Centenary College of Louisiana, established in 1825 in Jackson, Louisiana, is the oldest liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River. Since 1908, it has been located in Shreveport. Related to the United Methodist Church, Centenary has a cosmopolitan and ecumenical outlook that encourages intellectual freedom in both the faculty and student body.

 

Centenary College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The Department of Chemistry is approved by the American Chemical Society, and the School of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. The College is a member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church, the College Board, the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges, the Conference of Louisiana Colleges and Universities, and its alumnae are approved for membership by the American Association of University Women. In addition, the College maintains membership in the Associated Colleges of the South and a variety of other organizations related to higher education. There is on campus a chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

 

Centenary offers four-year programs leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science, as well as two graduate degrees: the Master of Business Administration and the Master of Arts in Teaching. In addition to Centenary's traditional pre-professional programs in dentistry, medicine, law, allied health, and museum management, the College is planning for additional career-oriented programs. Three-two programs in engineering are in place with a variety of schools. An international student exchange is maintained with universities in Denmark, France, Germany, and Hong Kong. The College maintains internationally-based consortial relationships with the British Council which allows students to study at universities in Northern Ireland and with MISEN that allows students to study in Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and India.

 

The College has an unusually beautiful campus on which landscaping follows the contours of the rolling land. The main academic buildings include Jackson Hall, Mickle Hall of Science, Magale Library, the Hurley School of Music, Marjorie Lyons Playhouse, Turner Art Center, the Smith Building, the Gold Dome, the Fitness Center, Centenary Square, the Anderson Choral Building, and the Meadows Museum of Art. In addition to a broad array of visual art works, the museum houses the unique Despujols collection of 360 works depicting the culture of French Indochina in the 1930s. It and the Turner Art Center, located across from the Meadows Museum, present a variety of traveling exhibits to both the public and the campus community. The Anderson Choral Building and the Fitness Center are the newest buildings on the campus. The Student Union Building includes a bookstore, facilities for student entertainment, offices for student government and student media, and a faculty lounge.

 

To foster and sustain a community characterized by intellectual rigor, close involvement of faculty and students, and riches of cultural diversity, Centenary is moving towards a full-time undergraduate enrollment of 1000. Although the majority of its students come from Louisiana and Texas, in recent years 35 states and several foreign countries have been represented in the student body.

 

The faculty teaches small classes, and close student-teacher relationships are the norm. The full-time faculty numbers approximately 60, of whom more than 90% hold earned doctorates; and their teaching is supplemented by that of a small part-time staff, many of whom come from the business and professional world and thereby enrich their teaching with examples of their practical experiences in the world of work. The Centenary faculty is close-knit, student-oriented, and professionally active.

 

Centenary seeks capable students, regardless of their economic status, and it administers over $20 million in scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study funds to 99% of its full-time students. After graduation, a large proportion of Centenary alumni attend graduate and professional schools by winning institutional fellowships, teaching and research assistantships, and prestigious national awards.

 

Centenary is located in Northwest Louisiana, in an area known as the Ark-La-Tex. Already the hub of this tri-state region in agriculture, trade, and industry, the Shreveport area is also a major regional medical and biomedical research center, with the LSU Medical School, Biomedical Research Institute, and a large number of hospitals and other health-related facilities that serve the region's population. Centenary has contributed heavily to the ranks of the professions in the Ark-La-Tex, particularly in medicine, the ministry, teaching, business, law, and geology-related activities. The faculty has long been an intellectual, cultural, professional, and religious resource for the community; and lectures, art exhibits, concerts by its famous choir, and a wide range of theatre productions make the College a focal point for the culture of the community.