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

Page 17 text:

m o v e o n w a a . . . THE UNIVERSITY ' S FIRST FACULTY The University of Texas was formally opened with a faculty of eight professors and four assistants, an enrollment of some two hundred students, and a physical plant consisting of forty acres of land and the unfinished west wing of the old Main Building. Until this structure was ready for occupancy the following January, classes were held in the temporary Capitol at the corner of Congress and Eleventh Streets. The growth of The University during the early years was steady but it could hardly be called spectacular. The Medical Branch was activated at Galveston in 1891. The center section and east wing of the Main Building were also completed ; some four or five other structures were added to the main campus; the office of President was created by the Board of Regents; and the enrollment passed the one thousand mark. At the end of the first twenty-five years, however, the institution was still a small college, easily accommodated in a few buildings. HE second quarter-century of its history was an era of decisions and events that would make it possible for this small college to develop into the fine institution we have today. With the establishment of the graduate school in 1910, it began to assume the status of a real university. Colleges and professional schools play their own vital roles, but the real justification of the right to be called a university is the presence of great scholars and teachers who devote themselves primarily to research and graduate instruction. A second significant step was taken when the institution we now know as Texas Western College was established by the Legislature and placed under the control of the Board of Regents. The pattern of a university system with branches lo- cated at appropriate points all over the State was thus confirmed. Another important measure was the decision of the admin- istration and Board of Regents to develop a comprehensive plan for the future growth of the Main University. The early structures built on the campus had been designed and located without reference to such a plan. Outstanding architects were now called in as consultants, and a number of fine buildings, designed for both permanence and beauty, were erected. One of the factors that had retarded the school ' s early growth was the constitutional provision prohibiting the use of general revenue funds for buildings. Before the University opened in 1883 its landed endowment had grown to more than two mil- lion acres, but the land was so poor that the annual income rarely exceeded five or ten cents an acre. When the cornerstone of the Main Building was laid in 1882, the principal address, delivered by Dr. Ashbel Smith, was singularly prophetic in out- look. Smite the rocks with the rod of knowledge, he said, and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth. ARLY in 1923 a drilling rig was unloaded from the railroad on University land in Reagan County. The discovery of oil at this wildcat location was so im- probable that the well was named Santa Rita after the Saint of the Impossible. But at six o ' clock on Monday morning, May 28, 1923, the Santa Rita well blew in, and The University of Texas has never been the same since. The discovery of oil on University land brought added re- sponsibility and numerous problems to the administration and the regents. For one thing, a wayward relative living over in the Brazos bottoms was suddenly reminded of family ties long forgotten. Little notice had previously been given to the con- stitutional provision making A M a branch of the University, but this section of our fundamental law now became important to both institutions. After a series of conferences, the two gov- erning boards worked out an amicable agreement under the terms of which the Available Fund, other than the income from grazing leases, is divided one-third to A M and two-thirds to the University, with the latter receiving all of the money from surface leases. The agreement has proven to be fair and satis- factory to both schools. PAOF. 13

Page 16 text:

APPROACHING HORIZONS (Excerpts from a speech made by Judt;e Rut ' l C. Walker at the Convocation of the 75th Year of The University of Texas) URING the coming months the eyes of Texans every- where will be focused on this, their State University. For the design of the future is being drafted, to the end that twenty-five years hence this institution will have as- sumed its intended place among the world ' s great centers of learning. There is good reason to believe that this high goal will be achieved. The ties of memory and devotion span both time and dis- tance. Today the farflung family and friends of The University join hands with us across the years and around the world as we honor a beloved institution for its lasting contributions to the welfare and progress of mankind. They share with us pride in the accomplishments of the past and hopes and dreams of the future. The history of The University cannot be viewed apart from the history of Texas, for the threads of one are woven into the fabric of the other. Through this fabric run two threads or trends that have had an important bearing on the development of the institution and the State. The first of these is the enormous growth in population which Texas has experienced from the days of the Republic to the present time. And with each passing year an ever-increasing proportion of the popula- tion has been attending institutions of higher learning. Paral- leling this growth in population has been a steadily expanding economy accompanied by a shift from an agricultural to an industrial base. During most of the years the history of The University has been characterized by a constant struggle to meet the educational needs of this growing population and changing and expanding economy. In the beginning, friends of public higher education must have felt there might never be a state university in Texas. The first bill to incorporate The University of Texas was introduced shortly after the Declaration of Independence. It got through one reading. In 1838 President Mirabeau B. Lamar submitted to the Congress of the infant Republic his memorable message from which the motto of The University was later selected. Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy, and while guided and controlled by virtue, the noblest attribute of man. It is the only dictator that freemen acknowledge, and the only security which freemen desire. Congress responded by- setting aside lots in the new capital city for the site of a uni- versity and appropriated some 220,000 acres of public land for the endowment of two institutions of high learning. But more than forty eventful years were to pass before The University of Texas became a reality. FTER the State was admitted to the Union, a statute was enacted which specifically provided for the estab- lishment of a university, but before it could be carried into effect the nation was torn by a bitter and destructive civil war. Finally in 1876 our present Constitution was adopted. It directed the Legislature as soon as practicable to establish and provide for the support of a university of the first class to be located by a vote of the people and styled The University of Texas. It also set aside an additional million acres of public- land for the endowment and sup|X rt of the new institution, directed that no general revenue funds should ever be used for the erection of its buildings, and made the Agricultural and Mechanical College, which had already been established, a branch of The University. Five more years passed before effec- tive action was taken to carry out these constitutional provi- sions. In 1881 under the leadership of Governor Oran M. Roberts, the necessary legislation was at last adopted. At elec- tions held the same year, the people voted to locate the Main University at Austin, which was selected over Waco and Tyler. Galveston was chosen as the site of the Medical Branch, with Houston second in the poll. Shortly after the election results were announced, the first Board of Regents convened and set about the task of creating a university. Dr. Ashbel G. Smith of Harris County was elected President of the Board, and A. P. Woolridge of Austin was chosen as its secretary. Two years later, on September 15, 1883, Galveston Medical Branch of The University of Texas I ' AOK 12

