CENTENARY COLLEGE: 200 YEARS

A landmark Shreveport institution that has surely outlasted everyone reading this article is turning 200 years old this year… Centenary College of Louisiana, Louisiana’s only Tier One liberal arts college (as per U.S. News and World Reports) and the oldest liberal arts college in the country west of the Mississippi River. You might say it’s the granddaddy of all colleges in Louisiana too, since it is also the oldest college in Louisiana, period. The facility on Kings Highway is not the first building Centenary has called home; the first site of what is today Centenary College was in Jackson, Louisiana (in the southeastern part of the state) and was known as the College of Louisiana and was created by a charter from the Louisiana State Legislature in 1825. The name “Centenary” came from a Centenary College in Clinton, Mississippi (later relocated to Brandon Springs, Mississippi) that was affiliated with the Mississippi Conference of the southern division of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which established that college. In 1845, due to the state legislature halting funding for the College of Louisiana in Jackson, this Centenary College purchased the College of Louisiana, relocating to Jackson and renaming the college Centenary College of Louisiana. The college shut down during the Civil War, as noted by the board of trustees’ last minutes entry in 1861 stating “Students have all gone to War – College suspended, and God Help the Right!”

After the war, Centenary fell on hard times financially and in 1906, the Methodist Episcopal Church accepted an offer from the Shreveport Progressive League to relocate the college to Shreveport, eventually opening the college in 1908, where it remains today. Meanwhile, Centenary’s Jackson facility, which served as a hub for Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War and as a tuberculosis hospital in the 1920s, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 1979 and remains open for guided tours to this day, operated by the Louisiana Office of State Parks.

Two hundred years is a long time. This age makes Centenary (not to be confused with Centenary University in New Jersey) the distinction of being the 43rd oldest college in the country. When Centenary opened, James Monroe was ending his term as President of the United States…and he was the fifth president and last of the Founding Fathers to be president, only two after Thomas Jefferson (and he was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, because the Democratic nor Republican Party we know today existed yet). Back then, the White House was not even called the White House; it was called a variation of the “President’s Palace” or “Executive Mansion” until being officially named the “White House,” 76 years later, in 1901. Tuition was $50 a year, with room, board and firewood being an additional $7; today it is about $50k a year after room and board (as a private college, Centenary gets no public funding, thus the higher tuition rates, and over 95% of Centenary students using some form of financial aid), roughly $15k a year more than LSU for comparison. Starting in 1895, women were allowed to enroll as a desperate effort to boost enrollment, which was 25 years before they were given the right to vote in this country. There were only 24 states in the country. Perhaps most shocking though, is that Shreveport was not even a city yet in 1825; that wouldn’t happen for another 46 years.

“Sometimes people say Centenary is a hidden gem, and we try not to be hidden. This is a good opportunity to get a little less hidden. Raising the profile of the college is going to be really cool,” he adds. Centenary has also been doing small things like wrapping city buses and billboards with the Bicentennial campaign to raise awareness. For a complete list of Bicentennial-themed events, you can visit www.centenary200.com. Surely the brightest and most significant change going into Centenary’s third century though, launched in a bid to boost enrollment and public awareness of the college, football at Centenary is back, after being an on-again off-again affair. In 1898, the Board of Trustees had resolved to not only not play football, but any athletics, after LSU quite literally crushed a makeshift Centenary team from the old campus in Baton Rouge, defeating them by a large margin and hospitalizing two players. But slowly, athletics found its way into the new Shreveport campus. Finally, in 1922, Centenary was back in the football business. These were considered the “Glory Years,” from 1922-1942, and included undefeated seasons in 1927 and 1932. Centenary accomplished miraculous feats for a college of its size, like beating Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and in a true David-and- Goliath story and humorous comeuppance, even the venerable LSU that had once crushed their entire athletic department, in 1932 (by a score of 6-0, and the “Gents” would also tie LSU 0-0 in Baton Rouge the following year). An Associated Press writer wrote of that 1932 undefeated team that the team had earned the title “Wonder Team of the South… it’s a little team that never gives up.” These years were short-lived, however; the war ended the program temporarily, and it never got back on its feet. Prior to 2023, the very last game Centenary played was a bruising 51-14 loss to Louisiana Tech during their 1947 season. Now, Centenary has hired former Evangel and LSU standout Byron Dawson (who played under Nick Saban) to be its head coach, and they are competing at the NCAA Division III level. Prior to dropping to the Division III level in 2009 from Division I, Centenary had the proud distinction of being the smallest Division I school in the country. 

So, what about the next 200 years? Coining the plan “Bold at the Bicentennial,” and currently in their second year of implementation according to Dr. Soul, Centenary has a fourpronged approach moving forward. The four themes are: 1) Provide a Transformative Student Experience, 2) Grow Enrollment, 3) Be Shreveport-Bossier’s College, and 4) Be a Great Place to Work. Fundraising is ongoing for the vision, which currently has a goal of $50 million, with around $40 million already raised or pledged. The development projects include improving Mickle Hall (the sciences building), the football program and updates to the Hurley School of Music. Centenary will be looking to further capitalize and improve upon their well-known strengths, such as their pre-med program that has an acceptance rate of 94% and the ever-popular Centenary in Paris study abroad program, where students spend about a week in Paris. “We’re trying to expand opportunities for people that are not just interested in going to medical school but may be interested in other kinds of medical fields. We have articulation agreements with both Baylor and Northwestern to their nursing programs.