Grambling State University
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- 'Grambling' redirects here. For the town, see Grambling, Louisiana.
Grambling State University is one of the best-known Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States. Located in Grambling, Louisiana, Grambling State was founded in 1901 as the Colored Industrial and Agricultural School. The school's name was changed to Lincoln Parish Training School in 1918 and Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute in 1928. The school became Grambling College in 1946 and gained university status in 1974.
Grambling is acclaimed for its legendary football program, and world-famed "Tiger Marching Band," which performed in the first and ninth NFL Super Bowls in 1967 and 1975, respectively, as well as before audiences internationally with its elaborate and energetic marching routines. Former football coach Eddie Robinson held the NCAA record for most career wins as a head coach at the time of his retirement in 1997. In 1999, the Tiger Marching Band -- and particularly their female dance troupe, "The Orchesis Dance Company" -- was featured in a television commercial for Tampax tampons as part of Procter & Gamble's "Tampax Was There" marketing campaign. In 1981, the band appeared in "Marching Band/Coke Is It," an award-winning commercial developed for Coca-Cola USA. The band also was featured performing in the Hollywood films Grambling's White Tiger in 1981, and Drumline in 2002.
Grambling State's colors are black and gold, with red as a tertiary color symbolizing the blood of people of African descent. The school's mascot is the Tigers, and its slogan is "Where everybody is somebody." Grambling's sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (I-AA for football) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Grambling State plays its arch rival Southern University in the annual "Bayou Classic," which is hosted in New Orleans over Thanksgiving weekend at the Louisiana Superdome. Broadcast nationally on network television, this bowl game is acknowledged as the largest black event in America. Owing to Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the host city, the Classic was played in Houston in 2005.
In 2006, Grambling State was the setting for the Black Entertainment Television network docudrama "Season of the Tiger", which chronicled the daily lives of members of the football team and marching band throughout the 2005 season.
Famous alumni
- Doug Williams, Super Bowl-winning quarterback with the Washington Redskins
- Erykah Badu, singer and actress
- Charlie Joiner, Pro Football Hall of Fame Wide Receiver
- Antwahn Nance, pro basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers
- Ronnie Coleman, IFBB Pro 8-time Mr. Olympia
- Willis Reed, NBA Hall of Famer- played for the New York Knicks from 1964 to 1974
- Bruce Eugene, record-setting NCAA D-1AA quarterback, signed by the New Orleans Saints in 2006
- Ronald E. Childs, award-winning Chicago-based journalist, columnist
- Judi Ann Mason, noted playwright, and screenwriter for award-winning network television sitcom "Good Times"
External links
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