Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 12/4/00
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   1

Editors: Photo accompanies release
SLU PUBLISHES 75TH ANNIVERSARY BOOK
     HAMMOND -- When Southeastern Louisiana University began planning for its
year-long 75th anniversary celebration in the summer of 1998, one of the first projects the
celebration steering committee put on its wish list was a history book.
     The committee's wish will come true when the university publishes "We Hail Thee Now
Southeastern," an approximately 150-page, 16-chapter history of the university illustrated by
some 200 photos.
     "We Hail Thee Now Southeastern" will be available in early 2001, but can be ordered
now through the Southeastern Development Foundation or at the SLU Bookstore and Bayou
Booksellers in downtown Hammond. A special online order form can also be found on the
Southeastern web site at www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/75book. Gift cards for holiday giving are
available.
     Written by former English professor Ron Harris, the book takes its title from the first line
of Southeastern's alma mater. Harris, who has since moved to Wisconsin along with his wife and
fellow English professor Marjorie Rhine, undertook the ambitious task as a volunteer. To
accomplish the job, he interviewed veteran Southeastern faculty, scoured folders of old news
releases and other resources in the Public Information Office and mined newspaper clippings,
self-studies, unpublished memoirs, dissertations and other documents housed in the university's
Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies.
     The large format, soft-cover book will sell for $20, with an additional $3 added for
postage and handling, if mailing is requested. "We originally wanted to sell it for $19.25 in honor
of the university's founding date, but we decided that a round figure would be more practical," C.
Howard Nichols, co-chair of the 75th Anniversary Committee, said with a smile.
     Nichols, a retired member of the history faculty and authority on Southeastern and
Louisiana history, was one of the early advocates of a commemorative history and unofficially
served as Harris' guide and consultant. When Harris turned in the completed manuscript in 
                             (MORE)
75TH ANNIVERSARY BOOK   Add One
August, Nichols and Judge Leon Ford III, another expert on the university and local history, 
poured over the copy to root out any inaccuracies or inconsistencies. Vic Couvillion, retired
director of Student Publications, also helped with editing and contributed additional information
to a section on Southeastern athletics.
     The book, said Nichols, "provides an interesting and entertaining look at seven and a half 
decades of institutional history. It seeks to inform the reader and to trigger personal recollections 
of Southeastern. It is a delightful souvenir."
     Baton Rouge freelance graphic designer Suzanne Coffee, a former member of the Public
Information Office staff, designed the book, which features some 200 photographs culled from
yearbooks, Public Information Office files, the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies archives
and personal collections.
     Harris said he was aided by several "short" histories of Southeastern, including two
history-related issues of "Southeastern Magazine," a 1962 self-study compiled by the late John T.
Purser, a 50th anniversary souvenir booklet written by Couvillion, and an account of the
university's first years by Vera Joiner published in university publication called "The Pick of the
Patch." Harris was fascinated to find an original of Joiner's manuscript in the university archives
hand-corrected by the founder of Southeastern's English Department, D Vickers.
     Anecdotes about Vickers and other legendary members of the Southeastern family, such
as history professor Martina Ellis Buck, Registrar Ruth Carter, Presidents J. Gladney Tinsley and
Luther Dyson, enliven Harris' copy. 
     "Most students remember Mrs. Buck as the most demanding United States history teacher
they ever had," Harris wrote. "She is reported to have told one young man, who inquired why he
had received an F, 'Because it is the lowest grade I give.'"
     Harris said he also was struck by how the struggle for funding has been a continuing
theme in Southeastern's history.
     "In 1938, President J. Leon Clark sent an open letter to all members of the state
legislature expressing Southeastern's dire needs titled 'The Macedonian Call,'" Harris said. "It
said that Southeastern from its inception had been the state's step-child among the educational
institutions of higher learning. He was not the first or the last Southeastern president to step 
forward and eloquently plead Southeastern's case."
     Proceeds from the book's sale will go to the Southeastern Development Foundation.
For additional information, call 504-549-2341 or 504-549-3770.
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu./NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsf00.htm