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Three Generations and More than Twenty LSU Tigers: The Thompsons Bleed Purple and Gold
Jimmie Davis was entering the Governor's office, Edwin Edwards was serving his first term, and Mike Foster gave way to Kathleen Blanco while three generations of the Thompson family, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, attended LSU. "I grew up in Baton Rouge, and my older sister and brothers came here. I don't think we thought of going anywhere else. We grew up going to football games and being a part of the excitement," explained Bruce Thompson, a second-generation LSU graduate and father of five Tigers and six other "Tigers-at-heart." Bruce followed in the footsteps of his father Ben F. Thompson who graduated from the LSU School of Medicine in 1944. Why have more than 20 members of the Thompson family attended to LSU? As one LSU T-shirt reads, the University is a "place that can get in your blood and stay forever." Of course, if you ask any member of the Thompson family, coming to LSU was no decision at all. The Start of Something Big When Bruce attended an exchange between his fraternity, Sigma Chi, and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, he met Cathy Barry, who would later become his wife and the mother of their 11 children. "We went to a couple of games together," explained Bruce, but the relationship was not serious at first. Bruce left the Baton Rouge campus early to go directly to the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, where he graduated in 1978. Cathy, an interior design major, remained in Baton Rouge, but eventually transferred to a college in New Orleans. "At that time we were just friends and saw each other occassionally, but things became serious a little later," he continued. But their date on sorority row "was definitely the beginning," according to Cathy. Then and Now
The big landmarks like Tiger Stadium, the Student Union, and Middleton Library remind Bruce and Cathy of the campus during the 1970s. According to the couple, the campus has not changed drastically. "We used to all congregate in front of the library, and people still do that," explained Bruce. Cathy explained that although LSU football games are still the focus of campus life during the fall semester, the way in which students attend the games has changed. "From the minute you arrived on campus, someone was always lining you up for a date to go to the game. After being here for two weeks, you had dates for the entire season. Now our children go together or with friends." Not only has the priority on dates changed, but entering through the students' gate into Death Valley is not the same as it was in the 1970s. "We just showed up with an ID, but now you have to get tickets and sometimes you can't even get tickets," explained Cathy. Another big change for LSU students is registration for classes. When Bruce and Cathy were undergraduates, LSU students registered using class cards. "You would stand in line and pull a card. And it seemed as if there were 50,000 people, registering with you. You might stand in line, only to find out that you couldn't take that class. So then you had to get in another line to switch to another class. It was a nightmare," Cathy remembered. LSU students began using Reggie, an automated telephone system, to schedule classes over the telephone in 1989 and began using PAWS to schedule online in the late 1990s. According to Cathy, when she speaks to her children, they nonchalantly mention scheduling. "Oh yeah, mom, I'm registering as we speak." The Big Guys and the Little Guys Six of the Thompsons' 11 children have reached college age—C.C., Owen, Tricia, Charlie, Anna, and Jimbo. The four oldest are known as "The Big Guys" while Anna and Jimbo are known as "The Little Guys." When it came time for The Big Guys and The Little Guys to choose a college, they echoed their father's sentiments. "My parents came here, and we've just always said that we were going to LSU since we were in kindergarten," explained C.C. As the oldest of 11 children, C.C. was concerned with the financial aspects of a college education. LSU embodied all that she was looking for—a flagship university that would give her a great education at an affordable price. With C.C. and Owen, the second child, in Baton Rouge, for child number three, Tricia, the decision was easy. "I didn't even apply anywhere else. When it came down to it, my mom and dad came here, and I had family here," she explained. One year later, Charlie came to campus and played as a walk-on with the Tiger basketball team, later earning a scholarship. Three years later Anna, the first of The Little Guys, chose LSU as well. "That was always the plan—to go to LSU. I didn't even think twice about it," explained Anna. Jimbo will begin his freshman year at LSU in the fall of 2004.
"They did not seem interested in going somewhere else," Cathy said. Bruce explained that the family tried to make at least one football game a year. "We would listen to the games or watch them on TV if we couldn't come, and they heard us talk about LSU. They just all seemed to want to come here, even though we gave them the opportunity to go somewhere else," he said. A View from Tiger Stadium Bruce's parents live in Baton Rouge, and for the children, trips to visit their grandparents became associated with LSU. "Granddaddy would take us to feed the ducks and drive around the LSU lakes," remembered Tricia. Charlie remembers going to watch the Tigers on Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium. "We would get to the game early to see Mike, watch the band march down the hill, and take it all in." Anna was very active in high school, and volleyball and basketball usually filled most of her weekends, but one weekend every fall she was able to come to Baton Rouge and attend a game in Tiger Stadium with "The Big Guys". "They would bring me to the game, and we would sit in the student section, which is always interesting. Then I would go out with them after the game to Serrano's or wherever. That gave me something to look forward to when I got here. To be a part of The Big Guys was a big deal,” explained Anna. After graduation, Tricia found that it was not so easy for her to watch the games in Tiger Stadium. In August 2003, she moved to Boston to attend Boston College for graduate school. After attending college with her siblings, being far from her family was difficult. "I grew so much in so many different ways, but I missed my family so much.” Not only was Tricia far from her 10 siblings and parents, but the Tigers were also calling her. "I became so proud of LSU, Louisiana, and the south. I watched all of the LSU games on TV, and I hated it if the games were not televised. I would check on the Internet or call my friends who were at the games to get updates. It all just became more meaningful to me.” Charlie's Angels
Charlie may be the fourth child, but at LSU, he is number 10. As a point guard for the LSU men's basketball team during his time at LSU, Charlie brought the Thompson family out of Tiger Stadium and into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Some of his brother Owen's favorite memories during his time at LSU are of watching Charlie play. As often as possible, Bruce and Cathy brought their younger children, including the three youngest girls, known as "Charlie's Angels,” to the campus, and the entire family would gather to watch Charlie's games. Growing up, C.C.'s siblings always had to deal with teachers asking, "Are you C.C.'s sister?” Now she jokes that she is just Charlie Thompson's sister. Charlie's favorite basketball memories include LSU's triumphant victory over number-one-ranked Arizona during the 2002-03 season. "You don't get that opportunity very often,” he explained. Charlie also will forever remember his senior night, and not just because he happened to be the only senior on the team, making it seem like "Charlie Thompson night.” He was recognized before the game with his family standing beside him, and the group received a standing ovation from the fans in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The next day in Charlie's organic chemistry class, Vetter Alumni Professor George Stanely ended his lecture early. "Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” Stanley yelled out. "I just want to take a minute to recognize one of our students.” At this point Charlie said he had a pretty good idea what was coming next. Stanley wanted to honor Charlie for his efforts on and off the court. And Stanley is not the only one. "I want everybody to print this,” basketball coach John Brady said in the post-game press conference following Charlie's last home game. "Charlie Thompson is one of the most outstanding young people I have ever been around. There's not a selfish bone in his body.” Bleeding Purple and Gold The Thompson family enjoys their traditions. Three generations have attended LSU. Cathy and three of her daughters were members of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Bruce and his son Owen were members of Sigma Chi fraternity. And when Charlie enters the LSU School of Medicine in the fall, he will follow the footsteps of his father and grandfather. As for the five younger Thompsons, Bruce and Cathy are fairly sure they'll continue at least one of the traditions. "They all have LSU paraphernalia from head to toe,” explained Cathy. Bruce said that he was teasing the youngest, who is seven. "I said, ‘It would be great to go to Notre Dame.' And he said, ‘Naw. I don't think so. I think I want to go to LSU.' He's only seven, but it starts pretty early in this family.” Contact Erin Fink or Kristine Calongne
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