History of Texas A&M University–Commerce

The history of Texas A&M University–Commerce began in 1889 when William L. Mayo founded a private teachers' college named East Texas Normal College in Cooper, Texas. After the original campus was destroyed in a fire in July 1894, the college relocated to Commerce. In 1917, the State of Texas purchased and transformed it into a state college, and renamed it East Texas State Normal College. Mayo died of a sudden heart attack the same day the Texas Legislature voted to buy the college, and he never heard the news. In 1923, it was renamed East Texas State Teachers College to define its purpose "more clearly", and in 1935 it began its graduate education program. From the 1920s through the 1960s, the college grew consistently, in terms of student enrollment, number of faculty, and size of the physical plant. The school was renamed East Texas State College in 1957, after the Legislature recognized its broadening scope beyond teacher education. It integrated in 1964 when ordered to do so by the Board of Regents. It was renamed East Texas State University in 1965, after the establishment of the institution's first doctoral program in 1962. While the student body shrank in size in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it became increasingly diverse as older non-traditional students, ethnic and racial minorities, and international students all grew in numbers. The economic downturn in Texas in the mid-1980s seriously threatened the university, leading to proposals to close it entirely before a bus trip with 450 supporters trekked to the State Capitol in a show of support that ultimately secured its continued existence. The university was renamed Texas A&M University–Commerce and admitted into the Texas A&M University System in 1996. Since 2000, growth in student enrollment has again become consistent. The university is a charter member of the Lone Star Conference (LSC), and has won NAIA national championships in football and men's basketball. Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Sam Rayburn is perhaps its most famous alumnus.