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Happy 103rd!
Texas A&M had it rough during the good ‘Old Army’ days
By DOUG GRAHAM
Focus Staff
Nobody’s breaking out the re
quired 103 birthday candles, but to
day Texas A&M University is hav
ing a birthday.
Thus, the birthday school’s long
and rustic history should receive
the examination it deserves.
Aggieland was built after the Civil
War under authorization of the
United States Congress under the
Morrill Act of July 2, 1862. The act
set up Land Grant schools in vari
ous states to provide agricultural
and engineering graduates. The
schools were also instructed, by
law, to provide military training and
reserve officers.
Other Land Grant schools in
clude Florida A&M and Oklahoma
State University.
This is the reason Texas A&M
College, as it was then known, was
a cow college with a cadet corps.
The school was opened for reg
istration Oct. 2, 1876, and classes
started with 40 students and 6 fac
ulty members on the fourth.
That is a long way from today’s
enrollent of over 31,000 students
and the myriad of professors,
teaching assistants and others who
teach them.
Life was rough in the early days.
Wolves were a problem. So was
lodging; for a while cadets lived in
tents. The mode of transportation
was horse or train. Eventually a
trolley was built to connect the
school with downtown Bryan.
Academically A&M suffered.
The presidency was first offered to
Jefferson Davis, who refused it.
Thomas Gathwright later accepted
the position.
Soon he and his instructors were
handed their walking papers. It
seemed that they were teaching a
classical, rather than agricultural
and mechanical curriculum.
In 1890 Lawrence Sullivan
Ross, Texas’ Governor at that time,
assumed the presidency. His sta
tue stands in front of the domed
Academic Building. Under Ross
the school acheived a certain mea
sure of respectability that it had
earlier lacked.
The school was increasing in
size. By 1900 the Corps of Cadets
was 327 strong. The physical plant
consisted of two main buildings.
Disaster soon struck. In 1912
when enrollment climbed to 1,200,
the old mess hall burned. Soon
after the dining disaster, the Main
Building went up in smoke.
That fire destroyed many of the
college’s early records. However,
Sbisa Dining Hall and the
Academic Building were built soon
afterward.
When America entered the
Great War, the entire senior class
at Texas A&M volunteered for duty.
The 55 Aggies who died during
the first of the two World Wars are
commemorated by plaques on the
55 trees surrounding the drill field
behind the Memorial Student Cen
ter.
It was during the war that J.V.
“Pinky” Wilson, serving with the
AEF, wrote “The Aggie War
Hymn.”
The school continued expand
ing, adding new traditions during its
growth.
In 1922 the Twelfth Man was
born. In a footall game against
Centre College in Dallas, the Ag
gies were decimated by injuries.
Gil King, who had been on the
team earlier, came out of the
stands to suit up. Though he didn’t
play, he started one of A&M’s most
original traditions.
By 1941 6,500 were enrolled.
Almost 70 buildings stood on
campus.
In between wars, some cadets
found a black mongrel puppy on
road from Navasota. They named
the dog Reveille, who became the
school mascot. The rest of the Re-
veille’s(the school is on its fourth
Rev) have been pureblood collies.
WW II struck America, and
Texas A&M responded with more
soldiers than any other single in
stitution, including the military
academies.
18,000 Aggies served in the war,
of whom 13,000 were officers.
In 1943, Hollywood did it to Ag
gieland with the unforgettable war
classic “We’ve Never Been Lick
ed.”
The end of the war caused a
massive housing shortage as
Aggie veterans returned to com
plete their education. 1946-47 had
a peak enrollment of 9,000. The
College utilized the air base out on
Highway 21 as an annex. Also, be-
Photo Courtesy Archives
Texas A&M’s 50th birthday included a bar-b-que picnic lunch near Kyle Field.
cause of excessive hazing, the
freshmen were separated from up
perclassmen and kept out at base
for a while.
In 1954 mandatory four year par
ticipation in the Corps was struck
down, but was reinstated in 1957.
The struggle over Corps member
ship grew out of a concern over
declining enrollment and stagna
tion.
Texas A&M College was
changed to Texas A&M University
August 23, 1963.
Soon afterwards, in 1965, mem
bership in the Corps of Cadets be
came voluntary again.
In 1964 Gen. Earl Rudder,
famed for leading the ranger as
saults during D-Day, took over as
president. Under his authority
the school became coeducational.
Women are being admitted for a
while without regard to previous
requirements that they be either
the wives or daughters of Aggies.
In 1971, the year Rudder died L the
rules were formally struck down.
In 1974 women were admitted to
the Corps for the first time in a unit,
W-1.
After Rudder died, Dr. Jack
Williams took over the job of presi
dent. He was then elevated to
Chancellor. Jarvis Miller was
named president of the university
in 1977.
After seeing his office stripped of
power, Williams resigned as chan
cellor in the spring of ’79.
Frank Hubert was appointed as
the new chancellor of the Texas
A&M System last week.
Photo Courtesy Archives
President M. T. Harrington, Judge John W. Goodwin a member of the first class of A&M,
Charles McGill, then a freshman and Texas Gov. Allen H. Shrivers pose in Kyle Field after
the 50th birthday presentation.
style
SHOW
Presented by Hospitality
Committee of A&M
FEATURING FASHIONS
from
RUSH AND COMPANY
R.
(Mens and Womens)
AND
CARNABY SQUARE
At
T.J.’s
THURSDAY OCT. 4
5-7
HAPPY HOUR