In 1894, Colonel Arthur T. Prescott was elected as the first president of the college. He moved to Ruston and began overseeing the construction of a two-story main building. The brick building housed eight large classrooms, an auditorium, a chemical laboratory, and two offices. A frame building was also built nearby and was used for the instruction of mechanics. The main building was located on a plot of that was donated to the school by Francis P. Stubbs. On September 23, 1895, the school started its first session with six faculty members and 202 students.