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LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY     CAMPUS LSU is located on more than 2,000 acres of land in the southern part of Baton Rouge, bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. The University's more than 250 principal buildings are grouped on a 650-acre plateau, which constitutes the main part of campus. LSU's landscaping was called "a botanical joy" in its listing among the 20 best campuses in America in Thomas Gaines' The Campus as a Work of Art. The live oak trees on LSU's campus have been valued at $36 million. Through the LSU Foundation's "Endow an Oak" program, individuals or groups are able to endow live oaks across campus. ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH LSU was founded by the Louisiana General Assembly in 1853, with the first session beginning January 2, 1860. LSU is a land-grant and a sea-grant institution. LSU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. LSU includes 9 senior colleges and 3 schools, in addition to specialized centers, divisions, institutes, and offices. LSU's enrollment is more than 30,000 students, including more than 1,700 international students and about 5,000 graduate students. LSU has about 1,300 full-time faculty members and a staff of more than 3,000. LSU Libraries contain more than 2.9 million volumes. The School of the Coast and Environment (formerly CCEER) was designated as the first Coastal Marine Institute by the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior. HISTORY Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College had its origin in certain land grants made by the United States government in 1806, 1811, and 1827 for use as a seminary of learning. In 1853, the Louisiana General Assembly established the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana near Pineville, Louisiana. The institution opened January 2, 1860, with Col. William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent. The school closed June 30, 1861, because of the Civil War. It reopened on April 1, but was again closed on April 23, 1863, due to the invasion of the Red River Valley by the federal army. The losses sustained by the institution during the war were heavy. The seminary reopened October 2, 1865, only to be burned October 15, 1869. On November 1, 1869, the institution resumed its exercises in Baton Rouge, where it has since remained. In 1870, the name of the institution was changed to Louisiana State University. Louisiana State Agricultural & Mechanical College was established by an act of the legislature, approved April 7, 1874, to carry out the United States Morrill Act of 1862, granting lands for this purpose. It temporarily opened in New Orleans, June 1, 1874, where it remained until it merged with Louisiana State University in 1877. The first Baton Rouge home of LSU was in the quarters of the Institute for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. In 1886, the federal garrison grounds (now the site of the state capitol) were formally declared the domicile of the University. Land for the present campus was purchased in 1918, construction started in 1922, and the move began in 1925; it was not, however, until 1932 that the move was finally completed. Formal dedication of the present campus took place on April 30, 1926. After some years of enrollment fluctuation, student numbers began a steady increase, new programs were added, curricula and faculty expanded, and a true state university emerged. In 1978, LSU was named a sea-grant college, the 13th university in the nation to be so designated and the highest classification attainable in the program. LSU is one of only 25 universities to be designated as both land grant and sea grant.