2010

The present decade started off with a big win for ETBU sports. In 2010 the Lady Tiger softball team, under the direction of Coach Janae Schlabs Shirley, battled their way to the NCAA Division III national championships—the first NCAA national crown in school history. The day they left, Marshall Mayor Buddy Power declared Friday, May 21, “ETBU Lady Softball Team Day,” and provided the team bus a police escort to the city limits en route to the Shreveport airport. Many fans, including President “Dub” Oliver, accompanied the team to the playoffs while others held championship parties on campus, watching the game on television.

On a sadder note the university’s beloved Merle Bruce freshman dormitory was razed to make room for a new student center. Construction began in January of 2010 and one year later the magnificent Ornelas Student Center opened as a focal point on the campus. The 31,842 square foot structure is, as President Oliver states, the “social heart of the campus.” In addition to the completion of the Ornelas Student Center, the old Bennett Student Center was renovated to house a larger dining hall, book store, and meeting spaces. It is now the Bennett Student Commons. In 2009 the university began offering two new majors: Political Science and Criminal Justice. Within two years, the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges (SACS) approved ETBU’s application to offer graduate programs, and now ETBU proudly offers a Master of Arts in Religion and a Master of Education. Several more graduate degrees are in the planning stage. It is going to be a great decade at ETBU.