Quote:
Originally posted by AggieSigmaNu361
I hope that's not meant as some sort of an insult. That pretty much does sum us up. And you know? Its just as funny now as it was the first time I read it, way back in the 1990's. But thanks for digging up this little trip down memory lane.
Kitso
KS 361 friends I have that went to t.u. and know that A&M was founded first.
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No A&M was not "founded" first. The ideas of both schools were conceived at the same time. Texas A&M College only opened first because more time and funds were needed to establish, UT...the intended flagship/first class university in Texas.
"The idea behind The University of Texas was originally conceived in 1827. Upon Texas's independence, the Congress of the Republic of Texas adopted the Constitution of the Republic, which made its own provision to establish a system of public education in Texas. A bill providing that twenty leagues of land be set aside for two colleges or universities was then created. By the time Cullen's bill became a law on January 26, 1839, Congress had agreed to set aside fifty leagues of land. In addition, forty acres in the new capital of Austin were reserved and designated "College Hill."
Congress failed to act any further until 1858, when lawmakers set out in the Act of 1858 $100,000 in United States bonds left from the Compromise of 1850 to put towards the universities. However, Texas's secession from the Union and the outbreak of the American Civil War prevented Congress from carrying out these plans.
After the war, the Constitution of 1866 mandated that the state establish the university "at an early day." The Constitution of 1876 finally called for the creation of a "university of the first class," The University of Texas. It revoked the endowment of the railroad lands of the Act of 1858, but appropriated one million acres West Texas. In 1883, another two million was granted, with income from the sale of or grazing rights to the land going to The University of Texas and Texas A&M College. The passing of the Morrill Act in 1862 had facilitated the construction of Texas A&M, established in 1876. In 1881, Austin was chosen as the site of the "Main University," and Galveston was designated the location of the "Medical Department." In addition, the legislature authorized a governing board of eight regents. An official ceremony began construction on what is now referred to as the Old Main Building in late 1882 on the original "College Hill." The university finally opened its doors on September 15, 1883."