LSU was founded in 1860 as the state military academy and its first President was William Tecumseh Sherman. When the Wahr broke out in 1861, the faculty and students resigned and joined the confederacy. Sherman resigned and joined the union where he became the second-ranking Union general of the war and marched through Georgia, breaking the back of the Confederacy. To this day, there remains no hall, street, monument or statue on campus to commemorate its first President.
Often known as "The Ole War School", LSU remained a military school until 1969 when mandatory ROTC was dropped. LSU provided more officers to WWII than any college except for West Point and Texas A & M.
The mascot is the Tiger. It was named after the 1st Louisiana Battalion called the Louisiana Tigers by the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia. All Louisiana troops in Lees army became known as Louisiana Tigers.
The school colors of Purple and Gold resulted from the first game being played against Tulane. There was plenty of bunting and decorations from Mardi Gras whose traditional colors are purple gold, green, and white. LSU took purple and gold, Tulane took green and white.
The "new" campus was built in 1924 south of Baton Rouge and the first building constructed was Tiger Stadium. LSU has a comic tiger mascot in a fuzzy suit, like most schools, but the real mascot is Mike VI, the live Bengal Tiger who lives in a million-dollar habitat between Tiger Stadium and Maravich Center. He attends games in his own trailer, parked right outside the visitors dressing room.
LSU's best-known graduates are Hubert Humphrey, Joann Woodward, Shaquille O'Neal, General Claire Chenault, and political pundits James Carville and Donna Bazile.
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