In the beginning, as now, politicians were all talk and no action about creating a first-rate school for higher learning.

 On March 2, 1836, Texicans drafted their Declaration of Independence from Mexico. One of their grievances against the Mexican government was a public education system. Once Texas gained its independence and documents were written about the importance of education, it took political leaders 44 years to open the University of Texas.  

U.T. leadership learned that the goal of “first class” is noble but challenging. As U.T. leadership learned, “true eminence…. is not provided by constitutional provisions alone.” It takes a committed Board of Regents, Texas Legislature, President, Chancellor, students, and faculty working together to reach the goals established by the Declaration of Independence and official Texas Constitution.

In 1839 the Texas congress set aside 50 leagues of land to be used for a university and another college. However, nothing happened on this land for 29 years.

In 1859 before the Civil War, the Legislature established the University of Texas “to place within reach of our people, whether rich or poor,….a thorough education.” 

In 1866 the constitution ordered the rapid establishment of a University. 

In 1876 the constitution was re-written. The Legislature shall, as soon as practicable, establish, organize, and provide for the maintenance, support, and direction of a university of the first class to be located by a vote of the people of this state and styled “The University of Texas” for the promotion of literature, and the arts and sciences, including an agricultural and mechanical department. To fund the University, the Legislature gave UT 2,108,966 acres of “worthless” land in West Texas. 

1882

The Old Main Cornerstone | The UT History Corner (jimnicar.com)

1883- There was only one building on the 40-acre tract. 13 professors, most of them recruited from the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina, taught two hundred and eighteen students 50 courses in two departments, “academic” and “law.” 

On Friday, November 17, 1882, in defiance of the raw elements, a crowd of several thousand turned out in Austin to watch the laying of the cornerstone for the University of Texas. Just before noon, a parade assembled at the head of Congress Avenue in front of the Capitol grounds. The place was nearly vacant. The old capitol had burned almost a year ago, and construction of a grand new building had yet to begin.

Leading off the parade was the famous George Herzog Marching Band. With their crisp, red, and gold uniforms and brass horns, the group splashed through the muddy streets playing “souls stirring and foot-stomping music.” Behind them, a long procession of horse-drawn carriages carried the governor, the University regents, the Mayor of Austin, and other state and city dignitaries. Many of the city’s civic groups followed on foot, dressed in uniform or their finest attire. The United Order of Workmen and the Knights of Pythias joined the Knights of Honor members. The polished wagons of the Austin Fire Department came next, along with the Germania Association and the Austin Greys.

At the west entrance to the campus along Guadalupe Street, the procession was met by Austin schoolchildren, who joined the group as it climbed the hill. The assemblage gathered near the top, where the foundation had been laid for the west wing of the University’s first building.

1916

The University was underfunded, and it was evident that the state legislature was not dedicated to a Great University. World War I decimated the campus, and shacks more than classrooms populated the 40 acres. U.T. was an eyesore ignored by the U.T. legislature. In 1916 U.T. geologists believed that Oil was underneath the barren West Texas land, and investors sought to drill an exploratory well.

1923

In 1923 The New York investors drilled for Oil on U.T. West Texas land. They named the first rig Santa Rita after the Saint of the Impossible. On May 28, 1923, Santa Rita blew in; 2007, the Permanent University Fund “PUF” was 11.7 billion dollars.