UL Student (1959-62) Caroline O. Chretien
She was a published poet, freelance writer, telivision personality, civic leader, a loving, caring, and respected individual.
Her name was Caroline Chretien, she was born in 1889. Later in life she became a student at the University of Louisiana. She excelled in an era when it seems only controversy served to get one noticed. Fortunately for all that knew her, Caroline found another way; there will never be another like her.
If she were alive today (time of writing 2004) she would around 115 years of age, and if you focus strictly on her "would be" age at the time, she was old enough to start attending the University of Louisiana in 1903-1904. In fact if every person who ever attended UL were still alive she would still be within a couple of years of the oldest alum ever.
Time and circumstance prevented this feat however. Caroline Chretien was African American, and in 1903 while old enough, Louisiana State law would have prohibited her from enrolling at SLII. Still she will always be a member of the select group of UL Alumnus born in the 19th century.
If time and circumstances had been different, she surely would have been a contributor to one of the University of Louisiana’s early literary erudition endeavors. There is no doubt she would have been a member of the Avatar or Attakapas societies. In fact she would have been old enough to witness -as a student- the launch of the schools newspaper the Vermilion in 1903.
Certainly Mrs. Chretien didn't let past discrimination stop her. When she enrolled 54 years ago -in the fall of 1959- it was a full 4 years before Dr. King gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech, but by then Caroline Chretien was already a forward thinking Civic leader. See achievements in article below
While most of her offspring have moved away, she is survived locally by grandson Tracy Chretien, from whom we were able to gather she once housed homeless mothers.
She serves as a reminder to all as to how past discrimination left the discriminators on the short end of the stick. From all accounts she was a very special person. Local radio personality and historian L.C. Melchior who attended Louisiana (Southwestern) and actually had an English class with Mrs. Chretien, described her as the darling of the campus.
Vermilion photo from 1961
The Vermilion 1961 72-Year-Old Mrs. Caroline Chretien
Named one of USL's Oldest StudentsMrs. Caroline O. Chretien, Lafayette, a student at Southwestern, is probably the world’s oldest college students.
She is 72 years old.
What made her decide to come to college at such an age? "I have more time to pursue my studies now that my children are all married." Mrs. Chretien explains, "And I figure I'll need and education if I am to continue writing articles."
Mrs. Chretien wrote columns for the Pittsburg Courier" in Pittsburg, Pa., and also for "Louisiana Weekly" in New Orleans. "But I had to give it up because I simply didn't have the time," she laments.
A sophomore, majoring in English, Mrs. Chretien belongs to several organizations which keep her busy during her spare time. She is secretary to the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Peter Claver No.76 of Lafayette, a member of the Louisiana Folklore Society, vice president of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and president of the Legion of Mary in Immaculate Heart of St. Mary parish. She is also Girl Scout leader of Troop no. 115 in Lafayette.
Of her past life Mrs. Chretien has this to say: "The things that always gave me most pleasure was to find something nice about someone and to tell other people about it." As a result she started a local television show about two years ago, "to discover talent and to present it to other people, and to show the public that local people can perform just as well as popular people in New York.”The name of our show was 'Talent Discoverers' and we often had bands and dancers from area schools to perform," she recalls.
A few months later Mrs. Chretien received a congratulatory letter from Father James Keller, director of the The Christopher’s, a Catholic organization. "It was heartening to know of the progress you have been making with your television show, Mrs. Chretien. It's a wonderful example of the influence for good which one person like yourself can have on so many! You and your friends are doing a marvelous job in 'reaching out' to others -- keep up the good work!" Mrs. Chretien received many similar complimentary letters from organizations throughout the state.
Mrs. Chretien was born in Aberdeen, Mississippi. She later moved to Alabama and was graduated from Tuskegee Institute. "Booker T. Washington was living then and he signed my diploma!" she exclaimed. "It is one of my prized possessions."
Mrs. Chretien enrolled at Southwestern (University of Louisiana) in the autumn of 1959. She now wants "to learn about the mechanics of putting a newspaper together." After college she plans to work as a free lancer for different magazines and newspapers, and with the ambition she has she will probably be doing just that in the near future.
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