News at Lamar University

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Lamar University as the fifth highest on the diverse index among public universities in Texas, and in the top 14% among other ranked, national institutions.

After several months of extensive groundwork, the 16 winners of the 2021 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship presented their research at Lamar University’s first SURF Symposium.

Spindletop Gladys City Museum is set to host Jazz and Wine Night Thursday, Sept. 23 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Jazz and Wine Nights are simply that-music and drinks with old friends and new friends. Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, although some seating will be provided by the museum. The cost is $10 a person for non-members and free for museum members.

The Lamar University Alumni Advisory Board has elected Nga “Tea” (Nguyen) Do ’08 of Beaumont to serve as 2021-2022 president. Fred Vernon ’12, ’13 of Port Arthur will serve as past president and Lila (Creamer) Stevens ’01 of Beaumont will serve as president-elect.

During the 2021 inaugural Alpha Tau Omega National Awards Celebration held in Orlando, Fla., the LU Texas-Zeta Theta chapter of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity was recognized with the True Merit Honorable Mention award. This is the second highest honor bestowed by the ATO Fraternity and the Texas-Zeta Theta chapter is one of only 24 chapters to receive this award among over 141 chapters and more than 8,500 undergraduates judged nation-wide.

The U.S. Department of Education has released guidelines for Lamar University to distribute $11,380,397 in emergency grants to eligible students during the 2021-22 academic year.

Lamar University is proud to announce that Kristin Helm, Cardinal success coach in the College of Business, and senior communications major Gina Taylor have been named as 40 Under 40 honorees by the Southeast Texas Young Professionals Organization.

The establishment of a Collegiate 100 student chapter at Lamar University was birthed after a virtual town hall meeting in June 2020, attended by a panel of college and high school students and community representatives.

Lamar University is excited to host the 2021 Summer Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, August 14 at 10:00am in the Montagne Center. Graduates come from 12 countries, 31 states, and 231 cities and towns in Texas. 3,316 degrees and certificates have been awarded so far this year, including the 1,039 being conferred Saturday.

Senior photography major Sierra Davis has been selected as one of 39 featured artists in the 2021 Botanical Competition for two of her photography submissions. Botanical is a nationally juried exhibition organized by TAGat120ART in Taylor, TX.

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) named Dr. Jeff Forret winner of its 2021 Leadership in History Award in the large press category for his book, Williams' Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and His Cargo of Black Convicts (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

The College of Engineering will welcome freshmen onto campus one week before the fall semester for Freshmen Engineering Bootcamp. Formerly known as Math SMART Camp, the camp is open to all first-year engineering students. The primary goal of FEBC is to build a community between students, faculty, and staff to help increase retention of engineering students.

“We decided to bid on hosting the 12th International Deaf Academics and Researchers Conference knowing we were the underdog and knowing we would need to put in more work to win,” said Diane Clark, chair of the LU Department of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education.

Senior political science and criminal justice major Brendon Camp has been recognized nationally by Pi Sigma Alpha, National Political Science Honor Society, for his undergraduate paper, “Implied Consent: A Review of Judicial Process and Constitutional Law.”

Entrepreneur and senior accounting major Dion Tran was selected by the Texas Business Hall of Fame as the 2021 recipient of the Ben J. Rogers scholarship.

Derina Holtzhausen, dean of the LU College of Fine Arts and Communication and one of the founding scholars of strategic communication as an academic discipline, has authored her third book, Principles of Strategic Communication

In response to the recent severe flooding activity in the region, Lamar University has announced the establishment of the Center for Resiliency.

Jody Slaughter '85, was selected for the role of director of school & community partnerships within the College of Education and Human Development.

From Big Red's mesmerizing dance moves to Lu's dazzling hair bows, our favorite birds often leave fans wondering, 'who's behind the mask?' For the first time in Lamar University history, we have revealed the secret identity of the Big Red and Lu mascots. 

Lamar University College of Engineering hosted the plant managers and their leadership teams from the four Beaumont area ExxonMobil facilities to discuss research and educational initiatives.

Lamar University is hosting a job fair on Wednesday, July 7 from 1-4 p.m. in the Setzer Student Center located at 4405 Jimmy Simmons Blvd on the Lamar University campus.

The Board of Regents of the Texas State University System has confirmed Jaime R. Taylor, Ph.D., as the 16th president of Lamar University.

Recent deaf studies and deaf education graduate Shay Stegemann '21, best known by her pen name Shay Abigail, has published a children’s book focused on American Sign Language and the deaf community titled “My Name is Maya.”

Lamar University’s sole finalist for president, Dr. Jaime Taylor, visited campus on Thursday and Friday to meet with Texas State University System officials, university personnel and community leaders.

Joseph Mann, Instructor of American Sign Language, has been awarded Teacher of the Year for 2021-2022 by the Department of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education.