Oil, Power, and Universities: Political Struggle and Academic Advancement at the University of Texas and Texas A&M, 1876-1965
Open Access
- Author:
- Richardson, Susan Ruth
- Graduate Program:
- Higher Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 23, 2005
- Committee Members:
- Roger Lewis Geiger, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
David Alexander Gamson, Committee Member
Nan Elizabeth Woodruff, Committee Member
Robert M Hendrickson, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Texas history and politics
history of higher education
research universities - Abstract:
- This study traced the development of the University of Texas (UT) and Texas A&M (A&M) from their establishment in the 1870s and 1880s to the gradual collapse of desegregation and oppressive governmental control in the early 1960s. UT and A&M did not begin to become competitive with public universities nationally until after the elimination of segregation and excessive government control in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Throughout the period under study, UT and Texas A&M were hampered by low state appropriations, hostility towards higher education within the state government, battles to gain control over the Permanent University Fund (PUF), segregation, and paranoia rooted in racism and anticommunism. These conditions inhibited research activity and the improvement of academic standards, limited access to higher education for Texans, and compromised academic freedom. In addition, debates at A&M regarding the legitimacy and practicality of an all-male student body (until 1963) and compulsory military training (abolished for the final time in 1965) overshadowed the institution's academic and research aspirations. The thesis analyzed the impact of state government on higher education in Texas. To a lesser extent, the study described the development of UT and A&M in relation to higher education in the United States between the 1880s and 1960s. Primary sources were consulted at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) in Austin, the University of Texas Center for American History (UTCAH) and the Cushing Archives at Texas A&M University. Conclusions related to Texas higher education and the nation were ascertained through examination of secondary literature and statistical materials drawn from the Report of the Commissioner of Education (1870 -- 1916), Biennial Survey of Educational Statistics (1918 -- 1958) and additional federal and state statistical reports