Texas College

Texas College was established at Tyler in 1894 by ministers of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, now Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The school name was changed to Phillips University in 1909 and back to Texas College in 1912. The school was accredited as a junior college by the state department of education in 1924, was accredited as a four-year senior college in 1932, and was given class A rating by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1948. The school received formal academic accreditation from this organization in 1970 and again in 1974 and 1984. Predominantly a teacher-training institution, the college offers terminal and vocational courses and grants degrees in the liberal arts. In 1949 the school plant covered sixty-six acres and had thirty-five buildings. Enrollment for the 1949–50 term was 1,000. Especially concerned with the development of East Texas youths from limited financial backgrounds, Texas College provided financial aid through student loan and work-study programs. During the 1954–55 term the college had an enrollment of 676 and a faculty of forty-three. Twelve years later, during the 1966–67 term, enrollment was 455, and the faculty numbered thirty-one. The library had 53,973 volumes in 1969. The college housed one campus of the Tyler Junior College between 1946 and 1966. Texas College continued its relationship with the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and was a member of several college associations and councils. In 1965 the value of the physical plant exceeded $1,500,000. In 1974 the enrollment was 536, and the faculty numbered forty. Texas College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Association of Colleges and Universities, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the American Association of College and University Business Officers, the Texas Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the American Council on Education, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Texas Association of Developing Colleges, the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas, the United Negro College Fund, Incorporated, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. Noted for training in teacher education, home economics, and liberal arts, the school has recently added programs in art, business, computer science, social work, and social science. The B.S., B.A., and A.A. degrees are conferred. Students can choose between twenty different majors as well as preprofessional training in law, medicine, and the ministry. Ninety-five percent of the student population is African American. A four-year liberal arts institution, the college is organized into three divisions: Business and Social Sciences, Humanities and Education, and Natural and Computational Sciences. In the fall of 2010 there were forty-two faculty members and 757 students at the school. Texas College has been served by the following presidents: O. T. Womack (1895–1903), W. B. West (1903–05), S. W. Broome (1905–10), G. L. Tyus (1910–14), C. C. Neal (1914–15), Willette R. Banks (1915–26), C. C. Owens (1926–31), D. R. Glass (1931–61), R. L. Potts (1961–63), B. W. Doyle (1963–64), H. C. Savage (1964–67), A. C. Hancock (1967–80), J. E. Clark (1980–85), J. P. Jones (1985–86), D. H. Johnson (1986–90), M. S. Cherry (1990–92), A. C. Mitchell Patton (1992–94), Ronald Cunningham (1994), Haywood L. Strickland (1994–2000), and Billy C. Hawkins (2000-2007). Dwight J. Fennell became president in 2008.