Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a
public university
A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...
in
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...
, United States. Lamar has been a member of the
Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former
Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2024, the university enrollment was 17,850 students.
Lamar University is
accredited by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees ap ...
and named for
Mirabeau B. Lamar, the second president of the Republic of Texas.
The university campus has an urban setting and the core campus of LU is 299-plus acres. LU is organized into five undergraduate colleges, one graduate college and an honors college.
History
Louis R. Pietzsch founded a public junior college in Beaumont's South Park area at the direction of the South Park School District.
Lamar University started on September 17, 1923 as South Park Junior College, operating on the unused third floor of the new
South Park High School. Pietzsch acted as the first president of the college. South Park Junior College became the first college in Texas to receive
Texas Department of Education approval during the first year of operation and became fully accredited in 1925.
In 1932, the college administration, recognizing that the junior college was serving the region rather than just the community, renamed it Lamar College. It was named for
Mirabeau B. Lamar, the second president of the
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...
, who arranged to set aside land in counties for public schools. A statue of him was installed in the quadrangle of the campus near the Setzer Student Center. In 1933, the college was moving toward independence from South Park High School when construction began on new facilities. By 1942, the college was completely independent of the South Park school district, and operations moved to the current campus.
With the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, an influx of veterans boosted enrollment. The Lamar Board of Trustees asked the Texas Legislature to promote Lamar College to a four-year state college. The initial attempt in 1947 was led in the Texas House of Representatives by
Jack Brooks and in the Texas Senate by
W. R. Cousins Jr., failed, but the following year the two sponsors again advanced the bill through both houses. On June 14, 1949, Governor
Beauford Jester signed the bill creating Lamar State College of Technology.

Enrollment continued to grow throughout the 1950s and 1960s, reaching 10,000 students. Graduate work was authorized in 1960 when master's degrees were offered in several fields.
In 1969, Lamar State College opened its first branch at a center in
Orange, Texas. In 1970, Lamar State College began offering its first doctoral program, the Doctor of Engineering. In 1971 the college's name was officially changed to Lamar University.
A group of
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
veterans of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, barred from admission on the grounds of race and calling themselves the Negro Goodwill Council, protested to Governor Beauford Jester about the exclusion of blacks from Lamar State College. They attempted to block the passage of the bill to change Lamar into a state-supported senior college, which resulted in John Gray, Lamar's president, creating a black branch of Lamar called Jefferson Junior College. It opened with evening classes at Charlton-Pollard High School. In 1952, James Briscoe, a graduate of Charlton-Pollard High School, applied to Lamar. His parents were laborers and members of the Beaumont chapter of the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
. The admissions office notified him that based on his transcript, he was qualified to enroll for the spring term of 1951. On January 29, when Briscoe went to register for classes, Lamar's acting president G. A. Wimberly explained that a mistake had been made and suggested he apply to TSUN, now named
Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...
. State law, he said, created Lamar for whites only. In the summer of 1955, Versie Jackson and Henry Cooper Jr. became the lead plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit, Jackson v. McDonald, which sought to end Lamar's policy of racial segregation.
Lamar Cecil, federal judge, ruled on July 30, 1956, that Lamar's "white youth" only admissions policy was unconstitutional, and that September, a total of twenty-six black students were admitted to the college amid violent protests at the campus gates and throughout the region which continued for several weeks until
Texas Rangers arrived and the rule of law was restored.
In 1975, the university merged with
Port Arthur College in
Port Arthur, Texas
Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. ...
, creating
Lamar University–Port Arthur. In 1983, state Senator
Carl A. Parker sponsored a bill creating the Lamar University System. In 1986,
Lamar University–Orange and Lamar University–Port Arthur were granted accreditation separate from the main campus.
Lamar Institute of Technology was created in 1990 in Beaumont to provide technical, business, health and industrial education through programs two years or fewer in length.
In 1995, the Lamar University System was incorporated into the
Texas State University System. In the fall of 1998, the Lamar University faculty numbered 423 and student enrollment was 8,241. Total enrollment reached 15,000 students in Fall 2012. In the late 1990s, Lamar began undertaking campus improvement projects.
The $19 million center, named the Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center, opened in April 2007.
In August 2007, the university completed construction on Cardinal Village IV, a $16 million expansion of its residence halls. The university completed construction of Cardinal Village Phase V in August 2010 bringing on-campus housing capacity to 2,500 students.
The university, in anticipation of the return of the football program in 2010, renovated and upgraded
Provost Umphrey Stadium (formerly Cardinal Stadium) and a new state-of-the-art Dauphin Athletic Complex. In October 2014, Lamar broke ground for an administration building to be named the Wayne A. Reaud Building. The building houses the newly established Reaud Honors College.
Another recent project included renovation of the Setzer Student Center. The renovation project had a $28 million cost. The renovated building was opened on April 12, 2018.
