Texas College

Historically Black college in Tyler, Texas, US

Texas College

Former names

| Phillips University (1909–1912)
Motto| Per lumen scientiae viam invenient populi (Latin)

Motto in English

| "Give The People Light, and They Will Find Their Way"
Type| Private historically black college
Established| 1894; 131 years ago (1894)

Religious affiliation

| Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Academic affiliations

| CIC
UNCF
Endowment| $8.2M (2021)
President| Dwight J. Fennell, Sr.
Students| 972
Location|

Tyler, Texas

U.S.

32°22′32″N 95°18′45″W﻿ / ﻿32.3756°N 95.3124°W﻿ / 32.3756; -95.3124
Colors| Purple and gold

Nickname| Steers

Sporting affiliations

| NAIA – RRAC (primary)
NAIA – Sooner (football)
Mascot| Steers
Website| texascollege.edu

Texas College is a private, historically black Christian Methodist Episcopal college in Tyler, Texas. It is affiliated with the United Negro College Fund. It was founded in 1894 by a group of ministers affiliated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, a predominantly black denomination, which was at the time known as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. They planned to provide for education of African-American students, who were excluded from the segregated university system of Texas. They planned a full literary, scientific, and classical education for theology, normal training of lower-school teachers, music, commercial and industrial training, and agricultural and mechanical sciences.

## History

[edit]

On January 9, 1894, Texas College was founded by a group of ministers affiliated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, a black denomination. They planned a full, co-educational college to serve people in East Texas.

On June 12, 1909, the name of the college was changed from Texas College to Phillips University. It was named for Bishop Henry Phillips and his leadership. The name reversal occurred in 1910 at the Third Annual Conference of the church. In May 1912, the college was officially renamed Texas College. The subsequent years of the college were spent with refinements and enhancements of the educational enterprise.

In 1948, the D.R. Glass Library was built and designed by McKissack & McKissack, and it is a NRHP-listed building.[1]

The Articles of Incorporation reflect such efforts with modifications and amendments during periods 1909 to 1966. The college today is open to all individuals without discrimination on the grounds of national origin, race, religion, or sex. It is authorized to offer instruction in the areas of arts and sciences, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, preparation of teachers, and the provision of instructional supports, to those in pursuit of an education.

## List of presidents

[edit]

* Rev. O. T. Womack (1895–1903)[2][3]
* W. B. West (1903–1905)[2][3]
* S. W. Broome (1905–1910)[2]
* George L. Tyus (1910–1914)[2][4]
* C. C. Neal (1914–1915)[2]
* Willette R. Banks (1915–1926)[2]
* C. C. Owens (1926–1931)[2]
* Dominion Robert Glass (1931–1961)[5]
* R. L. Potts (1961–1963)
* B. W. Doyle (1963–1964)
* H. C. Savage (1964–1967)
* A. C. Hancock (1967–1980)
* J. E. Clark (1980–1985)
* J. P. Jones (1985–1986)
* D. H. Johnson (1986–1990)
* M. S. Cherry (1990–1992)[2]
* A. C. Mitchell Patton (1992–1994)[2]
* Ronald McKinley Cunningham (1994, interim president)[6]
* Haywood L. Strickland (1994–2000),[7]
* Billy C. Hawkins (2000–2007),
* Dwight J. Fennell (2008–present)[8]

## Academics

[edit]

Texas College offers bachelor's degree programs in biology, business administration, criminal justice, computer science, English, interdisciplinary studies (teacher certification), mathematics, music, liberal studies, religion, social work, and sociology. Also available are associate of arts degrees in early childhood education and general studies, as well as a post-baccalaureate alternative certification teacher education program for people with bachelor's degrees.[9]

According to the US Department of Education's College Scorecard, the college has a 24% graduation rate, defined as the percentage of students who graduate within eight years of their first enrollment at the college. This rate compares to the median average of 58% graduation rate for US four-year colleges overall. [10]

## Athletics

[edit]

The Texas College athletic teams are called the Steers. The college is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, primarily competing in the Red River Athletic Conference for most of their sports since the 1998–99 academic year; its football team competes in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC). The Steers previously competed as a founding member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) from 1920–21 to 1961–62, which is currently an NCAA Division I FCS athletic conference.

Texas College competes in 12 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, and track and field; women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, track and field, and volleyball.

### Football

[edit]

Texas College was a member of the SWAC from 1920 to 1961 (41 years). Texas College was the SWAC football champion in 1934, 1935, 1936, and 1942, and three-way champion with Wiley College and Langston University in 1944, finishing the season with a conference record of 5–1 and an overall record of 8–1. The last SWAC football victory was against Prairie View A&M University in 2003 by a score of 21 to 10.

Its football team was revived as an official sport in 2004, and competed in the Central States Football League (CSFL). The Texas College football team won two CSFL Conference co-championships in 2005 and 2006. In 2018, the Texas College football team joined the SAC as an associate member.

## Student life

[edit]

### Residence halls

[edit]

Texas College constructed a new residence hall, the Living and Learning Center, that opened in 2016. Residence halls also include the Daniel and the Maddie A. Fair Residence Hall, which was renovated in 2016, as well.[11]

### Greek organizations

[edit]

Texas College has eight of the nine National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations on campus.

