Texas A and M University - Aggieland Yearbook (College Station, TX)

Page 32 text:

The Agricultural and Mechanical College HE A. M. COLLEGE was opened on October 4, 1876. The M C c °H e ge was composed solely of the present Main Building and 1 J Gathright Hall. The former was used as a dormitory and recitation hall, the latter as a mess hall and dormitory. The c == : j = 9 little college struggled along under adverse conditions until in 1886, it was struck by a wave of prosperity and since then it has increased with rapid strides in size and importance. Now it has over eight hundred students enrolled. On the campus at present there are sixteen large buildings and barns, outhouses, hospital, and numerous residences. The most important change, however, is the recent attitude which the people of Texas have toward the institution. Only in the last few years have they com e to know it, not as reformatory for unruly boys, but as a place where they may send their sons, the future citizens of Texas, to get a practical education, by means of which they become technically trained men, to say nothing of the strength of character and self reliance acquired. The people of the State are just beginning to fully realize the great im¬ portance of a technical education, and that scientific farming is no longer a matter of experiment, but a potent factor in civilization. The military system is a highly desirable feature. Under its discipline a cadet learns regularity of habits, learns to handle other men, and above all learns to obey orders. After a man has taken a full course here he is trained and disciplined to take up the battle of life in earnest. With the proper support of Texas lawmakers and Texas public we bid fair, as an institution, to become the largest, most important and influ¬ ential seat of technical education in the South. Ships that pass in the W fht IS