[
]
Academics
Lamar offers 96 undergraduate, 50 master's and eight doctoral degree programs in seven academic colleges. The academic colleges are the College of Engineering, College of Education and Human Development, College of Business, College of Fine Arts and Communication, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Graduate Studies, and the Reaud Honors College. Lamar is classified as a Doctoral Research University by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Ad ...
and is one of only two universities classified as such within the Texas State University System. Lamar and Kunming University of Science and Technology in southwest China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
have an exchange program that allows Chinese students to attend Lamar for one year while pursuing their bachelor's degree.
The university also has many academic units that fall outside of the five main colleges. The College of Graduate Studies handles graduate students. The Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement offers training and support to faculty and runs the university's Active and Collaborative Engagement for Students (ACES) Program. The ACES program is designed to provide support to high-risk students and integrate active learning methods into all core courses at LU. The university also provides secondary education through the Texas Academy for Leadership in the Humanities, stateu.com and the Texas Governor's School.
In the summer of 2009, Lamar University partnered with the University of Texas at Arlington to create an online dual credit program for high school students in Texas, stateu.com. The partnership between the two universities operates on the website stateu.com. Online dual credit courses are available for free to high school students through state funding vi
House Bill 3646
Recognition, awards and ranking
Lamar was ranked in Tier Two of "National Universities" by the ''U.S. News & World Report'' 2015 ranking. According to the site, 76.6% of students who applied to Lamar in 2013 were admitted. Lamar is ranked in several 2015 ''U.S. News & World Report'' categories. Lamar was ranked #602 in ''Forbes'' 2014 America's Top Colleges report.
College of Engineering
The College of Engineering consists of five departments, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Each of these departments offers a bachelors, masters and doctoral degree. The bachelor’s program in each department (except the new computer engineering program) is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
College of Business
The university established the College of Business in 1972. Before this time, degrees in business and economics were granted by the Division of Business, which was established in 1951, and the School of Business, established in 1954. All undergraduate and graduate degree programs of the College of Business are accredited by AACSB International.
College of Education and Human Development
The College of Education and Human Development comprises five departments: Educational Leadership, Nutrition, Hospitality & Human Services, Health
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
& Kinesiology
Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...
, Counseling and Teacher Education.
Lamar is among the largest educator preparation programs for teachers in the nation due to its large Master in Education programs.
College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences' fields of study include Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Nursing, Music, English, Earth Science, Foreign Language, History, Political Science, Criminal Justice and Psychology. The College is home to the JoAnne Gay Dishman School of Nursing.
College of Fine Arts and Communication
The College of Fine Arts and Communication consists of six departments: Art & Design, Communication & Media, Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, Music, Speech and Hearing Sciences, and Theatre and Dance. Lamar University is one of five universities in Texas that offer a clinical doctorate in audiology program. The Department of Communication & Media operates LUTV, a local educational access television station, and KVLU (FM 91.3), a National Public Radio station.
Reaud Honors College
The Reaud Honors College was established in 2014. The honors program has been part of the university's academic offering since 1963. The honors college is a member of the National Collegiate Honors Council and the Great Plains Honor Council.
Campus
Facilities include the 10,080-seat Montagne Center, the eight-story Mary and John Gray Library, and the 16,000-seat Provost Umphrey Stadium.
Mary and John Gray Library
The tallest structure on campus at eight stories, the Mary and John Gray Library holds extensive physical and digital collections, including 395,003 physical books, 99,548 e-books and 142 digital databases, and provides access to current journal content from 48,851 journals.
On November 22, 2021, the university announced Texas Legislature approval of $44.9 million in capital construction assistance toward expansion and improvements to the library. The planning phase for the three-year project began in 2022.
Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center
The Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center was completed for $19 million. The construction included renovation of the McDonald Gym, which had previously served as the university's sports center and home of the volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
program. The naming of the center was made possible by a $5 million donation by local attorney Walter Umphrey in 2005. The center includes a cardiovascular room, a one-tenth-mile walking/jogging track, a climbing wall, basketball, indoor floor hockey/soccer arena, volleyball, badminton courts and racquetball courts. The center also sports a wellness and fitness center, health food café and juice bar. The lounge areas include pool tables, air hockey, foosball and large-screen TV.
Setzer Student Center
The Setzer Student Center, known colloquially as "The SET", hosts social and cultural activities throughout the year and is the hub for campus student organizations. During the Spring 2012 semester, the Student Government Association, led by then-president Andrew Greenberg, passed a student-wide referendum to finance the renovation and remodeling of the Setzer Student Center. The vote was passed with 81% approval. The $28 million project was completed in 2018 with the reopening of the center on April 12, 2018.[
]
Dishman Art Museum
The Dishman Art Museum serves as a teaching facility and art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...
for Lamar. It was established in 1983. The museum offers students an opportunity to experience diverse styles that reflect international trends, as well as a chance to exhibit their own work. Admission is free. The museum's permanent collection includes 19th- and 20th-century paintings from American and European artists, as well as tribal art from Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
and Pre-Columbian Mexico.
Spindletop-Gladys City Museum
The Spindletop-Gladys City Museum is an open-air museum commemorating the 1901 discovery of oil by Lucas Gusher in Beaumont.
