Stephen F Austin State University - Stone Fort Yearbook (Nacogdoches, TX)

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TEXAS 150 years of excellence Texas. Some flock to it, others try to get away from it. Texas is as diverse as the six flags that have flown over it. Nowhere will you find natives who are more proud of their state than right here. And to these proud natives, Texas represents 150 years of excellence. Excellence in industry, excellence in history, excellence in people. We have seen a Texas as President, a Texan on the moon, even the shape of our proud state is unique. Nineteen-eighty-six, Texas ' Sesquicenten- nial, was a time to celebrate. It was also a time to remember our heritage. Throughout the state, numerous activities were planned to mark the birth of Texas. In January, the Texas Wagon Train started its 3,000 mile journey around the state from Sulfer Springs. Austin participated in the celebra- tion with the Texas Independence Celebra- tion, a week-and-a-half of folklife festivities. At SFA, a sculpture of Stephen F. Austin was unvailed in September. All these festivities were planned to reflect the pride Texans have in their state. Here is to another 150 years of excellence. % R. Reagan Atkinson Copyright 1984 R. Reagan Atkinson Copyright 1984 Texas

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Nick Wolda The excellence of SFA SFA, like our proud state, has many ex- cellent qualities. At the turn of the century, the Texas Legislature realized that East Texas needed a state-supported institution of higher learning. The name, Stephen F. Austin Normal College, had been proposed, but the loca- tion the institution had not been decided upon. Three Texas senators, W. Edgar Thomason, Eugene H. Blount and Nat Patton along with the support from Nacogdoches leaders fought to have Stephen F. Austin Normal College located in Nacogdoches. The Thirty-fifth Legislature passed the provisions creating the institution on April 4, 1917. In 1922 the name was changed from Normal College to Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College. The 1923-24 enrollment was 633 stu- dents. There was no tuition. Students paid a fee of $12 per twelve-week term. The Fall 1985 enrollment was 12,506. Tuition for state-supported schools was in- creased from $4 an hour to $12 an hour per semester. The cost of tuition and SFA ' s name are not the only changes that have been made at SFA. Through hard work and determina- tion, the goals that our founding fathers set forth; for Stephen F. Austin State Universi- ty to be recognized as an excellent universi- ty, have been realized. Sheri Flanery Among its many accomplishments, SFA has commissioned a sculpture of Stephen F. Austin, SFA houses the largest telescope between the McDonald Observatory in West Texas and Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. and the SFA Lumber- jacks share the title of Gulf Star Champi- ons. SFA -- a diverse university with unmatched excellence, Opposite page top left: President William R. Johnson. Top right: The graduating class of 1925. Middle right: The first President of SFA, President A. W. Birdwell. SF. ' ;