85R10062 KSM-D
By: Bell H.R. No. 466
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Students, faculty, and members of the
administration of Prairie View A&M University are visiting the
State Capitol on February 27, 2017; and
WHEREAS, Prairie View A&M University dates back to 1876,
during the Reconstruction Era, when the 15th Texas Legislature
established a school known as the "Alta Vista Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth"; 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 Southwest 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 U.S.
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, With the administration now led by president
Dr. George C. Wright, the university has an enrollment of over
8,700 students, including more than 1,300 graduate students; and
WHEREAS, Prairie View A&M is a notable institution with a
long and fascinating history, and this occasion provides a fitting
opportunity to recognize it and pay tribute to its continuing
achievements; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas
Legislature hereby recognize February 27, 2017, as Prairie View A&M
University Day at the State Capitol and extend to all those
associated with the university sincere best wishes for the future.