Lamar University

Lamar University, often referred to as Lamar or LU, is a public coeducational doctoral/research university in Beaumont, Texas. 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 2014, the university enrollment was 14,889 students. Lamar University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

History

1920s: Founding and establishment

Louis R. Pietzsch founded a public junior college in Beaumont's South Park. He had become intensely interested in the junior college movement while enrolled in summer school at the University of Chicago in 1918, and by 1921, was convinced that South Park should have a junior college.

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.