Editing Louisiana Tech University (section)

===Early years===
[[File:Hale Hall Louisiana Tech.jpg|right|thumb|Hale Hall, once a men's dormitory, is now the home of the Louisiana Tech School of Architecture & Office of Admissions.]]
'''Ruston College''', a forerunner to Louisiana Tech, was established in the middle 1880s by [[W. C. Friley]], a [[Southern Baptist]] pastor. This institution lasted for seven years and had annual enrollments of about 250 students.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOcxAQAAMAAJ&q=W.+C.+Friley+and+Vienna%2C+LA&pg=PA242|title=Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana|year=1892|publisher=[[Chicago]]: The Godspeed Company, 1892, p. 242|access-date=August 3, 2013}}</ref> Friley subsequently from 1892 to 1894 served as the first president of [[Hardin–Simmons University]] in [[Abilene, Texas]], and from 1909 to 1910, as the second president of [[Louisiana College]] in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]].

On May 14, 1894, the [[Lincoln Parish, Louisiana|Lincoln Parish]] Police Jury held a special session to outline plans to secure a regional industrial school. The police jury (a body similar to a county court or county commission in other states) called upon [[Louisiana State Legislature|State Representative]] [[George M. Lomax]] to introduce the proposed legislation during the upcoming session. Representative Lomax, [[Jackson Parish, Louisiana|Jackson Parish]] Representative J. T. M. Hancock, and journalist, lawyer, and future judge John B. Holstead fought for the passage of the bill. On July 6, 1894, the proposed bill was approved as Act No. 68 of the General Assembly of Louisiana.<ref name="Louisiana1897"/> The act established "The Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana", an industrial institute created for the education of white children in the arts and sciences.<ref name="Louisiana1897"/>

In 1894, [[Colonel]] [[Arthur T. Prescott]] was elected as the first president of the college. He moved to Ruston and began overseeing the construction of a two-story main building. The brick building housed eight large classrooms, an auditorium, a chemical laboratory, and two offices. A frame building was also built nearby and was used for the instruction of mechanics. The main building was located on a plot of {{convert|20|acre|m2}} that was donated to the school by Francis P. Stubbs. On September 23, 1895, the school started its first session with six faculty members and 202 students.

In May 1897, Harry Howard became the first graduate. Colonel Prescott awarded him with a Bachelor of Industry degree, but there was no formal commencement. The first formal commencement was held in the Ruston Opera House the following May with ten graduates receiving their diplomas.

Article 256 of the 1898 state constitution changed the school's name to Louisiana Industrial Institute.<ref name="Louisiana1898">{{cite book|author=Louisiana|title=Constitution of the State of Louisiana: May 12, 1898|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97ESAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA100|access-date=June 23, 2011|year=1898|publisher=H. J. Hearsey, convention printer|page=100}}</ref> Two years later, the course of study was reorganized into two years of preparatory work and three years of college level courses. Students who were high school graduates were admitted to the seventh quarter (college level) of study without examination. As years went by, courses changed and admissions requirements tightened. From 1917 to 1925, several curricula were organized according to the junior college standards and were offered leading to the Bachelor of Industry degree. In 1919, the Board of Trustees enlarged the curricula and started granting a standard baccalaureate degree. The first of these was granted on June 15, 1921, a [[Bachelor of Science in Engineering]].

The Constitution adopted June 18, 1921, changed the name of the school in Article XII, Section 9, from Louisiana Industrial Institute to Louisiana Polytechnic Institute,<ref name="LouisianaWolff1921">{{cite book|author1=Louisiana|author2=Solomon Wolff|title=Constitution of the state of Louisiana: June 18, 1921|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVMbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA224|access-date=June 23, 2011|year=1921|publisher=Bobbs-Merrill|page=224}}</ref> or "Louisiana Tech" for short.