One fundamental question drove the changes of this era of Texas State’s history: What does our community need?
Every deliberate action was an expansion of our first mission, and every step we took added to the legacy that Bobcats carry forward today.
Texas State University got its start as an institution dedicated to serving the needs of the community by educating future teachers. The years from 1930 to 1959 were marked by the thoughtful expansion of this mission to meet the changing needs of our students and our region.
School administrators and classroom teachers were demanding more rigorous, advanced training in education. The Graduate School was created in 1935 to meet this challenge. The master of arts with a major in education was offered for the first time in the summer of 1936. The program stressed “particularly advanced training for administration, supervision, and more effective classroom teaching.”
In 1937, Margaret McClung Walker became the first graduate of the master’s program at Texas State. By 1950, spurred on by Texas Education Agency requirements and increased salaries for teachers, more than 800 graduate students were enrolled at Texas State, and a second degree — the master of education — was added. By 1959, more than 2,000 students had earned master’s degrees at TXST.
Bachelor’s degree programs also expanded during this time. There were students in the area who had career ambitions outside of education, and Texas State stepped up to serve them. In 1940, the requirements for education courses for all students were dropped and a bachelor of business administration degree was added. TXST students could now earn degrees in the arts, sciences, or business administration, or prepare for future careers in law or medicine with pre-professional study.
One of the fundamental principles guiding the college during this early period of transformation was to keep the needs of the people of Texas in mind:
Living in a changing world and with new demands made upon us from year to year, the staff is under obligation to revise and reorganize its program in terms of the changing needs of society.
The faculty and staff took this duty to “the needs and welfare of the student and of society” seriously. By 1959, when the college’s name was changed to Southwest Texas State College, students could choose their course of study from eight undergraduate degrees and more than a dozen majors, a substantial expansion from the two education degrees that were originally offered.
Though 75% of Texas State graduates at this time would go directly into teaching, the shift from a teacher-training college into the nationally recognized public university we are today had begun.
Texas State also made investments in growing and improving its physical space and its services to meet student needs.
The campus itself nearly doubled in size, from 28 acres in 1930 to 50 in 1959. The number of buildings on campus increased dramatically, from just a dozen to more than 100. More than 50 of these buildings provided residence facilities for all unmarried TXST students, and apartments were available for married students.
Health, counseling, and job placement services were also created or expanded during this era, paving the way for many of the services provided to TXST students today.
In 1927, a young Lyndon B. Johnson arrived in San Marcos with only $75. His decision to enroll at Texas State soon after arriving wouldn’t just change his life, it would set him on a course that ultimately led to the White House, where he would push for legislation that would improve the lives of generations of Americans.
Like many Bobcats today, Johnson was a busy student. In addition to his classes — he majored in history and double minored in English and social science — he worked his way through college.
“I worked at a dozen different jobs, from sweeping the floors to selling real silk socks. Sometimes I wondered what the next day would bring that could exceed the hardship of the day before.”
– Lyndon B. Johnson, reflecting on his time spent at TXST
He was also active in many campus clubs and organizations, serving as editor of The College Star, president of the Press Club, and as a member of the yearbook staff, the Harris-Blair Literary Society (now Pi Sigma Chi fraternity), and the varsity debate team, among many others.
In 1928, Johnson took a break from school to spend a year teaching mathematics and history at an elementary school in Cotulla, Texas. The experience had a profound impact on him. “And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American.”
By the time he graduated from Texas State in 1930 with bachelor of science and a permanent high school teaching certificate, Johnson was a firm believer in the power of education — not just to achieve individual success and personal fulfillment, but to strengthen and uplift the entire nation.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into World War II in December 1941 marked a turning point for the nation. Millions mobilized to support the war effort by serving in the armed forces or working at factories that manufactured materials for the war. Enrollment at Texas State fell to just 500 students at the height of the war.
Texas State’s involvement in WWII predated U.S. entry into the war. In 1939, foreseeing the need for trained pilots, the college partnered with the Civilian Aeronautics Authority in its program for civilian pilot training. About 700 students would receive their first flight training at Texas State.
In 1943, the 94th College Training Detachment (Aircrew) was activated at Texas State. Thirty faculty members devoted their time to teaching the trainees subjects that included physics, mathematics, history, geography, English, civil air regulations, and medical aid. Staff also managed the physical training and sports programs for the trainees.
In appreciation of its contribution to the war effort, Texas State was the first university in the country to receive a citation of merit from the War Department.
The effects of the war would be felt long after it ended. In 1951, Texas State became a member of the Air Force’s ROTC program, thanks in part to its experience during WWII. The program has been recognized as one of the top detachments in the nation and has produced many high-ranking distinguished alumni. Today, more than 100 cadets are enrolled in the program.
Dr. Empress Zedler came to Texas State in 1948 to establish the Speech and Hearing Clinic to study and treat speech and learning disorders. Just the second female faculty member to hold a Ph.D., her 30 years of service would have a lasting impact on TXST.
Dr. Zedler became an internationally known researcher and expert in the fields of child psychology and speech, language, and hearing disorders, and her pursuit of clinical research into learning disabilities led to one of the university's first federal research grant applications.
By 1956, the speech clinic at Texas State was identified as one of just 115 across the nation that was "qualified to train speech therapists and to grant basic certification in the American Speech and Hearing Association."
Today, the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic continues to provide comprehensive, state-of-the-art evaluation and intervention services to a wide range of clients in both San Marcos and Round Rock. Services in the clinic are supervised by licensed speech-language pathologists and audiologists and provided by TXST graduate students who are carrying on Dr. Zedler’s legacy.
Master’s degrees were introduced in the 1930s, and by 1959 graduate students — who were all receiving advanced training in education — could study subjects including industrial arts, health and physical education, history, English, speech and hearing therapy, biology, and chemistry.
Other graduate programs led to professional certification in agricultural education, business education, home economics education, and music education.
Undergraduate programs were expanded to serve students who desired to enter professions other than teaching. Degrees offered by 1959 included a bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, bachelor of science in education, bachelor of science in home economics, bachelor of science in industrial arts, bachelor of science in vocational agriculture, bachelor of music education, and bachelor of business administration.
Majors included art, biology, business administration, chemistry, economics, English, geography, German, government, health and physical education, history, journalism, mathematics, music, physics, sociology, Spanish, and speech.
TXST alum Milton Jowers returned to Texas State in 1946 to coach the basketball team until 1961. During his time at Texas State, Jowers also coached the football team and served as athletic director. Today, the Jowers Center bears his name.
During this time, Bobcats won a slew of Lone Star Conference titles:
Glass-bottom boats appeared for the first time on Spring Lake in 1946 when a member of the Rogers family, who owned the property and would later develop the Aquarena Springs theme park, rigged up a paddle boat and took family and friends to see the bubbling springs, plants, and animals of the lake.
In 1951 creator Anna Hyatt Huntington gifted this 17-foot-high aluminum sculpture to the university. The area around The Fighting Stallions is a popular gathering place for free speech activities today.
A one-of-a-kind Buck Winn mural was installed on the west wall of Flowers Hall during a 1958 renovation. Created with over 22 tons of concrete and standing over four stories high, the mural represents student academic pursuits in various fields of study, including theatre, music, art, and sciences.
For many years, campus tradition required freshmen to wear special caps, called beanies, to distinguish them from other students.
