The oldest higher education institution in Louisiana is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. Centenary College in Shreveport was founded in 1825 as the College of Louisiana in the village of Jackson, north of Baton Rouge, before moving to Shreveport in 1908. Centenary leaders point out that of the more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States, Centenary College is the 43rd oldest.
It was the late Dr. Lee Morgan, Centenary’s former historian and emeritus professor of English, who researched and documented the school’s long history for the college’s 175th Anniversary Celebration in 1999-2000.
In 1845 the school merged with Centenary College, a Mississippi Methodist Institution. Morgan said the College closed during the Civil War, with six of the 10 seniors killed in battle or died of wounds and illness. Centenary, he said, “was used as a hospital and was captured and recaptured by Union and Confederate forces. The Jackson campus itself was the scene of more than one battle.” The property is known today as the Centenary State Historic Site.
Dr. Morgan explained Centenary was and remains a liberal arts institution, as its early curriculum concentrated on studies such as language, philosophy, history, literature, and abstract science. Centenary President Dr. Christopher Holoman says the school takes a unique approach to its liberal arts curriculum. “We prepare students for such a wide range of careers. You’re not slotted into a narrow set of skills that may be obsolete, instead you’re given a toolbox of techniques and skills and critical thinking, and so forth that you can use in a variety of situations.”
As Matt Bloom with the Louisiana Radio Network reports, a few years ago, the school started the Centenary Affordability Pledge, in which the school does not charge any additional tuition for students who carry full Pell scholarship and a full TOPS scholarship. In August, the school announced that more than 700 students returned to class on Monday August 26, the highest enrollment since 2011.
Dr. Holloman says in recent years, the school has rolled out new majors, such as kinesiology and sports management. Centenary College will be hosting bicentennial celebrations throughout the year. For more information on upcoming events just go to Centenary200.com/events.
