Southwest Texas State Teachers College - Pedagog Yearbook (San Marcos, TX)

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Three presidents have served the College during its first fifty years, all with one objective in mind: the advancement of teacher education. The ad- minstrations and faculties un- der the first president, Mr.-T. G. Harris, and our president emer- itus, Dr. C. E. Evans, were not as large as Dr. I. G. Flowers' staffs. But efficiency, under- standing and just plain good teachin has been the trade- mark of the College through all three administrations. AEMINIETEATIDN

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ft I If ik President Secretary H. L. MILLS CLAUDE ISBELL Board of Regents ,, 1. ,- . CHARLES P. MCGAHA Marvin c. EIDSON 3' ,V N. S. HARRELL IOHN C. CALHOUN WALTER F. WOODUL EMMA MAE BROTZE 3 s .- W. L. KERR R. L. THOMAS FRIENDS OF THE COLLEGE -The Story of the Regents The growth of Southwest State Teachers College would have been impossible without the whole-hearted support of the members of its Board of Regents and of the first Local Board of Directors. The College bosses, and friends, were first provided for in Senate Bill 142, approved March 28, 1901. This bill, which gave final approval to plans for the Normal School also called for the appointment of a local board of three trustees, or inspectors, to oversee the work of Principal Harris and his faculty. To this board in 1901 were appointed three San Marcos citizens, Iudge W. D. Wood, president, S. V. Daniel, and Ed I. L. Green. This board, with some changes in membership, conducted the business of the Normal School until the end of 1911, when House Bill No. 17, passed on August 30, provided for the cre- ation of cz State Normal School Board of Regents for the State Normal Schools for White Teachers. This bill directed the gov- ernor to appoint four persons of good education and of high moral character who, together with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, would constitute the Board of Regents for all the state normal schools. Members were appointed to this first state board for two- year terms and were required to visit each school at least once a year. Legislators wisely gave the Regents broad general pow- ers, decreeing that they should have authority to erect, equip. and repair buildings: to purchase libraries, furniture, apparatus, fuel and other necessary supplies: to employ and discharge presidents or principals, teachers, treasurers and other employ- ees: and to fix the salaries of the persons so employed . . Two later bills, Senate Bill No. 203, 33rd Legislature, 1931, and Senate Bill No. 130, 41st Legislature, 1939, increased the number of Regents from four members to six and then to nine. At the present time members are appointed by the governor with the approval of the Senate for six-year overlapping terms. Since the members are delegated by the govemment of the State of Texas with exceedingly broad powers their re- sponsibility is a heavy one. Members must give considerable portions of their own valuable time, sacrificing business life and private affairs. to overseeing the operation of the College. Both President Emeritus Evans and President Flowers have often commended the members of the Board of Regents for the dili- gence with which they perform their tasks and for the spirit of cooperation with which all members work towards the solv- ing of College problems. Some of the Regents have been generous in their gifts to the College. Most recently Mrs. Sallie Beretta, a life long friend of the College and a member of the Board of Regents for 18 years, donated a 125-acre Wimberley ranch to Southwest Texas State Teachers College. The ranch, which has been rated as one of the beauty spots of Texas, will be used as a campsite for educational and recreational facilities. An outstanding civic leader, Mrs. Berettxr was appointed by Woodrow Wilson during World War I as president of the Housewives League, an organization designed to combat the high cost of living. She was in charge of bond sales over five counties during the second World War. Because she took a great interest in preserving and planting bluebonnets, which were then being destroyed, Mrs. Beretta is known to many persons as the Bluebonnet Lady of Texas. Along with her husband, the late I. K. Berretta, she helped to establish a girls' camp at Comfort. She has headed many civic and social or- ganizations and as a part of a long career of distinguished serv- ice to her state Mrs. Beretta served on the Board of Regents from 1933 to 1951.