March 6, 2004
University of Louisiana
Monroe, Louisiana
Media Affairs Division
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A special meeting of the University of Louisiana Board of Regents has resulted in a split of of the University of Louisiana System and a loss of the system's flagship school.
Dr. James Cofer, president of the flagship UL campus in Monroe, petitioned the board during executive session Friday evening to release his university from the UL System. The Regents voted 8-7 to approve the request after an apparently lengthy discussion of the matter.
When returning from the closed-door executive session, members of the board and representatives of the involved schools exhibited a variety of emotions.
Regents Richard D'Aquin and Reggie Dupre, both of Lafayette, appeared ecstatic as Board Chairman Roland Toups announced that the Monroe campus would split from the UL System and take with it Louisiana Tech University and Grambling State University.
"Well, I think this settles it once and for all," said Dupre. "With Monroe leaving the system, there is only one University of Louisiana!"
"We've wanted to be top dog since 1984 and now we are," added D'Aquin. "We wish Monroe the best of luck and we're happy to take the flagship status from them."
According to last night's announcement, the Monroe campus will split from the system following the 2004-2005 school year. They will form a new university system independent of the UL System and the Louisiana State University System. The school and system will be known as North Louisiana University and will utilize satellite campuses in Ruston, Grambling and Little Rock, Ark.
"Let's be honest. No one has ever liked the ULM name and so we thought it was time not only shed ourselves of that moniker but to also set ourselves apart from the other schools in Louisiana," said Cofer. "We've made such positive strides since Mr. Swearingen left that I think we are ready to be the flagship of a system that we created."
Reaction from Louisiana Tech representatives has been mostly disappointing. Beginning in August 2005, Tech will be known as NLU-Ruston. Initially, the Ruston campus' athletic programs will remain in place, but will compete on the NCAA Division II level in the Gulf South Conference.
Because of Grambling's historical importance, Cofer said that they would not force a name change for that campus. Grambling will simply have to add the tag, "a member of the North Louisiana University System" to all official correspondence. Grambling's athletic programs will remain unchanged as the Tigers continue to play in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The most interesting aspect of the new university system is the proposed campus in Little Rock, Ark. A location for the campus, to be known as NLU-Little Rock, has not yet been identified. However UL officials feel that the campus will play an important part in the new system.
"Little Rock is an important market for us," said Cofer. "As you know, we plan to play some home football games there and we want to make our presence known in central Arkansas. Essentially, we think of Little Rock as Monroe North."
Funding issues for the Little Rock campus are still in the planning stages. Some members of the Louisiana legislature have expressed their concern about paying for a school located in a different state.
Cofer stated that a series of planning meetings to gather input from the community will be held weekly beginning March 23. The meetings, scheduled for each Tuesday, will begin at 6 p.m. in the Nursing Building auditorium.
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