Page 18 text:

BMOMHHBHHMKMU k H a, n d o two, r HE first essential to any great university is a faculty of the highest quality. When The University opened in 1883, the top salary of a professor was the same as that of the Governor, $4,000 per annum. This was a high figure for those days, the equivalent of probably $15,000 to $20,000 today. With the long agricultural depression beginning in 1887 and the panic of 1893, maximum salaries were cut back to $2,500 which was about one-third the amount paid by the University of Chicago. During most of the years that were to follow, Texas has not offered faculty salaries comparable to those paid by the leading universities of the land. But in spite of this handicap, succeeding administrations have met with remarkable success in their efforts to provide a qualified faculty to meet the needs of a steadily, and sometimes rapidly, growing student body. More recently the Legislature has provided in- creased financial support, and this has made it possible to employ more teachers and has also improved the institution ' s competitive position in securing and retaining the services of outstanding authorities in many fields of learning. Another important requirement of any university is an ade- quate physical plant. Within the past twenty-five years more than thirty permanent buildings have been added to the main campus. Today more than $58,000,000 worth of buildings have been either completed or authorized for construction, and The University System has become the fourth largest in the nation. It now comprises The Main University at Austin, the Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas Western College at El Paso, the Dental Branch and the M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, both in the Texas Medical Center at Houston, the Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, the Postgraduate School of Medicine with headquarters in Houston and divisions at seven other points in the State, and the Institute for Marine Science at Port Aransas. This doesn ' t mean that our resources have been spent only on buildings. Through the years additional land for campus expansion has been acquired by gift and by purchase, and faculty knowledge and skills have been supplemented by great libraries, specially equipped laboratories and classrooms, and other facilities needed to perform the University ' s three-fold mission of teaching, research, and public service. The recent building program has provided a number of additional dormitories for women and several for the accommo- dation of men at the Main University. The first dormitory for women on or near the campus was Grace Hall, erected by the Episcopal Church in 1897. This was followed by the Woman ' s Building and Kirby Hall, the latter being provided by the Methodist Church. Then came S.R.D., which was built by the Scottish Rite Masons, and Littlefield Memorial Dormitory, con- structed by the University with funds bequeathed by the will of Major George W. Littlefield. GRACE HALL Shortly after the establishment of the University, Regent George W. Brackenridge announced to his associates that he would give $10,000 to construct a dormitory for boys. The second building to be placed on the campus was erected with these funds. Officially designated as Brackenridge Hall but always known as B Hall, it was reserved for upper-classmen. As the student body grew, the residents of the Hall began to develop an esprit de corps that has become one of the legends of the University. The building was converted into offices and lecture rooms; and after being used in this way for a quarter of a century, it was torn down in 1952. We who have passed through these halls have had a rich experience that encompassed a great deal more than classroom instruction. Some of the brightest pages in our books of memo- ries are filled with matters that a few might say added little or nothing to the greatness of an institution of higher learning: the sharp tongue or personal idiosyncrasies of a beloved pro- fessor; intercollegiate and intramural athletic contests; The OLD B HALL 14