The ULM Nursing Building received a new name. ULM President Nick Bruno and Nursing School Director Emily Doughty unveiled Kitty DeGree Hall in honor of ULM philanthropist Kitty DeGree, making this yet another building in Monroe dedicated to honor DeGree.
The UL System board of supervisors approved the new name in February after an application from ULM. This comes 10 months after the university received permission to rename the School of Nursing after DeGree.
“Due to her dedication to this community and specifically to ULM…the naming of the Nursing Building in her honor is fitting,” Bruno said.
DeGree was a long time sponsor of ULM despite having never received a degree of higher learning herself.
“Higher education would have been something Kitty would have liked for herself,” said long-time friend Cindy Rogers, who is president of the Kitty DeGree Foundation.
Rogers said DeGree was a self-made business woman, who, had the computer been invented when she was younger, would have given Donald Trump a run for his money.
Rogers also said she felt sorry for those who didn’t know DeGree, and she was saddened at the thought that after a few generations DeGree’s memory will fade—leaving only her name on the many buildings around campus and Monroe.
“I think people will be curious, and I think they will know she made an impact,” Rogers said.
Louis Bremer is the President and CEO of St. Francis Medical Center.
Bremer likened DeGree to St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the center.
“She showed us the meaning of a servant’s heart,” he said. “Every time I think of Kitty, I think of St. Francis of Assisi.”
Other buildings which bear DeGree’s name include the Kitty DeGree Bell Tower, the Kitty DeGree Computing Center, the Kitty DeGree Pharmacy Student Resource Center, the Kitty DeGree Speech and Hearing Center, the St. Francis North Kitty DeGree Breast Health Center and the Kitty DeGree Emergency Room at St. Francis Hospital.
Bruno called on the students at the gathering to “live like Kitty” and to give whenever they could.
“We may not be able to give as much money as Kitty, but we can share ourselves,” Bruno said. “We must keep in mind the spirit of Kitty: to give and not expect to receive.”
