Centenary College of Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana is an undergraduate , liberal arts college in Shreveport , in the U . S . state of Louisiana . The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is among sixteen members of the Associated Colleges of the South . History . Centenary College of Louisiana is the oldest chartered liberal arts colleges west of the Mississippi River . The lineage of the college dates back to 1825 , when the College of Louisiana opened in Jackson , Louisiana . The school enjoyed early success , but struggled financially until Centenary College of Clinton , Mississippi ( founded 1839 ) agreed to merge with the Jackson campus , creating Centenary College of Louisiana in 1845 . The college prospered until the beginning of the American Civil War . Three lines , written in a large bold hand , cover the entire page of the faculty minute - book dated October 7 , 1861 : " Students have all gone to war - - College suspended , and God Help the Right ! " During this time , the Jackson campus was used as a Confederate hospital for the garrison of Port Hudson , and was sacked upon arrival of Union troops in 1863 . The old campus is presently operated and preserved as a state historic site by the Louisiana Office of State Parks and is on the National Register of Historic Places . Never regaining the footing it had in the 1840s and 1850s , the college moved to Shreveport in 1908 and immediately enjoyed success . Mansfield Female College , the first women ' s college founded west of the Mississippi ( 1855 ) , merged with Centenary in 1930 . President George Sexton outlined campus growth and prosperity in the 1920s and 1930s , including the architectural design that largely remains today . During that time , Centenary was a football powerhouse , whose fame included wins over LSU , Texas , and Notre Dame . Centenary ' s academic reputation remained strong . In 2007 , Newsweek named Centenary a " Hottest Liberal Arts School You Never Heard Of " in its " 25 Hottest Universities " feature . In 2009 , Forbes ranked it 90th of America ' s Best Colleges . Campus . Centenary is south of downtown Shreveport in the historic Highland Area . The campus is noted for its distinctive Georgian architecture and well - maintained grounds . In 2010 , several buildings were for portions of Gates Academy on the television series " The Gates " Academics . The university offers 22 majors and 9 interdisciplinary minors in the traditional liberal arts , sciences and fine arts , and two graduate programs in education and business administration . Across all disciplines , Centenary stresses close interaction between students and faculty members . Undergraduate research is particularly emphasized . Student life . , the university enrolled 905 undergraduate and 107 graduate student s . Fifty - nine percent of the first - year students came from the state of Louisiana , while 3 percent came from outside the United States . The median composite ACT score of incoming students was 26 . Full - time faculty numbered 96 , 94 percent of whom held a terminal degree in their field . Centenary hosts six social fraternities and sororities . For the women there is Chi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha . For the men there is Theta Chi , Kappa Alpha Order , Kappa Sigma , Tau Kappa Epsilon , and Alpha Phi Alpha , who has a joint charter from Centenary and Louisiana State University in Shreveport . The school hosts chapters of several academic honor organizations , including Sigma Alpha Iota , Omicron Delta Kappa , Alpha Chi , Kappa Pi , and Sigma Tau Delta . Radio station KSCL 91 . 3FM broadcasts from the campus , a progressive community radio station dedicated to community events and alternative music , from college rock and jazz to local Cajun music and zydeco . " The Conglomerate " , Centenary ' s independent press , is a weekly publication that circulates 20 issues per academic year . The paper is staffed entirely by students , and is paid for by student fees and advertisement . Originally called " The Maroon and White , " the paper changed its name to " The Conglomerate " in 1923 . The Centenary Film Society is a student - led organization under faculty advisory that is dedicated to introducing both independent and foreign films to the student body as well as the surrounding community . Athletics . Centenary is currently a member of the NCAA Division III ' s Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference ( SCAC ) , having moved from the American Southwest Conference ( ASC ) after the 2011 – 12 academic year . Prior to July 2011 , the college was a member of The Summit League in NCAA Division I . The school is well known for its basketball prominence in the late 1970s being the college for NBA great Robert Parish , and golf ability — in the early 1980s PGA Tour golfer Hal Sutton played there . The school sport ' s nickname is the gentleman ; the women ' s sports ' nickname is the lady . Prior to adopting the Gentleman nickname , Centenary ' s football team was known as the Old Ironsides and had a reputation as a fearsome and powerful team with a penchant for playing rough . To clean up their image , they selected the Gentleman nickname . U . S . Olympics Women ' s Gymnastics Coach ( Tokyo , 1964 ) Vannie Edwards coached the Centenary women ' s gymnastics team from 1964 to 1968 and again from 1977 to 1985 . Coach Edwards was also the team manager for the U . S . Olympics Women ' s Gymnastics teams in 1968 ( Mexico City ) and 1972 ( Munich ) . He was inducted into the U . S . Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1986 . Recently , a student - driven initiative asked for a mascot to complement the Ladies and Gents . The new mascot was announced at halftime of the Men ' s Basketball game December 6 , 2007 . The winner was Catahoula and Rick DelaHaya , Director of Marketing , surprised the crowd by bringing out a Catahoula named Skeeter ( SKEE - Tur ) which the College has rescued from an animal shelter in Houston , Texas . Officially , the school has two mascots in the Gentlemen / Ladies and the Catahoulas , though all sports teams are still known as the Gents and Ladies .