WELCOME FROM THE DEPARTMENT HEAD
Kinesiology, Sport & Leisure Studies Welcomes you to “GSU”
Welcome to the Department of Kinesiology, Sport & Leisure Studies (KSLS) and the Sports
Administration (SPA) Graduate Program. With the students of the 2022 Fall Semester,
KSLS will be celebrating its 72nd anniversary as an academic department.
With over 400 undergraduate majors and 100 plus students in the graduate program,
KSLS is among the Top Ten academic units at GSU. Located in the Fredrick C. Hobdy
Assembly Center (Ste 148), students majoring in the KSLS Department are privy to state-of-the-art
classrooms, computers, and laboratory facilities.
The department offers undergraduate options in Kinesiology with concentrations in
either Health Promotion, Pedagogy (Teaching) or Sport Management; or Leisure Studies
with concentrations in either General Recreation or Therapeutic Recreation. Additionally,
students who desire to engage in graduate study have the option of pursuing a graduate
degree in Sports Administration (SPA). Students also have the option of pursuing a
Minor in the KSLS Department in the areas of: Coaching; Physical Education (non-teaching);
Sport Management; Substance Abuse Counseling; and, Health Education.
As we celebrate our 72nd Anniversary, join us and be a part of the KSLS adventure. One Village, One Mission,
One Vision, One Grambling. Welcome!
Chronology of Departmental Milestones
- 1950-51: Legendary Football Coach (Dr.) Eddie G. Robinson, Sr. is named the Head for the newly
created Department of Health and Physical Education (HPE).
- 1954: Mrs. Daisy Johnson becomes the HPE Department’s first full-time secretary; Men’s
Gymnasium via Physical Education building built.
- 1956-57: Mrs. Bessie McKinney, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute, becomes the first full-time
female instructor in HPE.
- 1958-59: Dr. C.D. Henry becomes the Department Head; HPE; Natatorium built; later renamed
C.D. Henry Natatorium.
- 1958-59: The Recreation Program concentration is added; the department is renamed as Health,
Physical Education and Recreation (HPER); Men’s Memorial Gymnasium is constructed
and becomes the new home of the HPER Department.
- Natatorium is constructed and opens for aquatic classes; swimming classes first offered
on-campus for Grambling students.
- 1966-67: Dr. Dorothy S. Hardy becomes the first Grambling female HPER graduate to be employed
full-time in HPER.
- 1971: Dr. Jeanette Agers-Hutchinson is employed as an Aquatic Instructor and becomes the
first black female Aquatic Instructor in the State of Louisiana to be certified by
the American Red Cross as a Water Safety Instructor (WSI) Trainer License.
- 1974: Dr. C.D. Henry leaves Grambling State University to become Associate Commissioner
of the Big Ten Conference; Dr. William M. Sanders becomes HPER Department Head.
- 1975: GSU receives approval from the Louisiana Board of Regents to offer the M.S. degree
in Sports Administration becoming the first HBCU to offer the degree.
- 1986: First Recreation Program to be accredited at a Historically Black College or University
(HBCU), October 1986, Council on Accreditation (now Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions).
- 2007: GSU opens the new Health & Physical Education Building.
- 2008: Health & Physical Education building renamed Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center in
honor of legendary GSU Men’s Basketball coach who remains to be the only Men’s coach
to win a national basketball championship in the State of Louisiana.
Additional Information:
