Lamar University was born Sept. 17, 1923, when South Park Junior College opened its doors to enroll its first class. Success was far from a certainty. 
Junior colleges were an educational experiment; junior colleges created and supported by a single school district were even more rare.
It must have been with a strong sense of pride that Louis R. Pietzsch, superintendent of the South Park school district and the first president of South Park Junior College, watched 100 students enroll that day. By the time registration ended, about 125 students were taking classes at the junior college. Pietzsch had become intensely interested in the junior college movement while enrolled in summer school at the University of Chicago in 1918, and by 1921, was convinced that South Park should have a junior college.
A junior college for South Park moved a step closer to reality when, in December 1921, the voters of the South Park District approved a bond issue large enough to construct a three-story high school building that could house twice as many students as were expected to enroll in South Park High School. No official statement concerning a junior college had been made prior to the bond election, but there had been hints that a junior college would be created if the bond issue passed.
On March 8, 1923, the South Park board of trustees instructed Pietzsch to proceed with plans for the opening "of a junior college of the first class . . ." On May 26, 1923, the board selected Pietzsch to be president of South Park Junior College as well as superintendent of South Park Schools. Carl W. Bingman was named dean of the college and principal of the high school. The third floor of the new South Park High School building was to house the new junior college.
The promise of success seen in the enrollment of 100 students on the first day was fulfilled; South Park Junior College grew and prospered. The continuing success of the junior college was, however, destined to be under different leadership. In April, 1924 before the college had completed its first year, President Pietzch resigned to become city manager of Beaumont. C. W. Bingman was named superintendent and president.
During its first nine years as South Park Junior College, Lamar University earned recognition as one of the finest junior colleges in Texas. In April 1924, South Park became the first college in Texas to be approved by the Texas State Department of Education during the first year of operation. The Texas Association of Colleges granted full accreditation in 1925. In 1927, commencement speaker, Dr. Frederick Eby, dean of the School of Education at the University of Texas, described South Park College as first among the junior colleges of Texas.
To emphasize that the college had become more than South Park's college and was, in fact, a regional college, the South Park board of trustees decided in 1932 to change the school's name. At a meeting in August of that year, the board decided to let the public suggest the new name. A contest would be held with a scholarship valued at $100 going to the person who suggested the chosen name.
Contestants were to submit the suggested name with a written explanation not exceeding 100 words telling why the particular name was chosen. On Aug. 20, 1932, the board voted to change the name of South Park College to Lamar College, honoring Mirabeau B. Lamar, second president of the
Republic of Texas and the man regarded as the founder of public education in Texas.
Twenty-five persons suggested the name Lamar College, but on the basis of the 100-word essay, Otho Plummer, a graduate of South Park College, was named the winner of the scholarship. To emphasize the change, John Gray, head coach and athletic director, dropped the old athletic nickname "Brahmas" and chose a new name, "Cardinals."
Much had been done prior to the name change to separate the college from the rest of the South Park school system. Bingman continued both as president and superintendent, but the positions of college dean and high school principal were separated in 1925. The separation of college faculty was complete by 1932; no faculty member was scheduled to teach in both the college and high school. A building program begun in 1933 created almost entirely separate facilities for the college. There was some overlap, especially in athletics, but, by 1935, the college was essentially a separate institution. These changes occurred during the troubled days of the Great Depression, a time when many institutions faltered but Lamar continued to grow. College authorities did what they could to help students during this difficult period. In 1938, about half of the students were employed by the college at wages that enabled them to earn all or part of their tuition, fees and textbooks.
