Dr. Raymond Folse Endowed Scholarship to Honor Wife Marlene LaBarre Folse & Benefit Nicholls Math Education Students

Dr. Raymond Folse and the family of Nicholls alumna Marlene LaBarre Folse contributed $20,000 to create an endowed scholarship in her name to benefit Nicholls students in math education. To qualify for the Marlene LaBarre Folse Memorial Endowed Scholarship, the recipient must be a junior math education major enrolled full-time at Nicholls State University with at least a 3.0 GPA.

One scholarship will be awarded per year for a total of $1,000 per academic year, with $500 disbursed in the fall and spring semester. This award may be increased as the endowment grows. The Nicholls State University Scholarship Committee will select the best-qualified applicants who meet the criteria described above.

Rachelle Folse Cope, Marlene and Raymond’s daughter, said, “This scholarship is such a wonderful legacy of my mom’s excellence in math education. It was an honor for me to grow up on this campus watching my dad impact the lives of so many students, and subsequently go on to receive my undergraduate degree here. Nicholls always felt like home. My parents met here and both received degrees from Nicholls, so it’s safe to say this is where it all began for my sister and me. Education has always been the thread woven into our family’s lives, and anything we can do to inspire the next generation of math educators while honoring my mom is a full-circle moment for our family.”

Marlene’s family described her as an exquisite perfectionist in everything she did. She was an outstanding student, earning valedictorian of her high school graduating class, being the highest-rated graduate in her class at Nicholls, and being named a member of the Nicholls Hall of Fame, an uppermost honor bestowed on a Nicholls graduate. After earning her undergraduate degree in math-science education from Nicholls, she began teaching mathematics at Assumption High School in Napoleonville. Marlene was a highly-respected faculty member during her teaching career.

For 10 years, Marlene served as head of the Environment Committee at St. Anne’s Church and was well-remembered for her magnificent decorations at St. Anne’s for Christmas and Easter. She also successfully developed and implemented a plan for the church to become a member of the National Register of Historic Places, along with registering her own “LaBarre House” in Napoleonville – one of three homes in the parish registered on the National Register of Historic Places.

Marlene met her husband of 59 years, Dr. Raymond O. Folse, in 1958 while they were students at Nicholls. Raymond was a student lab assistant in the Chemistry Department, and Marlene was in one of the classes where he directed the students. One day, Raymond had the task of teaching the students how to cut glass tubing.  In Marlene’s perfectionist nature, she told  Raymond that he was not instructing them the way the book said to do it. He recalls asking her, “How many pieces of glass has the book cut today?” Later, as a senior, Raymond recalls walking down Elkins Hall and in need of a date to his senior dance, saw Marlene, asked her and the rest is history.

Dr. Raymond Folse, professor emeritus of both the computer science and computer information systems departments, taught at Nicholls for 39 years and was pivotal in the creation of Nicholls’ computer science program. Dr. Folse attended a three-week intense course at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with other educators from around the country. He returned to Nicholls with a motivation to bring one of these courses to campus and began teaching his Math 115 course with only about 12 students in his class. This course was the spark that ended up leading to the creation of the program.

The Nicholls Foundation, an independent 501(c)3 corporation, supports the mission of Nicholls State University by seeking gifts and grants and manages those funds along with other assets to support Nicholls through endowed chairs, professorships, scholarships and other enhancement efforts. To learn more, visit nichollsfoundation.org/.

To apply for scholarships at Nicholls, visit www.nicholls.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/.