Did you know?...in LSU History
Below is a timeline of diversity and equity at LSU. If there are other significant LSU firsts that are not a part of this list, feel free to suggest those events to our unit. You may submit the historical event via email at diversity@lsu.edu.
1905: The first woman graduated from LSU (Olivia Davis)
1909: The first woman faculty member (Merceds Garig)
1913: First Hispanic professor (Antonio Guell)
1926: First woman faculty member of the LSU Law School (Harriet S. Daggett)
1906: First women (17) enrolled as freshmen
1948: First woman to earn a bachelors in Geology (Harriet Cameron Belchic)
1950: LSU Board of Education enrolls Black student into the law school (Roy S. Wilson)
1952: First Black person 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 )
1965: First woman faculty member of the College of Education (Fran Beck)
1965: First Black Tiger Band member (John Sibley Butler)
1957: First Black to graduate from the LSU School of Library and Information Sciences (Ollie H. Burns)
1964: First group (6) of Black students enroll at LSU
1964: First Black woman to attend LSU (Freya Anderson Rivers)
1964: First Black person to live in a LSU residence hall (Maxine Crump)
1967: First Black person to earn a Ph.D. from LSU (Pinkie Gordon Lane)
1969: First Black baseball player (Henry LeBoyd)
1971: First Black wrestler (Joe Lee Lott)
1971: First Black LSU professor (Julian T. White, Architecture)
1974: First Black LSU basketball player (Collis Temple, Jr.)
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 Pom (Elma Walker)
1973: First Black graduate of the School of Renewable Natural Resources [Masters in Fisheries] (Albert J. Doucette, Jr.)
1974: First Black quarterback for LSU (Carl Otis Trimble) [1974-76]
1974: First woman Boyd professor (Mary L. Good, Chemistry)
1975: First Black volleyball and women's basket player (Joanette Batiste Boutte)
1975: First Black cheerleaders (Ladeta Crowley, Herman Harris and David Verdun)
1976: First Black LSU woman tenured professor (Christine Minor)
1978: First woman to acquire an administrative-level position that was not based in the department of home economics [Associate Dean of the Graduate School] (Carolyn Hargrave)
1978: First Black softball players (Myra Burrell Brown and Paula Edwards)
1978: First Black woman tennis player (Kyle Copeland Muse)
1980: First Black Golden Girls (Paula Jackson and Saundra Mims)
1980: First Black woman gymnast (Debra Ross)
1989: First Black LSU dean of an academic college (Carolyn Collins)
1990: First Black woman president of the LSU Union Governing Board and Programming Council (Nicole Moliere)
1991: First Black crowned LSU Homecoming Queen (Reneé Boutte Myer)
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
1998: First woman dean of the College of Education (Barbara S. Fuhrman)
1998: International Programs is established
1999: The LSU Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) forms
1999: First Vice Provost of Campus Diversity is appointed (Gregory Vincent)
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 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)
2005: QBiEquity forms
2006: First Black person 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)