with an Acadian flag. At the
time, more than 90 percent of Faulkinberry’s team was composed
of Louisiana high school players, many with French-speaking
Acadian backgrounds.
The “Raging Cajuns” nickname stuck, and in 1967 the second
‘g’ was dropped to form the word Ragin’. In the early 1970’s other
sports teams began to adopt the Ragin’ Cajuns nickname. The
University made a full switch to Ragin’ Cajuns during the 1974-75
school year as part of “Operation Turnaround”.
Even though the nickname had changed, USL continued to use
a bulldog as its mascot until the early 1970’s. In 1982, USL debuted
its new mascot, named Mr. Cajun, a shotgun-carrying hunter riding
a giant crawfish. The design was chosen from a student-submitted
contest. Mr. Cajun was quickly replaced by Cajun Man, but in 1984,
the Fabulous Cajun Chicken was introduced and became a wildly
popular unofficial mascot who entertained fans for more than a
decade. The bulldog mascot, however, was reintroduced as a live
English bulldog named Ragin’ Cajun from 1990-1996. Red, another
English bulldog, debuted in the fall of 1996, but served as the
mascot for only one season. Cayenne, the Cajun Pepper, became
the new mascot in 2001 and still serves as the mascot today.
The Fabulous Cajun Chicken made a brief return in 2007-08,
appearing at a baseball game on Apr. 17, 2007, Football Fan Day on
Aug. 12, 2007 and a men’s basketball game on Jan. 19, 2008.

[MetryCajun]

My compliments on seamlessly moving another thread to the name issue.

[CajunFun]

_ My compliments on seamlessly moving another thread to the name issue. _

Well, at least he appears to have read the article. I can see how many people have read each entry on ultoday.com.

UL was the first school in the country to desegregate after Brown v Board, more than a decade before Federal Troops were sent into Oxford & Tuscaloosa.

But only about 17 people here have been actually reading those articles. The quarterback club notes attract almost 10 times that number.

Doesn't speak very well for the value of a UL education, does it?

[MetryCajun]

_ Well, at least he appears to have read the article. I can see how many people have read each entry on ultoday.com.

UL was the first school in the country to desegregate after Brown v Board, more than a decade before Federal Troops were sent into Oxford & Tuscaloosa.

But only about 17 people here have been actually reading those articles. The quarterback club notes attract almost 10 times that number.

Doesn't speak very well for the value of a UL education, does it? _

If I didn't know better, I would think there is an insult hidden somewhere in your post. I blaming my lack of interest(and education) on the 2 years I spent at LSU.

[Turbine]

But only about 17 people here have been actually reading those articles. The quarterback club notes attract almost 10 times that number.

Doesn't speak very well for the value of a UL education, does it? _

Doesn't speak very well our hunt and find skills.

I don't see how this thread could generate 400 views and only result in 17 clicks to UL Today. We must be clicking but not finding what we went there for.

Perhaps you could start providing a link directly to the article in your post?