When the Grambling State University fall semester began there were many curious freshmen wandering around campus not knowing where anything was. A required course mandatory for all students made a move to fix this problem.
Students taking First Year Experience (F.Y.E.), were taken on a tour around the campus as part of Founder’s Week activities. The motive of the tour was to show students a part of Grambling’s history, allowing students to become as familiar as possible with the campus.
The tours ended Friday, Oct. 2 and Cathy Douglass, F.Y.E. instructor, was the tour guide.
Students met in front of Brown Hall, where most FYE classes are held. The bus was scheduled to pick up students at 11 a.m. The first tour sight seen was the house of the late Charles P. Adams, GSU founder. The house is located on the corner of Main Street next to The Hills Auto Shop.
“I really did not think the president lived on campus. I knew his house was huge, I just didn’t think it was right here on campus. I even got the chance to see where Charles P. Adams used to live,” said Jamariea Davis-Miller, GSU’s Miss Freshman from Monroe.
The next few stops lead to many other historic landmarks on campus. Students got the chance to see where Charles P. Adams was buried and Grambling’s trademark. Charles P. Adams is buried aside his wife and kids in a nearby gravesite.
There is still a mark in the field where Grambling State University was established. Many students did not know the second president’s former house, is the new Bipsy Community College Office.
Students also saw the present house, where the university president resides. The tour ended at the Eddie G. Robinson Museum.
Douglass highly encouraged students to convince their friends to check the museum out. It is filled with great facts about the history of Grambling’s great football team and the coach, Eddie G. Robinson, but there are still some fun facts that all Gramblinites’ should know.
Students got the chance to roam around the museum, take photographs, and learn more about their dear old school.
“I learned a lot about Grambling’s history from the tour. How the university started off so small and has now gotten so big!” said James Toles, New Orleans native and sophomore.
These tours helped students become aware of where Grambling actually came from. They get to experience the root of Grambling State University’s history and just how everything came along.
Although, these tours were required for students that were taking FYE classes, any and every student was welcomed to tag along.