University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

J 1 Except th Medical IHi > aitm*nt. B*ctioo Flrt Tuesday ft: s-pt. " nh*r n*it. THE CITY OF WACO IN A CANDIDATE VOB TUB LOCATION OF TH UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. to b* boi-i UM flnrt Taetdaf In 8puna Mr n*t ft Jtf THE CITY OF HOUSTON Want* tiM VotM f th V^ij.if of TXM for tbJ kx-att..n oi The Medical Department M thf Htat < * Rl*ctlt > n Hit*mbr fi XlltltlM t tO It la * candidate for the locathm of the MAIN IMAM 11 OK TUB IISIYI OF MAS, fltfnllf Hi-it* tb* rot* of the peotu? Aod rwpfltfnllf an le;U < D t- be L ' sioN DAILY POST. Hrif ' inl**r It. IHHi Several Texas cities advertised, hoping to be selected as the site of The University. " As to the location of this institution, I don ' t care three groats where it is located. " Rep. John Henry Brown Galveston County, Seventh Legislature, 1857 At their first meeting on Nov. 17, 1881, the Board of Regents ap- propriated College Hill as the site for The University of Texas, shown in the following excerpt from their proceedings: " The grounds set apart many years ago for a University, and known as College Hill, consisting of forty acres, and a magnificent site for a great institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, such as the people of Texas require that this University shall be. The executive committee of the board have been authorized to have this University ground surveyed and surrounded by a substantial fence for its protection. " A year later the cornerstone of the Main Building of The University was laid. Colonel Ashbel Smith, first president of the Board of Regents spoke at the laying of the cornerstone, saying, " The Universi- ty of Texas will not merely educate a vastly greater number of students than would otherwise obtain a high education; but there goes with it an advantage that is scarcely possible to overrate. It is a home education for the youth of our State. The youth who gets his educa- tion at home is in accord, in a sympathy, having the strength of an in- stinct, with the people of Texas, his heart beats in all its pulses with the heart of the great mass of his fellow citizens, with a common heart, if I may so speak of the people of Texas. " And so it came to be; The University of Texas was for real. One hundred years later, The University celebrates its Centennial year, a symbol of higher education and opportunity for more than 48,000 students. The next 87 pages outline the first 100 years they are in- tended to serve as a firm point of reference, highlighting the people and events that have painted our University ' s colorful past. Cold, damp weather kept many at home for the November 17. 1882 Old Main cornerstone ceremony. Few guests were attracted to the board and barrel benches. The University ' s First Century 9