Traditions and Alma Maters

During our visit to LSU I was struck that the playing and singing of the LSU alma mater is so central to campus traditions, far more than it was at Iowa.

At Iowa most students know their alma mater and are able to sing it when it is played before every football game (in contrast to Canada colleges where a large number of students can only sing their alma meter if given the words.) As with Iowa, at LSU the alma mater is also played before every sporting event. At LSU the alma mater is utilized more than at the beginning of the game. After the game, victory or lost, the team gathers before the band, and the team stands arm in arm to sing the alma mater as the band plays. Many of the students in the stands link arm in arm as they join the team in singing too.

Following the team’s departure as the band plays “Let us Break Bread Together” (a nice tradition I also like…we fought hard on the field but we depart as brothers/sisters in spirit), the band sets their instruments down, link arm in arm and sings their alma mater. This is the second time the team has sung the alma mater together on game day, the first being at the end of practice before exiting the IFF (see picture below).

The same takes place at other sporting events. Evie and I witnessed at the end of the woman’s volleyball game on Friday night. The little pep band playing for the team to sing the alma mater at the end of the game and the before putting their instruments away, the players put down their instruments, linked arms and quietly sung the alma meter.

The use the alma meter is wonderful tradition.

FYI - Josh is in the red shorts by the guy in the blue shirt.

LSU - 1

A week ago Josh settled in at Louisiana State University. Josh noted to us that the complete name is Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. It has the complex name as it is the merger of two universities into one.

The roots of LSU go back to the opening of the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana in 1860 with William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent. The dominant focus of the institution at that time was the military sciences. The Louisiana State Agricultural and Mechanical College that opened in 1874 merged with LSU (Seminary of Learning’s new name in 1870) in 1877 and its name was added to the end of the larger institution’s name.

Today LSU has over 2,000 acres. The heart of the campus spreads over 650 acres on the south end of Baton Rouge. The bulk of the acreage is given to supporting the agricultural program. Total enrollment across the main campus and a handful of small secondary campuses is just over 33,000 students.

The current campus was built in the 1920s with a large number of the buildings done in the Italian Renaissance style. From one corner of the campus to another are hundreds of large oaks that spread like umbrellas over roadways and walkways providing shade from the hot sun. The oaks are so cherished that a major set of scholarships known as the Golden Oak Scholarships are used to recruit quality students (this is the scholarship Josh received). A further indications of the importance the trees are held is that people and groups are able to endow the maintenance of these grand oaks.

LSU takes its football very seriously. Their stadium has a capacity of 91,600. Game tickets are hard to secure without having to go through ebay and paying a high price. The stadium is well known for its acoustics holding and magnifying the intensity of the crowd noise. It is not uncommon during a game for the noise from the crowd to go over 100 db. The noise has been recorded at 122 db. The crowd noise was so intense during a 1988 dying second comeback win that the roar, stomping and jumping of the crowd vibrated the ground causing a local seismograph to register it as a small earthquake.

In the next post I will share thoughts about the move-in process.

Below are pictures of the Memorial Tower which stands at the heart of the campus. The picture also shows the oaks.




The above picture shows how the oaks stread out over the sidewalks and the roads.

Above is the football stadium. In the top of the picture is LSU's Assembly Hall which houses basketball, wrestling and other indoor events. At the top left is their track stadium, a stadium that is much larger than Iowa's.

Above is the theatre and musical arts building which is currently under renovations. Renovations should be completed by the end of the current academic year. The music program is also housed in a second building which is to the right side of the picture. Josh will have several classes in this building and the Music building (picture in an upcoming post). Off to the left of the picture is an outdoor Greek Theatre that is nestled in a grove of oaks. On the other side of the Greek Theatre is Josh's residence (picture in an upcoming post).

Below is one of the classroom buildings done in the Italian Renaissance style.