E. Glynn Abel () - Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame

E. Glynn Abel

Class:
1939

E. Glynn Abel, the longtime dean of men at UL (when it was SLI and USL), came to SLI in the late 1930s. He made his name as one of the finest athletes to play for the school, lettering in football, baseball and track. He was a triple-threat halfback in the single-wing football attack and was named a Little All-American in 1938.

As Dean of Men, Abel was credited with a leading role in the peaceful integration of the university in 1954, making it the first Louisiana college to end racial segregation.

After graduating in 1939 with a bachelor's degree in animal husbandry, Abel stayed at SLI as assistant dean of men, leaving only during World War II, when he served as a naval officer in the Pacific Theater.

He returned to SLI in 1945 to become dean of men and held that position until 1969, when he retired from the university and became manager of the Lafayette Municipal Auditorium (now the Heymann Performing Arts Center) and later served as Lafayette's Director of Community Affairs.