History of Texas A&M University

History of Texas A&M University

The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas was established as a land-grant college on April 17, 1871. Classes began on October 4, 1876. In the 1960s, the school became racially integrated and coeducational. In 1997, the George Bush Presidential Library was opened on the western edge of the campus.

About History of Texas A&M University in brief

Summary History of Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M was the first public institution of higher education in Texas. The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas was established as a land-grant college on April 17, 1871. Classes began on October 4, 1876. In the 1960s, the school became racially integrated and coeducational. The school was recognized for its research with the designations sea-grants university and space-granted university in the second half of the 20th century. In 1997, the George Bush Presidential Library was opened on the western edge of the campus. The university is now the flagship school of the Texas A &M University System. It is located in San Antonio, Texas, near the city of San Antonio and the University of Texas at San Antonio. It was founded by the U.S. Congress in 1871 under the Morrill Act, which allowed states to establish colleges where the leading object was to teach agriculture and mechanical arts. In 1875, the Legislature separated the administrations of A&m and theUniversity of Texas, which still existed only on paper. In 1918, the senior class was mustered into military service to fight in France. During World War II, the university produced over 20,000 combat troops, contributing more officers than both the United States Military Academy and United States Naval Academy combined. It has been named after the Texas Aggie, a nickname given to the school’s football team by former President Jefferson Davis, who turned down the presidency of the college in 1879. The Aggie spirit and traditions are still strong, giving birth to the Aggie tradition and tradition of bonfires, yellfires, and fraternities and sororities.

The college is now known as Texas A and M University, after the initials of its president, James Earl Rudder, and the university’s mascot, Texas A. and M. C. A. The campus bears minimal resemblance to its modern counterpart; wild animals roamed freely around the campus and the area served as a meeting point for the Great Western Cattle Trail. Despite its name, the college taught no classes in agriculture, instead concentrating on languages, applied studies, and applied mathematics. After four years, students could attain degrees in agriculture and engineering, and, after November 1879, the president and faculty were replaced and given a mandated curriculum in science and literature. Enrollment, which had climbed as high as 500 students, declined to 80 students in the year of 1883, the University’s first year of high school. The University is now home to more than 4,000 students and has an enrollment of more than 2,000. It also has a campus that is home to the Texas Museum of Natural History, which was established in 1876 to house the Texas State Museum and Museum of Fine Arts, which opened in 1881. The Texas State Legislature provided US$75,000 for the construction of buildings at the new school, and state leaders invested profits from the sale of 180,000 acres received under the Land-Grant College Act in gold frontier defense bonds.