University of Louisiana System

The University of Louisiana System is a public university system in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It enrolls more students than the other three public university systems in the state; as of October 2023, it reported more than 91,500 students throughout its institutions. Its headquarters are in the Claiborne Building in Baton Rouge.

WWW ulsystem.edu

History

The UL System began operating under its new name in 1996, and was founded in 1975 as the Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities.

Member institutions

The University of Louisiana System has nine member institutions:

Grambling State University main campus
Louisiana Tech University main campus
McNeese State University main campus
Nicholls State University main campus
Northwestern State University main campus
Southeastern Louisiana University main campus
University of Louisiana at Lafayette main campus
University of Louisiana at Monroe main campus
University of New Orleans main campus

Administration

The system's president and CEO is Rick Gallot, replacing Jim Henderson in October 2023. Henderson was hired as president in 2016.

Past presidents

William "Bill" Junkin
J. Larry Crain
David C. McCormick
James A. Caillier
Carroll Falcon
Bobby Jindal
Sally Clausen
Randy Moffett
Sandra Woodley.
Dan Reneau
Jim Henderson

Crain, Clausen, and Moffett had previously been president of Southeastern Louisiana University. Jindal, a future Louisiana governor, was the youngest president of the University of Louisiana system at age 28.

Naming conventions

In 1999, the University of Southwestern Louisiana became the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Northeast Louisiana University became the University of Louisiana at Monroe, based on legislation passed in 1995. ULS policy requires both school's abbreviated names to include the municipality, precluding the use of "UL" alone. In 2013, then-president Woodley stated that the policy does not address stand-alone usage of "Louisiana" including within athletics, where usage of particular monikers and acronyms became a point of contention. Soon after, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's athletic moniker became the "Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns."