Consul General of France to Visit Centenary College

The Consul General of France in New Orleans, Gregor Trumel, will visit Shreveport this week.

He'll be at Centenary College Thursday, January 22, for a ceremony to present the prestigious French Legion of Honor to three American World War II veterans.

"Consul General Trumel was appointed by French President Francios Hollande last summer, and this will be his first visit to Northern Louisiana and Shreveport," said Vice Consul Olivia Lamy in a news release. "The French Consul General leads missions and visits outside of New Orleans once or twice a month. He is very excited to go north and to meet with the people from Ruston, Poverty Point, Monroe and Shreveport."

He'll first tour the Poverty Point World Heritage Site near Delhi in a visit organized by Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne. The 3,400-year-old geometric earthworks at Poverty Point were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 2014, placing them alongside such natural wonders as Stonehenge in England and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. "The Consul General's visit is intended to facilitate new scientific and academic cooperation between France and Louisiana to further study and preserve the site."

In the private ceremony at Centenary College, the last stop on his trip, he'll bestow France's highest-ranking military medal on Rollin Cochran, Ethan Gillispie, Jr., and Dr. William Wilkins, Jr. Centenary professor Dr. Dana Kress tells KEEL News for the French, this is an exceedingly big deal.

"This is the oldest order of merit in the world," said Dr. Kress. "It was actually founded by Napoleon Bonaparte. And it was not based upon whether you were an aristocrat, it was the first order of merit that went strictly for that -- merit, what you had done. So you didn't have to be a noble or in the church to get it. You could be anyone who fought for France or did something exceptional for the nation."

Centenary College is well-known for its work to promote French language, culture and heritage. It features programs like Centenary in Paris, which allows incoming freshmen to earn four hours of college credit prior to the start of the traditional fall semester. The program returns for its second year in August 2015.