It has often been said about the University of New Orleans, which is being honored this year for its 65th anniversary, that it gave the city a middle class. That’s true. Until September 1958, when the university originally known as LSUNO opened, New Orleans was the largest metropolitan area in the country without a state university. Tulane, Loyola, Dillard and Xavier were all private institutions. If someone from the city wanted a college education, they either had to be able to afford a private university or to go to an out of town state university, or they had to hope for a scholarship that would pay the bills. The population of the city was largely split between an established gentrified economic upper class and a substantial economic lower glass. An inexpensive state-supported, locally based college could provide opportunities for upward mobility.
UNO created the opportunity. Built on the site of what had been a naval air base, the university when it first opened operated mostly from leftover military property. The bookstore was in an old administration building. In the early days it was a popular destination for high school students; not so much in pursuit of textbooks on quantum physics, but just for the thrill of being able to say that they hung around in a college bookstore. A friend recalled that the drainage in the area was poor. During one visit to the store, it rained so hard that his automobile, borrowed from his parents, was floating.
Gradually new buildings started to appear, the first being the rectangular Liberal Arts Building and then eventually facilities for science, education and business. As they were planned, the buildings would be spread out and not put in a cluster. It has been said that the reason for that was because Homer Hitt, the first chancellor, knew better. Because the university was a state facility, he realized that by spreading the construction he could defend his land from being taken away for some other state pet project. So, there was never a “quadrangle” typical of older universities including LSU at which buildings face each other with an open space in the middle; instead, the emphasis was on defending against a possible land grab.
Earl Long, Huey’s brother, was governor at the time and he would not have been shy about playing politics with land. Yet, he was somehow committed to the university and was a big supporter of it. This gravelly-voiced, tough-talking, everyman from upstate Winnfield was not someone who would be identified with intellectual pursuits – and if he cared about the scientific method, it would be the science of politics. Nevertheless, the UNO library is deservedly named after him.
In the early planning stages, there was supposedly disagreement about the location of the university. Mayor Chep Morison’s administration favored placing the university downtown similar to several urban universities, such as DePaul in Chicago (slogan: “Chicago is our Classroom; the World is our Focus”). Gov. Long however was adamant about the airbase site. He probably had some political reason for his position, nevertheless the lakefront location offered more parking, had more land for expansion and a university would help develop that part of town. Long won. And he was right.
(One minor flaw though. With the buildings spread out there was no wall of protection from the winter winds whipping off the lake. I have maintained that the coldest winter spot in New Orleans has been the distance between the Liberal Arts and a neighboring building where the wind seems to be funneled through.)
When the university opened for classes in ’58 it distinguished itself for being the first racially integrated public university in the South.
Most students coming out of high school had gone to segregated schools all their lives; now they had a chance to know each other. (Southern University, one of the state’s historically Black colleges, opened on a new campus facility in 1959. Located not far from UNO in the Pontchartrain Park neighborhood, some of the early buildings had the same rectangular modern look as its neighbor.)
Like a college-age student wanting to establish its independence from its guardians, UNO followed the script by eventually hoping to drop the “LS” from it name. The students, and the city, wanted a name that did not make the college seem like an offspring of Baton Rouge and that gave some dignity to New Orleans by having a university with its name.
Once the name was changed, however, the university was still under the LSU system. That was made different in 2011 when the school was switched from LSU governance to the University of Louisiana system, which runs ULL, Southeastern, Nichols and most other other state universities. (The three Southern universities – New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shrevport – are a system in themselves.)
Some old timers say it was a mistake for UNO to leave the more established LSU system; others say UNO had to develop its own wings. (One minor change is that under the LSU system the top administrators were called “Chancellor.” The University of Louisiana uses instead the term “President.” While there have been seven previous leaders for the university, last week Dr. Kathy Johnson from Indiana, was selected to be the eighth CEO, making her the second UNO “President” following John Nickow, who accepted the university presidency at Florida Institute of Technology.)
Another name that is part of the story is “Privateer.” During the LSUNO days students could not think of themselves as being a sub den of Tigers; they needed their own colors and nickname. Many students and alumni still don’t understand that a Privateer was a type of pirate, although one commissioned by a country to plunder rival nations’ fleets. On good days the plunder could be lucrative. Though if a rival Navy ship was nearby, the results could be not so good. Oh, and the colors have always been Royal Blue and Silver, even though LSU’s purple and gold have more of a New Orleans touch. They were influenced by Mardi Gras.
On the playing field the melody from “The William Tell Overture” served as an unofficial fight song. Then in 1981 there was a student competition for a new sound. Since then, there has been an official fight song called, “Let’s Hear it for UNO” though it is seldom heard.
Nevertheless, there is much to cheer about. One of the university’s greatest contributions to the community has been the National World War II museum founded by former history faculty member Stephen Ambrose and originally overseen by CEO Nick Mueller who had been the University’s Vice Chancellor. It is considered to be one of the best museum’s in the country. Few other universities can make a similar claim.
On the occasion of this 65th anniversary, we of the emerged middle class owe much to a great university. The message is indeed a worthy one: “Let’s Hear it for UNO.”
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