Louisiana State University

LSU traces its origin to land grants made by the U.S. government beginning in 1806 for the creation of a seminary of learning . In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy near Pineville, Louisiana, which opened January 2, 1860, with General William Tecumseh Sherman as its first superintendent . The institution closed during the Civil War and was destroyed by fire in 1869, reopening that same year in Baton Rouge, where it has remained . In 1870, the name was changed to Louisiana State University . The Louisiana State Agricultural & Mechanical College, established in 1874 in New Orleans, merged with LSU on January 2, 1877, forming the Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College . Construction of the present campus began in 1922, with formal dedication on April 30, 1926 . Under Governor Huey P. Long in the 1930s, LSU underwent massive expansion, growing from a small institution to the 11th largest state university in the nation . LSU admitted its first female students in 1906 and became fully coeducational in 1908 . African-American students were first admitted in the 1950s following court orders, with full integration mandated by federal courts in 1964 . LSU was named a sea-grant college in 1978 and a space-grant college in 2005 . The university continues to evolve as Louisiana's flagship institution, committed to generating knowledge and developing students for lifelong success