## Notable alumni

[edit]

Name  | Class Year  | Notability  | Reference(s)

|
|
|

Irma P. Hall | 1956  | Poet and stage and film actress; nominated and has received NAACP Image Award for best supporting actress for her role in Soul Food. In 2004, won Prixe du Jury from Cannes Film Festival for her performance in The Ladykillers; inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2005; co-founder of the Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre  | [12]
Jesse W. Jones  | 1954  | Professor of chemistry at Baylor University and a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1992 to 2006  | [citation needed]
Mildred Fay Jefferson | 1944  | The first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School, the first woman to graduate in surgery from Harvard Medical School, and the first woman to become a member of the Boston Surgical Society  | [13]
Lenton Malry | 1957  | The first African American to serve in the New Mexico House of Representatives (1969–1979) and on the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners (1981–1989)  | [14]

## Notable faculty

[edit]

Department  | Name  | Notability  | Reference(s)

|
|
|

Home economics  | Willie Lee Dorothy Campbell Glass | American educator, founded the home economics department at the college, married the president of the college, Dominion Robert Glass, in 1936  | [15]
Head of the humanities division  | Lena Beatrice Morton | American educator and literary scholar, was recipient of the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award for excellence in teaching, was a life fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters in Switzerland, author of Negro Poetry in America (1925), Farewell to the Public Schools, I'm Glad We Met: A Handbook for Teachers (1952), Man Under Stress (1960), Patterns of Language Usage, My First Sixty Years: Passion for Wisdom (1965), and The Influence of the Sea Upon English Poetry from the Anglo-Saxon to the Victorian Period (1976), graduated from the University of Cincinnati and was a founding member of the school's first African-American Greek organization, Zeta chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, earned her PhD from Case Western Reserve University in 1947, is featured in vol. 6 of African American National Biography, edited by H. L. Gates, Jr. and E. B. Higginbotham  | [16]

## See also

[edit]

* Butler College

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Glass, D.R., Library at Texas College". NPGallery, Digital Asset Management System.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Young, Nancy. "Texas College". Handbook of Texas Online (TSHA). Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
3. ^ a b Phillips, Charles Henry (1925). The History of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America: Comprising Its Organization, Subsequent Development and Present Status. Publishing House C.M.E. Church. p. 587.
4. ^ "Haygood Seminary's history and influence". Arkansas Online. 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
5. ^ Davis, Camille. "Glass, Dominion Robert". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).
6. ^ "Obituary of Bishop Ronald McKinley Cunningham". Black and Clark Funeral Home. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
7. ^ "Haywood Strickland Leaving Wiley College in Good Hands". Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. 2018-07-06. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
8. ^ Waters, Betty (2015-10-01). "Texas College president challenges faculty, staff to rethink how they fulfill their mission". TylerPaper.com. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
9. ^ Texas College Catalog
10. ^ "Texas College". College Scorecard, US Department of Education. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
11. ^ "Residential Life Handbook" (PDF).[permanent dead link]
12. ^ Jones, Chelsea (April 1, 2014). "The Original Big Mama: Actress Irma P. Hall Reflects on 40+ Years in Drama". The Washington Informer.
13. ^ McManus, Otile (December 5, 1976). "Dr. Jefferson and her fight against abortion". Boston Sunday Globe. p. A9 – via Newspapers.com (Publisher Extra). Note, this is the first part of the article, which is continued on page A17.
14. ^ "Lenton Malry's Biography". The HistoryMakers. July 22, 2019. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
15. ^ Holmgren, David (July 30, 2021). "Campbell Glass, Willie Lee Dorothy". Iowa State University Biographical Dictionary.
16. ^ "People" Jet (June 8, 1967): 44.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Texas College.

* Official website
* Athletics website
* Texas College from the Handbook of Texas Online

* v
* t
* e

Tyler, Texas

Education|

| K-12|

* Tyler ISD
* Tyler HS
* Tyler Legacy HS
* Chapel Hill ISD
* Whitehouse ISD
* Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Catholic
* All Saints Episcopal
* Grace Community School

|

Tertiary|

* University of Texas at Tyler
* Tyler Junior College
* Texas College
* Butler College (Closed)

Transportation|

* Tyler Pounds Regional Airport

Landmarks|

* Broadway Square Mall
* Caldwell Zoo
* UT Health East Texas - North Campus

Culture|

* Texas Rose Festival

This list is incomplete.

