Its All About Lamar at Provost Umphrey Stadium

[LUSportsFan]

There is nothing ut and atm would like more than to take over LU, SHSU, SFA, Texas State The legislature will do their bidding if they get the opportunity.

 

We're a little off the original topic, but the comment triggered a question I have had about the history of university affiliations in Texas. I did a quick look at universities which are currently members of the Texas A&M System. I didn't look up every university in the system, but it looks like there was a recurring theme.

 

It looks like financial problems was an impetus for at least some of the universities entrance into one of the two systems. As I recall one big factor of the dissolution of the Lamar University System and our membership in the Texas State University System was money. To tie in to the original topic, it is interesting to see that other universities were having financial stresses and made moves similar to those of Lamar around the same time period.

 

Tarleton State - (1917) "...Cox realized that his efforts would never be enough to save Tarleton as a private, self-supporting junior college. He aimed instead to improve the reputation, quality, and stability of the school to such a point that it could be taken over either by the University of Texas or Texas A&M College. Tarleton's only chance at long-term survival lay in becoming part of one of these state-supported institutions of higher education..."

 

http://www.tarleton.edu/library/crosstimbers/collections/tsucollection/TAN00045P.html

 

West Texas A&M University - (1989) "...The last half of the 1980s was a particularly difficult time for WTSU. In addition to the natural concerns that accompanied the strategic reorganization, sagging enrollments and a sharp downturn in the Texas economy created new anxieties among various elements of the University, particularly the faculty. In the fall of 1987, enrollment hit a 22 year low...

 

...During the ensuing two years, a $5.5 million renovation of Old Main and the subsequent conversion of the former administration building into a student union, along with a sizable cost overrun for construction of a new presidential home and continued athletic deficits, stretched the University's financial resources to its limits..."

http://www.wtamu.edu/about/watkins_sherman_shannon_roach.aspx

 

...Early in 1989 changes in higher education within Texas had opened the question of whether WTSU should join either the University of Texas or The Texas A&M University System..."

 

http://www.wtamu.edu/about/thompson_long_obrien.aspx

 

I did see that West Texas State (West Texas A&M) dropped from DI to DII five years prior to entry into the Texas A&M System. Football was dropped at West Texas State shortly after entry into the A&M System, but was resumed initially on a non-scholarship basis. Looking at the list of WTAMU scholarships, it looks like several are football related so I guess non-scholarship football is no longer in place at WTAMU.

 

Dissolution of University System of South Texas - (1989)

 

Texas A&M - Kingsville

http://www.tamuk.edu/about/index.html

 

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

http://www.tamucc.edu/about/history.html

 

Texas A&M International University

 

http://www.tamiu.edu/general.shtml#history

 

I couldn't find specifics like those for West Texas A&M and Tarleton State, but the University System of South Texas which each of these universities were members dissolved in 1989. The universities became part of the Texas A&M System. I do recall that there was a large economic downturn in the late 1980's. A lot of the downturn was driven by oil prices. I'm assuming the economic downturn put pressures on tax receipts. As I recall, there were numerous bank failures during that time period. I suspect that moves to the UT System and A&M System were at least in part as a means to help alleviate some of the financial pressures on the individual universities.

 

Other than economic conditions, I would like to know what changed in 1989. Did the Texas legislature change the funding formula? I did see that the legislature set up a HEAF endowment fund in 1984 for those universities that do not participate in the Public University Fund. Here's a link to a report providing background information of the Public University Fund and HEF / HEAF fund. It also lists the universities participating in each and the level of participation.

 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDoQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecb.state.tx.us%2Freports%2FPDF%2F1627.PDF&ei=jTAmUvjOFIWw2gXlhoGQAQ&usg=AFQjCNG1uA5XKHUd1i4LStXshWJRfdcDFA&bvm=bv.51495398,d.b2I&cad=rja