The designed purpose of the Third Century Campaign is to advance the sciences and provide resources for new academic and co-curricular programs, student scholarships and operating expenses.

“This is our third year, and when we started, we looked around to see what Northwest Louisiana didn’t have, and there wasn’t a gumbo cook-off, so that’s how we got the idea,” Baham said. “The first year we had 1,200 people; last year we had about 2,500, and this year we are hoping for around 4,000 people.