10 years later, what do NLU graduates think?

After much consideration, the University of Louisiana at Mon­roe was chosen in 1999 as the offi­cial school name, but not without a history of several other names.

After changing from Northeast Junior College to Northeast Loui­siana University and finally to the ULM known today, some wonder if the numerous changes haven’t inadvertently disconnected the university with some of the alum­ni.

Junior English major from Lees­ville Andrea Jackson shares her reasoning as to why this could be the case.

“The degree on their wall doesn’t say ULM; it says NLU. They may not feel the need to be loy­al to ULM be­cause that’s not the school they attended. The school they at­tended tech­nically doesn’t exist anymore,” said Jackson.

While some may acknowl­edge the possibility of losing con­nections with alumni because of name changes, others don’t.

Junior General Studies ma­jor from West Monroe, Kami Aar­on, believes that it’s still the same school.

“It’s not the name of the school. If anything, it would be the ULM system. You can change the name again tomorrow, but it wouldn’t matter because it’s still the same school,” said Aaron.

Sociology professor Marsha Mc­Gee feels that if there is a discon­nection, people should move on.

“It been over 10 years; I would hope people would have accepted it by now. I see ULM Alumni bum­per stickers all the time.”

Sharon Hargrove, a 1977 alum­ni of NLU, believes that old hab­its may die hard, but time makes room for change.

“Some people still call it NLU, but it’s been a long time. You just have to adjust,” Hargrove said.