Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University
City:	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Type:	Public
Sports:	baseball, basketball, football, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball[1]
Colors:	purple, yellow, white
Mascot:	Mike the Tiger
Website:	http://www.lsu.edu/

Louisiana State University (officially, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, popularly known as LSU) is a Louisiana public university founded in 1853 (under the name Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy) and officially opened in 1860.^[2] During the civil war the school was forced to close, it was closed down from June 30, 1861 till April 1. Shortly after it reopened it was required to shut down again on April 23, 1863. It again reopened its doors on October 2, 1865, but due to a fire was burned down October 15, 1869. The campus was then relocated to Baton Rouge, and reopened November 1, 1869. The university then received its name Louisiana State University in 1870.

During the 1930s, LSU president James Monroe Smith, an appointee of Democratic Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr., was caught up in the scandal known as the Louisiana Hayride of 1939.

General Troy H. Middleton, a decorated World War I]] and World War II officer, and commander of the LSU corps of cadets, was the LSU president from 1951 to 1962. The Middleton Library is named for him. More than four decades after his death, a letter was revealed that showed Middleton had segregationst attitudes during the civil rights movement. As a result, the LSU Board of Supervisors, urged on by Democratic GovernorJohn Bel Edwards, is expected in 2020 to bow to political correctness and rename the library and remove General Middleton's bust from campus.^[3]

The main campus for the university is sprawled over 650 acres of land off the banks of the Mississippi River, total the university has 2,000 acres of land near Baton Rouge. The university is called home to 33,587 students, and over 1,308 staff members. It was ranked a third tier school in US News's 2008 "National Universities: Top Schools" list.^[4]

Athletics[edit]

LSU is a member of the Southeastern Conference.

LSU's football program has a 19-18-1 record in bowl games with four national championships.^[5]

Its baseball team is a historical NCAA powerhouse, having won six College World Series titles and regularly leads the NCAA in attendance.

Although its basketball team has no titles it has two well-known players: Pete Maravich and Shaquille O'Neal.

It is the only school with the mascot name "tiger" that houses a live tiger on campus. Mike the Tiger has an enclosure centrally located near the athletic facilities so fans can see him. Despite repeated calls from PETA to discontinue the practice, LSU has resisted, saying that tigers in captivity have nearly twice the lifespan as those in the wild, and that tiger habitats are needed to preserve the species. However, LSU has discontinued the practice of placing Mike in a wheeled cage and taking him into Tiger Stadium, or to away games (they have, instead, a costumed mascot – also named Mike – who cheers the fans at games).

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