Legislated to Be Great

The University of Texas was legislated to be great.

As any Texan worth his Charlie Dunn boots will tell you, Texas is the only state in this country that was ever its own sovereign nation. And when the Texians drafted their Declaration of Independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, high on their list of grievances was the failure of the Mexican government to "... establish any public system of education...."

After Texas won its independence, education was a top priority to the founders of the Republic ... or so they said, again and again, yet it took Texas 44 years before they managed to open The University of Texas.

In 1838, President of the Republic Mirabeau Lamar urged Congress to establish a system of education, saying, "Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy," a quote The University later borrowed for its motto. The 1839 Congress of the Republic set aside 50 leagues of land to be used for a university and another public college.

Then, in a foreshadowing of the habits of future Texas legislators, nothing happened. For 29 more years.

After Texas became a state in 1845, the legislature allocated more land — some for railroads — and $100,000 in bonds, but with Texas' entry into the Civil War, those plans were shelved and the funds were spent.

The Constitution of 1866 ordered the rapid establishment of a university. Evidently, "rapid" had a different meaning in the 19th century.

Finally, the Constitution of 1876, under which the state of Texas still operates, directed the Legislature to "establish ... and provide for the maintenance, support, and direction of a University of the first class ... styled 'The University of Texas.'"

All true orange-bloods have committed that phrase to memory and taken it to heart.

This Constitution gave Texas an additional million acres of public land for the endowment and support of The University. It also made the Agricultural and Mechanical College, established in 1871, a branch of The University of Texas. Most Longhorns have that part memorized, too.

By 1881, towns around the state were lobbying to be the home of the new university. The location would be determined by a vote of the people, and the campaigning turned decidedly negative.

One Waco newspaper wrote, "Waco is free from distracting scenes and corrupting influences and feverish excitement of the political capital, with its multitudinous temptations to lure the young into the paths of vice." Well, yeah. What more could you want in a college town?

The Tyler Courier warned of "drunken legislators, Mexican fandangos, and the Austin mosquitoes...."

Austin was ultimately selected as the site for The University, and in his last message on education to the state legislature, Governor O.M. Roberts declared, "Therefore, I repeat that it cannot be that the people of this state will allow The University of Texas to be anything below first class, as required by the Constitution. Let The University and its branches be more amply endowed, organized, and put in full operation as a first class University ... then, after a time, future generations will proudly point to The University of Texas as the brightest jewel of our greatness as a people and State."

And so it shall remain.

Worship at the Shrine of "Santa Rita"

Don't visit the Santa Rita rig on a game day. The oil-drilling rig sits at the corner of San Jacinto and Martin Luther King Boulevard, a main gateway to Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium. It's crowded and noisy and busy, not an appropriate atmosphere in which to soak in the magnitude of the rig's impact. It would be like trying to pray in the Alamo Shrine while surrounded by rowdy tourists who don't have enough reverence or sense to remove their gimme caps.

It's easy to ignore the primitive structure with its oil-soaked timbers and to overlook the plaques that bear its condensed history. On game day, not many of the orange-clad revelers streaming toward the stadium will take time to stop, put down their beer cans, and pay attention.

But this crude rig changed everything — everything — about Longhorn football, about The University of Texas, about the city of Austin, and about the state of Texas. It affected the fortunes of our education, our commerce, and our culture. It certainly changed our attitudes.

We are who we are today...