|
|
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 286
|
|
WHEREAS, Students, faculty, and members of the administration |
|
of Prairie View A&M University are visiting the State Capitol on |
|
March 2, 2015, and this occasion provides a fitting opportunity |
|
to pay tribute to the rich history and continuing achievements of |
|
this notable institution; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Prairie View A&M University dates back to 1876, |
|
when the 15th Texas Legislature established a school known as the |
|
"Alta Vista Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas for |
|
Colored Youth" during Reconstruction; the first students |
|
enrolled in 1878, and a normal school for training teachers, the |
|
state's first coeducational public institution of higher |
|
learning, was created by the legislature the following year; the |
|
normal school and the agricultural and mechanical college were |
|
combined by the 20th Legislature in 1887; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The institution expanded its curriculum to four |
|
years in 1901 and began offering intercollegiate athletics three |
|
years later; a cooperative agricultural extension program was added |
|
in 1914, and establishment of the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps |
|
followed in 1917; during the 1920s, the school introduced the first |
|
baccalaureate degrees and a school of nursing, took part in the |
|
organization of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and initiated |
|
the Prairie View Interscholastic League for African American high |
|
schools, which later merged with the University Interscholastic |
|
League; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1937, a graduate school was established at |
|
Prairie View; the school began a program for commissioning United |
|
States Army officers in 1943 and naval reserve officers in 1968; |
|
five commissioned officers from the school's army training corps |
|
have gone on to become three-star generals, and three officers |
|
from its navy training corps have become admirals; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Voters approved a state constitutional amendment |
|
in 1984 that recognized Prairie View A&M as a university of the |
|
first class and restructured the state's Permanent University |
|
Fund to include Prairie View as a beneficiary; in addition, the |
|
legislature established the Texas Institute for the Preservation |
|
of History and Culture at Prairie View in 1999; the school |
|
launched its first doctoral program, in juvenile justice, in 2001 |
|
and has since added others in electrical engineering, juvenile |
|
forensic psychology, and education leadership; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Under the leadership of president Dr. George C. Wright, |
|
the university currently has an enrollment of over 8,000 students, |
|
including more than 1,500 graduate students; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the state of Texas, 84th |
|
Legislature, hereby recognize March 2, 2015, as Prairie View A&M |
|
University Day at the State Capitol and extend to all those |
|
associated with the university sincere best wishes for continued |
|
success; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be |
|
prepared for the university as an expression of high regard from |
|
the Texas Senate. |
|
|
Kolkhorst |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
President of the Senate |
|
|
|
|
|
I hereby certify that the |
|
|
above Resolution was adopted by |
|
|
the Senate on March 2, 2015. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
Member, Texas Senate |