Black History at LSU
Below is a timeline of diversity and equity at LSU compiled by the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
1950s
| 1950 | LSU Board of Education enrolls Black student into the law school (Roy S. Wilson) |
| 1952 | First Black to earn a degree from LSU [Masters of Education] (Charles E. Harrington) |
| 1953 | First Black undergraduate enrolls at LSU (A. P. Tureaud) |
| 1954 | First Black to graduate from LSU Law School (Ernest N. “Dutch” Morial) |
| 1956 | First Black woman to graduate from LSU [Masters of Education] (Pearl Henry Payne) |
| 1957 | First Black to graduate from the LSU School of Library and Information Sciences (Ollie H. Burns) |
A. P. Tureaud
1960s
| 1964 | First group (6) of Black students enroll at LSU |
| 1964 | First Black woman to attend LSU (Freya Anderson Rivers) |
| 1964 | First Black (man or woman) to live in a LSU residence hall (Maxine Crump) |
| 1965 | First Black Tiger Band member (John Sibley Butler) |
| 1967 | First Black (man or woman) to earn her Ph.D. from LSU (Pinkie Gordon Lane) |
| 1969 | First Black baseball player (Henry LeBoyd) |
Kerry Pourciau
Lora O. Hinton, Jr
1970s
| 1971 | First Black wrestler (Joe Lee Lott) |
| 1971 | First Black LSU professor (Julian T. White, Architecture) |
| 1972 | First meeting space for Black students was established (Harambeé House) |
| 1972 | First Black LSU Student Government President (Kerry Pourciau) |
| 1972 | First Black Ph.D. graduate in Chemistry (Richard Evans) |
| 1972 | First Black LSU varsity football players (Lora O. Hinton, Jr. and Mikell Williams) |
| 1972 | First Black man gymnast (Mike Carter) |
| 1972 | First Black Tigress Pom Pon (Elma Walker) |
| 1973 | First Black graduate of the School of Renewable Natural Resources [Masters in Fisheries] (Albert J. Doucette, Jr.) |
| 1974 | First Black LSU basketball player (Collis Temple, Jr.) |
| 1974 | First Black quarterback for LSU (Carl Otis Trimble) [1974-76] |
| 1975 | First Black cheerleaders (Ladeta Crowley and Herman Harris) |
| 1975 | First Black volleyball and women's basket player (Joanette Batiste Boutte) |
| 1976 | First Black LSU woman tenured professor (Christine Minor) |
| 1978 | First Black softball players (Myra Burrell Brown and Paula Edwards) |
| 1978 | First Black woman tennis player (Kyle Copeland Muse) |
1980s
| 1980 | First Black Golden Girls (Paula Jackson and Saundra Mims) |
| 1980 | First Black woman gymnast (Debra Ross) |
| 1989 | First Black (man or woman) LSU dean of an academic college (Carolyn Collins) |
Reneé Boutte Meyer
AACC Opening
Office of Multicultural Affairs
1990s
| 1990 | First Black woman president of the LSU Union Governing Board and Programming Council (Nicole Moliere) |
| 1991 | First African American head coach of any sport (women's tennis) (Tony Minnis) |
| 1991 | First Black crowned LSU Homecoming Queen (Reneé Boutte Meyer) |
| 1991 | Minority Services is established (In 1993, it becomes the Office of Multicultural Affairs) |
| 1993 | Establishment of the LSU Clarence L. Barney Jr. African American Cultural Center |
| 1995 | Establishment of the LSU Women’s Center |
| 1999 | First Vice Provost of Campus Diversity is appointed (Gregory Vincent) |
Ebony Spikes
Isiah Warner
Eli Jones
2000s
| 2000 | First Black LSU Boyd Professor is named by the LSU System (Isiah Warner) |
| 2000 | First Black woman soccer players (Fallon Buckner and Somalia Lindsay) |
| 2000 | Safe Space Campaign begins |
| 2001 | Office of Strategic Initiatives forms |
| 2002 | First Black woman Corp Commander for the LSU Corp of Cadets (Daphne LaSalle) |
| 2002 | First Black (man or woman) British Marshall Scholar at LSU (Ebony Spikes) |
| 2004 | First Black Women's Basketball Head Coach (Dana "Pokey" Chatman) |
| 2004 | First Black Miss LSU-USA (Courtney Rawls) |
| 2006 | First Black (man or woman) to complete the LSU MBA/JD joint program (Natasha U. Francis) |
| 2006 | Black Faculty Association forms |
| 2007 | First LSU student to be named as a Morris K. Udall Scholar (Nita Anne Clark) |
| 2008 | First Black Men's Basketball Head Coach (Trent Johnson) |
| 2008 | First Black Dean of the E.J. Ourso College of Business (Eli Jones) |
| 2009 | First LSU student to receive a bachelor's degree in coastal environmental science (Nita Anne Clark) |