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March 5, 2014
The trees at Nicholls State University are indicative of the growth the campus has experienced over the past 66 years.
Pictures from the campus’ humble beginnings in September 1948 showcase small oak trees dotting the landscape.
At that time, Francis T. Nicholls Junior College was housed in one building – Elkins Hall. The iconic building at the front of campus served as a one stop shop for books, eats and classes.
A bulletin found in Nicholls Archives documents enrollment fees at the junior college in 1948 as $17.50.
As a division of the Louisiana State University system, the first graduating class at Nicholls in 1950 received purple and gold diploma covers, said Clifton Theriot, an archivist at Ellender Memorial Library.
Nicholls made the transition from a junior college to a state college in 1956, Theriot said, and the Thibodaux campus became a state university in 1970.
David Boudreaux, executive director of the Nicholls Foundation, has served under every Nicholls president with the exception of Charles C. Elkins, the first president of the university.
He arrived at Nicholls in 1967 for a teaching position in the English department and spent the remainder of his career at Nicholls.
Having served as a professor, head of the Department of English, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and vice president for institutional advancement, Boudreaux has seen the history of Nicholls unfold in front of his eyes.
“At the time I arrived, we were still a state college,” Boudreaux said. “We were experiencing rapid growth and we had a very young but a very engaged faculty.”
He said students still came to campus on school buses from surrounding parishes.
As the nation progressed with integration laws, so did Nicholls, along with its advancement from a junior college to a university.
“The world was changing in the 1950s and Sixties and we were realizing the need for higher education,” Boudreaux said. “It was an exciting and interesting place to be.”
Larry Howell, executive vice president of Nicholls State University, said Nicholls has changed drastically since he arrived in 1969 to earn his bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Howell returned for a teaching position in 1975 and has remained at the university ever since.
“The biggest changes would be the quality of students, improved facilities and the quality of academic programs that continue to grow and improve,” Howell said. “We are now working closely to meet the needs of the region.”
Bruce Murphy, the newly appointed president of Nicholls State University, said he has been searching to lead a growing institution such as Nicholls for a while, and he is ready to take on the challenges facing higher education.
“We’ve had an environment where the state has been cutting back on the amount of money that has been given over the years and I don’t think that is going to turn around,” Murphy said. “We have to look elsewhere for money besides students and the state.”
Murphy plans to partner with more businesses and alumni to align the university’s needs with the region.
He said the majority of problems facing higher education are larger than one university, and he recognizes opportunities to partner with other institutions such as Fletcher Technical Community College or Delgado Community College based on their expertise to help move education forward.
“We can do anything, but we can’t do everything. We have to look at what is in our mission and how we can deliver that to the region and do a great job at it,” Murphy said, mentioning unique degree programs such as culinary arts and geomatics.
Nicholls top leader looks forward to meeting with more faculty and students on campus, and learning ways to expand the university’s potential.
In 2014, the oak trees on Nicholls campus are firmly rooted in the ground. As the university experienced years of growth and change, the oaks also grew to tell a story of how long the university been around for past, current and future Nicholls Colonels.
Nicholls State University’s C.C. Elkins Hall, the first building constructed for the then-junior college, when it was opened in 1948. Tuition at that time was $17.50.
