The Baton Rouge High School Hall of Fame
The original BRHS Hall of fame originated in the mid-1970’s, just after BRHS transformed into a magnet high school. According to an archive Advocate newspaper article, the founding members of the HOF committee included Lee Lockwood, President; Otis Haymon, President-elect; Charles Dubois, and Edwina Prescott, Secretary-Treasurer. Hall of Fame honorees were inducted with some regularity until sometime in in the later 1980’s. We don’t have much in the way of historical data about the HOF until the Alumni Association was established in 1995.
When the Alumni Association was established, the Board of Directors took on the task of re-instituting the original Hall of Fame. With the transformation of the Alumni Association into the Baton Rouge High School Foundation in December of 2010, the BRHS Hall of Fame was established as a formal program administered by the Alumni Committee of the Foundation. The Hall of Fame mission and a formal set of nomination guidelines were written and adopted to ensure that the HOF’s provenance, ceremony and integrity are maintained and documented for history.
It is our goal, now and for the future, that the BRHS Hall of Fame reflect the wide diversity of the graduates of Baton Rouge High school throughout the decades. The Hall Of Fame belongs to you, the alumni of BRHS. It is incumbent upon alumni and friends to nominate graduates and faculty they believe meet the qualifications established for consideration and selection. Members serving on the Board of Directors and staff are prohibited from submitting candidates for consideration.
FAQs:
How do I submit a person for consideration into the Hall of Fame?
We will communicate via social media and Banner news email that the nomination period is open. There will be posted a nomination packet in a pdf. format on the Hall of Fame page. Please read the entire instructions carefully. Your submitted nomination packet must include all of the support documents for your nominee, i.e. photos, news items (clippings or website screenshots), testimonial letters, etc.
Who can submit a nomination and can more than one person participate in preparing a nomination?
Anyone may submit a nomination. Yes, multiple people often do help with research, writing, etc. of the nomination packet. However all of the supporting documents must be included in the single nomination packet. Do not have others send letters, emails, media or testimonials intended for your nominee to our office, either by email of direct mail. They will not be acknowledged and will be discarded. Please do not include originals of any of the items in your packets. The nomination packets will not be returned to the nominating parties. NOTE: The final nomination packet must be signed by one of the sponsoring participants.
How much time/effort goes into a quality nomination submission?
It’s hard to say, but those who have been selected for induction were nominated by individuals who did their due diligence and clearly devoted their time to the nomination. Those nominations provided the committee a thorough case including: evidentiary proof of achievements, awards; testimonial letters from those positively impacted by the person nominated and ample supporting documents. It’s likely that the committee members do not know the person(s) nominated, so the packet must effectively “tell their story.” A detailed and thorough nomination case gives the committee members a real sense of who this person is (was) and how their life, achievements and citizenship exemplified the standards for induction.
Does the BRHS Foundation staff offer any help with the process?
In a limited capacity. We have a yearbook library that you are more than welcome to use, by scheduling a time to visit our office. Copies of pages can be made in the BRHS Library for a small fee. We cannot do research for you or provide you with member information that is not considered ‘public domain.’ The EBR Parish Library has a wonderful online digital archive service that we have found very useful. We can also provide other guidance prior to your final submission. Feel free to email or call our office for assistance.