Annual program recognizes military service of LSU students, alumni

A morning reveille, barracks inspections at 7:30 a.m., and military uniforms sound more like boot camp than daily happenings at Louisiana’s flagship university, but these were the routine events at LSU for more than a century. The University’s military history remains evident today, more than 140 years after Superintendant and Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman presided over the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy, later nicknamed “The Ole War Skule.”

Though the school closed twice during the Civil War and later burned in 1869, it was relocated to Baton Rouge, where it continued to build its military tradition. In 1870, the institution adopted the name Louisiana State University, but still held onto its “Ole War Skule” nickname.

As a result of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, which required all students attending land-grant colleges, such as LSU, to receive military training, the University’s atmosphere teemed with military routine and ritual. Until 1969, when the Board of Supervisors voted to make participation in ROTC voluntary, more than 4,000 students gathered in full uniform each week for inspection, drill, and military ceremonies on the LSU Parade Ground.

When asked about the school’s military history, LSU alumnus and Director of Special Events and Student Life Development Randy Gurie replied, “Those of us associated with LSU today are fortunate beneficiaries of a nationally and internationally recognized research university that was founded as a military institution and proudly boasts of having sent more officers to active duty in World War II than any institution other than the military academies.”

Tumultuous times and global war interrupted campus life during World War II. The effect LSU’s graduates and former students had on the war is immeasurable as more than 5,000 officers served, 16 of whom had reached the rank of brigadier general. Those who sacrificed for their country are immortalized on the LSU War Memorial as are all other war casualties who once called LSU home.

Each year, in conjunction with Veteran’s Day, the Cadets of the Ole War Skule,a nonprofit organization actively dedicated to fostering LSU’s military heritage, hosts LSU Salutes, that honors LSU alumni and former students who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. The event is co-sponsored by the LSU Foundation and the Office of the Chancellor. The annual ceremony includes the induction of selected former cadets into the Hall of Honor and concludes with the LSU War Memorial Military Parade and Review on the Parade Ground.

Although much has changed at LSU since the days prior to 1969, the military influence on this campus cannot be ignored. Whether it is the ROTC program boasting a membership of 245 cadets or the solemnity of the American flag waving above the War Memorial, LSU’s military history is ever-present.

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Written by Jacob Landry | Mass Communications & Animal Science | Junior
University Relations
Last updated January 2003

Related Links:

Cadets of the Ole War Skule
LSU Salutes
ROTC, Air Force
ROTC, Army
ROTC, Naval

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