82R8692 RYA-D
By: Coleman H.C.R. No. 70
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, A number of proud Texans are visiting Austin on
February 28, 2011, to celebrate Texas Southern University Day at
the State Capitol; and
WHEREAS, Founded in 1927, with a loan from the Houston Public
School Board, Texas Southern University opened its doors as Houston
Colored Junior College; the school was highly successful and
enrollment grew quickly, leading to the transition to a four-year
institution in 1934, with a graduate program added in 1943; the
Texas Legislature appropriated $2 million in 1947 to buy the campus
of what was then Houston College for Negroes in order to create a
new state-supported university, and four years later the school
assumed the name Texas Southern University; and
WHEREAS, Today, Texas Southern is one of the largest of the
historically black colleges and universities in the United States;
located in Houston's Third Ward, it enrolls more than 9,500
students from throughout the country and around the world, and it
employs nearly 1,500 faculty and staff; it is composed of nine
schools and colleges that offer 53 baccalaureate academic majors,
as well as 36 master's and 6 doctoral degree programs; and
WHEREAS, Texas Southern University is committed to serving
students of diverse cultural, religious, educational, and economic
backgrounds and to preparing them for future leadership roles; the
university trains the majority of African American lawyers in
Houston and African American teachers in the Houston Independent
School District, and it has historically graduated more than 27
percent of the African American pharmacists in the United States;
in addition, the university's Thurgood Marshall School of Law has
been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the most diverse law
school in the nation; and
WHEREAS, Throughout its history, Texas Southern University
has provided its students with a solid foundation for achievement,
and it has been a powerful force for social progress and economic
development in the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby recognize February 28, 2011, as Texas Southern University
Day at the State Capitol and extend to all those associated with
this notable institution sincere best wishes for continued success;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Texas Southern University as an expression of high
regard by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate.