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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Students, faculty, and members of the |
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administration of Prairie View A&M University are visiting the |
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State Capitol on February 27, 2017; and |
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WHEREAS, Prairie View A&M University dates back to 1876, |
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during the Reconstruction Era, when the 15th Texas Legislature |
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established a school known as the "Alta Vista Agricultural and |
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Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth"; the first students |
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enrolled in 1878, and a normal school for training teachers, the |
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state's first coeducational public institution of higher learning, |
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was created by the legislature the following year; the normal |
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school and the agricultural and mechanical college were combined by |
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the 20th Legislature in 1887; and |
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WHEREAS, The institution expanded its curriculum to four |
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years in 1901 and began offering intercollegiate athletics three |
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years later; a cooperative agricultural extension program was added |
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in 1914, and establishment of the Army Reserve Officer Training |
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Corps followed in 1917; during the 1920s, the school introduced the |
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first baccalaureate degrees and a school of nursing, took part in |
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the organization of the Southwest Athletic Conference, and |
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initiated the Prairie View Interscholastic League for African |
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American high schools, which later merged with the University |
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Interscholastic League; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1937, a graduate school was established at |
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Prairie View; the school began a program for commissioning U.S. |
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Army officers in 1943 and naval reserve officers in 1968; five |
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commissioned officers from the school's army training corps have |
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gone on to become three-star generals, and three officers from its |
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navy training corps have become admirals; and |
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WHEREAS, Voters approved a state constitutional amendment in |
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1984 that recognized Prairie View A&M as a university of the first |
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class and restructured the state's Permanent University Fund to |
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include Prairie View as a beneficiary; in addition, the legislature |
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established the Texas Institute for the Preservation of History and |
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Culture at Prairie View in 1999; the school launched its first |
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doctoral program, in juvenile justice, in 2001 and has since added |
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others in electrical engineering, juvenile forensic psychology, |
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and education leadership; and |
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WHEREAS, With the administration now led by president |
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Dr. George C. Wright, the university has an enrollment of over |
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8,700 students, including more than 1,300 graduate students; and |
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WHEREAS, Prairie View A&M is a notable institution with a |
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long and fascinating history, and this occasion provides a fitting |
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opportunity to recognize it and pay tribute to its continuing |
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achievements; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize February 27, 2017, as Prairie View A&M |
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University Day at the State Capitol and extend to all those |
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associated with the university sincere best wishes for the future. |