* v
* t
* e

Private colleges and universities in Texas

* Abilene Christian University
* Amberton University
* Arlington Baptist University
* Austin College
* Baylor University
* Fisher More College
* Concordia University Texas
* Dallas Baptist University
* Dallas Christian College
* Dallas Theological Seminary
* Dallas International University
* East Texas Baptist University
* Hardin-Simmons University
* Houston Christian University
* Howard Payne University
* Huston–Tillotson University
* Jarvis Christian University
* The King's University
* LeTourneau University
* Lubbock Christian University
* McMurry University
* Nelson University
* North American University
* Northwood University
* Our Lady of the Lake University
* Paul Quinn College
* Rice University
* St. Edward's University
* St. Mary's University
* Schreiner University
* Southern Methodist University
* Southwestern Adventist University
* Southwestern Christian College
* Southwestern University
* Texas Christian University
* Texas College
* Texas Lutheran University
* Texas Wesleyan University
* Trinity University
* University of Dallas
* University of Mary Hardin–Baylor
* University of St. Thomas
* University of the Incarnate Word
* Wayland Baptist University
* Wiley University

* Private junior colleges: Bay Ridge Christian College
* Jacksonville College

* v
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Historically black colleges and universities (List)

Public
institutions|

* Alabama A&M
* Alabama State
* Albany State
* Alcorn State
* Arkansas–Pine Bluff
* Bishop State CC
* Bluefield State
* Bowie State
* Central State
* Cheyney
* Coahoma CC
* Coppin State
* Delaware State
* Elizabeth City State
* Fayetteville State
* Florida A&M
* Fort Valley State
* Gadsden State CC
* Grambling State
* Harris–Stowe
* Hinds CC
* Jackson State
* Kentucky State
* Langston
* Lincoln, Missouri
* Lincoln, Pennsylvania
* Maryland, Eastern Shore
* Mississippi Valley State
* Morgan State
* Norfolk State
* North Carolina A&T
* North Carolina Central
* Prairie View A&M
* Savannah State
* Shelton State CC
* South Carolina State
* Southern
* Southern–New Orleans
* Southern–Shreveport
* Tennessee State
* Texas Southern
* UDC/UDC-CC
* UVI
* Virginia State
* West Virginia State
* Winston-Salem State

Private
institutions|

* Allen
* Arkansas Baptist
* Barber–Scotia
* Benedict
* Bennett
* Bethune–Cookman
* Claflin
* Clark Atlanta
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* Edward Waters
* Fisk
* Florida Memorial University
* Hampton
* Howard
* Huston–Tillotson
* Interdenominational Theological Center
* Jarvis Christian
* Johnson C. Smith
* Knoxville
* Lane
* LeMoyne–Owen
* Livingstone
* Meharry
* Miles
* Morehouse
* Morehouse School of Medicine
* Morris Brown
* Morris
* Oakwood
* Paine
* Paul Quinn
* Pensole Lewis
* Philander Smith
* Rust
* Selma
* Shaw
* Simmons College (Ky.)
* Southwestern Christian
* Spelman
* Stillman
* St. Augustine's
* Talladega
* Texas College
* Tougaloo
* Tuskegee
* Virginia Union
* Virginia University
* Voorhees
* Wilberforce
* Wiley
* Xavier (Louisiana)

Defunct
institutions|

* Bishop
* Booker T. Washington
* Carver
* Central Mississippi College
* Collier-Blocker
* Concordia Alabama
* Daniel Payne
* Frelinghuysen
* Georgia Baptist
* Gibbs
* Guadalupe
* Hampton
* Haygood Seminary
* Immanuel Lutheran
* Jackson
* Johnson
* Kittrell
* Lincoln Junior College
* Louisville Municipal
* Luther
* Miner Teachers College
* Mississippi Industrial College
* Morristown
* Mount Hermon Female Seminary
* New Orleans University
* Roosevelt
* Rosenwald
* Saint Paul's
* SCSU Law School
* Storer
* Straight
* Suwannee River
* Terrell Law School
* Turner
* Volusia County
* Western

Law Schools|

* David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC)
* Florida A&M University College of Law
* Howard University School of Law
* North Carolina Central University School of Law
* Southern University Law Center
* Thurgood Marshall School of Law (Texas Southern)

Consortia|

* Atlanta University Center
* Florida's Black Junior Colleges
* Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
* Southwestern Athletic Conference
* Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
* Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
* HBCU Athletic Conference

* v
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Red River Athletic Conference

* UHV Jaguars
* Huston–Tillotson Rams
* Jarvis Christian Bulldogs
* Louisiana Christian Wildcats
* LSU–Alexandria Generals
* LSU–Shreveport Pilots
* North American Stallions
* OLLU Saints
* Paul Quinn Tigers
* UWS Mustangs
* TAMU–SA Jaguars
* TAMUT Eagles
* Texas College Steers
* Xavier Gold Rush

* v
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Sooner Athletic Conference

Full members|

* Central Christian Tigers
* Ozarks Bobcats
* John Brown Golden Eagles
* Langston Lions
* Mid-America Christian Evangels
* Nelson Lions
* Oklahoma City Stars
* Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies
* Southwestern Christian Eagles
* Texas Wesleyan Rams
* UNT Dallas Trailblazers
* USAO Drovers
* Wayland Baptist Pioneers

Associate members|

* Arkansas Baptist Buffaloes
* Cleary Cougars
* Indiana Tech Warriors
* Louisiana Christian Wildcats
* Lourdes Gray Wolves
* Ottawa Spirit
* Rochester Warriors
* Texas College Steers

Authority control databases |

* ISNI

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