LCU honors historic former president during Annual Founder’s Day Chapel

By Lexi Rachal, Wildcats Media

Louisiana Christian University honored one of its most influential presidents during the annual Founder’s Day Chapel on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. 

George Earl Guinn, a 1937 alumnus of LCU, was the president of Louisiana Christian University, previously known as Louisiana College, from 1951 to 1975. He was the fifth president of the school and the first LCU Alum to be elected as president, according to LCU current president Dr. Rick Brewer.

Brewer said Guinn was a visionary. Under Guinn’s leadership 14 of the buildings on campus were built, including Guinn Auditorium, which was named after him. A plaque was unveiled in from of the auditorium after the Founder’s Day service.

“More than anything, Guinn’s legacy can be seen in the college building,” said Brewer. “He raised millions of dollars and oversaw a massive construction boom across campus. The core of the University’s physical plan today in Guinn’s most concrete legacy.”

According to Brewer, Guinn was committed to a plan of integration for the college, before the 1954 US Supreme Court decision on Brown vs. Board of Education.

“Although the program was not accepted by all, his heart remained with the cause of integration,” said Brewer.

Brewer then introduced Guinn’s grandson Navy Commander Matthew Crump to speak in his honor. 

Crump graduated from LCU in 1990 and witnessed his grandfather’s impact first-hand.

He said he was always impressed by and proud of Guinn, not only for leading the college, but also as his grandfather. 

Crump shared his childhood experiences of visiting Guinn at LCU. These visits were a big reason he chose LCU for his undergraduate education. 

He said it was sometimes a little imposing as a student on the LCU campus because of his grandfather’s legacy because everyone expected a lot out of him. However, he said Guinn did not. He said Guinn was always supportive of him.

He said no matter the challenges Guinn faced either through LCU or in his personal life, he always dealt with them through love and a commitment meant to share Jesus. 

“He always came from an absolute place of being Christ centered, he came from a place of love and of kindness, but of absolutely incisive intellectual honesty and dedication to the saying: all truth is one and all truth is God’s truth,” said Crump. 

Brewer summed up Guinn’s legacy by using one of Guinn’s quotes from 1952.

“The most fitting conclusion to all of these remarkable achievements comes in the words of Dr. Guinn himself,” said Brewer. ‘We must dedicate ourselves with all of our heart and soul to the task of promoting the efforts of Louisiana College and through it, the Kingdom of God.’”

Following the recognition of Guinn, Brewer introduced Greg Baylor, the director of the Center for Religious Schools and senior counsel for government affairs for Alliance Defending Freedom, the featured speaker for the C3 event that evening to give a brief overview of the topics he would be covering.