Louisiana Polytechnic Institute - Lagniappe Yearbook (Ruston, LA)

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SEprKe L.AC3JNTIAPPE 19Z51 tleman. He had been a member of the faculty for four years, and during that time we bad come to know him and to love him, and to value him for his true worth. Only six months later our beloved Mr. Thatcher was called to his reward. Twenty-four years of the life of Prof. George 0. Thatcher was given to this institution. He touched the lives of thou¬ sands of Louisiana’s sons and daughters, and he left them better because of his teaching and his influence. He was the noble example of preen sion, of exactness, and of justness. As a memorial to him the Alumni Association maintains a scholarship known as the Thatcher Memorial Loan Fund. While the school has had its sorrows its work has gone on. It has remained true of purpose and large of soul. Last year marked the twenty-seventh annual Commencement with the first graduate of the second generation, and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Alumni As¬ sociation. At that time the Alumni presented an historical pageant of the institution, and entertained Col. A. T. Prescott, the first president, as their guest. The Alumni of the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute are proud of the place it occupies in the educational affairs of our State. They feel that they owe a standing moral obligation to the school that has fitted them for useful citizenship. The Alumni Association is an expression of that obligation. It is an expression of faith in their beloved Alma Mater. It is through the activities of this organization they endeavor to uphold her standards and to protect her honor, and to carry on for her welfare and her glory through faithful and devoted service. AN ALUMNUS. Page eighteen

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fTKe LAG NIAPPE • 1925 almost entirely of boys from this institution, and both did service over¬ seas. They were mobilized at Camp Beauregard and afterwards became a part of the 156th Regiment. Only a few weeks later Prof. R. J. Smith and Prof. R. C. Oliver volunteered for service in the Y.M.C.A. The school was represented in every branch of the service and in every de¬ partment of the Red Cross. She has every reason to be proud of the part her sons and daughters played in the world conflict. With the fall of 1920 a plan of development of a greater institution was inaugurated, and evidence was given that we could be as heroic in peace as we had been brave in war. The dreams of the founders of this institution had by this time developed into realities. The depart¬ ments had been enlarged and strengthened, and the School of Education had been organized. New buildings had been added from time to time. In spite of poverty from lack of funds, the institution had been blest with wise, conscientious, and conservative leadership—a leadership that despaired not when it seemed there was no hope for the dawn of a brighter financial day. It had developed into a real college with the same entrance requirements as other colleges, and corresponding four- year courses leading to baccalaureate degrees. While it had grown to these proportions it was still handicapped by the name “Industrial,” and this great obstacle to its development was removed when the Constitutional Convention of 1921 changed the name to the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute. The first graduate of this great institution was Mr. Cecil Ready, who took his degree from the School of Engineering in June, 1921. The Constitutional Convention of 1921 was of especial importance to the school, not only because it gave to it the proper name, but also be¬ cause the attainment of this measure was brought about through the efforts of the graduates and former students of the school, who were members of that Convention. The resolution proposing the change of name was made by Hon. E. L. Walker, of the Class of 1913. Mr. Howard B. Warren, of the Class of 1899, was an outstanding figure in that Con¬ vention. The others, too numerous to mention, served faithfully in the cause of their Alma Mater, and Louisiana Tech can well be proud of her sons, who had a part in this important event in our State’s history. During the session 1922-1923, the school again heard the voice of Sorrow, in the death of Prof. J. G. Ray. He was a noble Christian gen- LPII Page seventeen

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MISS HELEN GRAHAM, B. S., Dean, School of Home Economics. MISS GLADA B. WALKER, B. A., Dean, School of Art. HARRY HOWARD, B. I., Dean, School of Commerce. Secretary-Treasurer and Manager Book Store. FI. D. WILSON, B. S., Dean, School of Music. OTHER DEANS FRANK BOGARD, B. S., M. E., Dean, School of Engineering. R. C. SOMMERV1LLE, A. B., A. M., Ph. D., Dean, School of Education. Page nineteen 3 7 1 1