Athletics
Lamar competes in the Southland Conference
The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...
in NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
athletics for all of its varsity sports and at the NCAA Division I (FCS) subdivision level in football. Lamar has participated in practically every level of collegiate athletics from its inception as a junior college
A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...
in 1923 to its gaining university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
status in 1971. The men's and women's teams are named the Cardinals and Lady Cardinals, respectively. The "Lamar Cardinals" (or "Cards") refers to the collegiate athletic teams
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interd ...
of Lamar University. The inception of the nickname "Cardinals" dates back to the school's name change to Lamar in 1932.
Lamar fields teams in 17 sports sponsored by the Southland Conference
The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...
. LU sponsors 17 teams (8 men's and 9 women's). The Cardinals participate in men's and women's basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
, men's and women's golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, women's soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
, women's volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
, baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
and football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. The newest teams are the reinstated football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team beginning in 2010, and women's softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
which began play in the 2013 season. A founding member of the Southland Conference, LU has competed in the conference in several stints ranging from 1963 to 1987, 1998 to 2021, and then again beginning in 2022 following a single year in the Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington.
Due to ...
.
Football
Under former head coach Larry Kennan, his first team compiled a 6–3–2 record in 1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. LU set all-time attendance records under Kennan by averaging 16,380 fans in 1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
. Games against Louisiana Tech (17,600) and Langston University (17,306) rank second and third, respectively, behind the standing-room-only 18,500 Baylor drew for the 1980 opener. The football program's signature win came on September 5, 1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
, in Waco with an 18–17 victory over the No. 20 (UPI) Baylor Bears. In 1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
LU football went independent to join the American South Conference, and the program was dropped altogether after 1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
.
On January 30, 2008, 78% of LU students voted to approve the athletics fee required for football's resurrection. This vote set in motion the football team's return for the 2010 season. Regents of The Texas State University System approved the athletics fee to reinstate football at its regular meeting February 20, 2008. On May 19, 2008, Ray Woodard was chosen as head coach for the football program. Aided by a major gift from an anonymous donor, the football field now bears the name W.S. "Bud" Leonard Field, named for a former player and longtime Lamar advocate and regent.
After twenty seasons without a football team, the Lamar University Cardinals returned to the gridiron on September 4, 2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, and compiled a 5–6 record. The Cardinals opened Southland Conference play in 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
. The return of football to Lamar University was in part due to a major donation from Beaumont-based law firm Provost Umphrey. To help renovate the stadium, Walter Umphrey and his wife Sheila also made a personal donation; it is now Provost Umphrey Stadium.
Basketball
Founded in 1924, the men's and women's basketball teams at Lamar have both advanced deep into the NCAA tournament. The men's team has participated in four NITs and six NCAA tournaments, including four second-round appearances and one sweet 16 appearance. The women's team has participated in four Women's National Invitation Tournaments, two NCAA tournaments including one Elite Eight appearance.
Baseball
The Lamar Cardinals baseball team represents Lamar University and competes in the Southland Conference at the NCAA Division I level.
Softball
Student life
Student demographics
In fall 2021, Lamar enrolled over 17,000 students, made up of 36% males and 64% females. Ethnically, 47% identified as White, 25% Black/African American, 18% Hispanic or Latino, 4% Asian, 3% International and 2% Other.
Student media
University Press
The ''University Press'', also known as the ''UP'', is the student newspaper of Lamar. The paper was previously known as the ''S'Park Plug'' and the ''Red Bird'' before becoming the ''University Press'' in recognition of Lamar gaining university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
status in 1971.
KVLU
91.3 FM KVLU public radio is an NPR affiliate station broadcasting throughout southeast Texas. It is licensed to Lamar University.
LUTV
LUTV News is the weekly newscast produced by students in the Department of Communication at Lamar University.
LUTV Channel 7
Airing on Time Warner Digital Cable channels 0007 and 6.7, LUTV is the official channel of Lamar University and is owned and operated by the Department of Communication and Media.
Greeks
Lamar boasts 19 national fraternities and sororities
In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...
. College Panhellenic Council (CPC) is the governing body for the three chapters at LU. National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) governs the eight historically African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
fraternities and sororities. The Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) governs men's fraternities. The Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) governs three multicultural Greek-letter organizations, two sororities and one fraternity.
Notable people
Alumni
The university has an alumni base numbering over 75,000. Current and former students of Lamar University are referred to as a "Lamar Cardinal", which comes from Lamar's mascot "Big Red", a cardinal. Lamar has the highest median starting and mid-career salary of the four universities in the Texas State University System.
Several Cardinals have gone on to distinguish themselves nationally and internationally in sports, such as PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
golfer Chris Stroud, MLB player Kevin Millar, and college coaches such as Billy Tubbs and Jim Gilligan. Brian Babin
Brian Philip Babin ( ; born March 23, 1948) is an American dentist, politician and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 2015 ...
, Jack Brooks, Nick Lampson and Elvin Santos have gone on to be national politicians.
References
External links
*
Lamar Athletics website
{{Authority control
Universities and colleges established in 1923
Education in Beaumont, Texas
Buildings and structures in Beaumont, Texas
Public universities and colleges in Texas
1923 establishments in Texas