The Long View

I came to Texas State in August 1975 as a recently minted Ph.D., lured by a temporary position as a history instructor. Within a year, I’d received an assignment to write a history of the university for Southwest Texas State’s 75th anniversary. Between that project, a brief appointment as the university’s first archivist, and a subsequent history book I wrote for the university centennial, I’ve found myself cast as TXST’s accidental institutional historian for the pas 50 years.

One of the most striking features of our history has been the consistent territorial expansion. The school began on 11 acres and expanded westward and southward in its first half-century to include property now associated with the “old campus.” But the dramatic growth was jump started in 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson gave the neighboring federal fish hatchery property to his alma mater. Since then, TXST has continued to grow with several major acquisitions. 

In 1979, President Dr. Lee H. Smith acquired the 79-acre San Marcos Baptist Academy between Comanche Street and Ranch Road 12, growing the campus by 50%. Smith also began negotiations with Harry Freeman for the donation of nearly 3,500 acres of ranchland about eight miles west of San Marcos. The deal was finalized during the presidency of Robert Hardesty, and the Freeman Center now hosts research endeavors, agricultural activities, and wildlife habitat. 

During the 1990s, President Jerome Supple completed the purchase of the former Aquarena Springs amusement park. The university turned the facility and adjacent Spring Lake into a research center focused on water resources. While conducting important environmental research, the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment still offers the famous glass-bottom boat tours traversing the clear waters of Spring Lake. 

TXST’s most recent major property acquisition was the Round Rock Campus. In 2003, the Avery family donated the 101 acres that now form the core of the campus. It’s well worth the trip up Interstate 35 to observe the latest developments in Round Rock. President Kelly Damphousse, our 10th president, envisions Round Rock as a center for growth and has set a goal of making it a 10,000-student campus by 2030. 

These territorial acquisitions have changed the character and the mission of TXST. We’re now a major research institution with doctoral degrees and innovative interdisciplinary programs. I’ve never regretted my decision to come to San Marcos, as I’ve had an opportunity to watch and participate in an institution that has more than tripled in size and vastly expanded opportunities for our students. Considering the university’s trajectory over the past 50 years, I can’t wait to see what transpires by the time we reach our 150th anniversary in another 25 years. 

Dr. Brown is a professor of American history and the author of Up the Hill, Down the Years: A Century in the Life of the College in San Marcos, Southwest Texas State University, 1899-1999.

In the summer of 1985, I packed up my 1976 Buick Regal and headed off from Smithville to Southwest Texas State University. I had considered University of Texas, Rice, and other places, but my ties to SWT went all the way back to 1921 when my grandmother, Irene Preuss Rohde, received her teaching certificate from Southwest Texas State Normal College. 

I remember trying to find my way as a first-generation college student. I lived in Arnold Hall for four straight years, the first semester with my high school buddy and later with Andy Upton, who would become one of my best friends. In fact, we both have children who ended up attending TXST. 

The first thing I think about when I discuss our university is the core value of student success. Being from a small town, I will always remember how each professor was there for me through undergraduate studies, my master’s degree, and later my Ph.D. 

TXST has grown into a big university, but it still feels small, like a family. My wife, Bonnie, who I met in Smithville over one summer, also attended Texas State, and our kids attended multiple Texas State summer camps while growing up in Kyle. 

Texas State has become part of my DNA, a strand linking pivotal moments in my personal life and professional success. When I was a junior, I became the first TXST student to receive a course credit for a summer internship, which I completed at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Science Park. The experience inspired me to believe I could be a scientist and researcher. It was OK that I was from a small town and a first-generation student. TXST gave me the tools and network to succeed in any environment. 

After completing my master’s degree with a virology focus, I worked in public health as a microbiologist and molecular epidemiologist for a decade. I came full circle in 2002, returning to TXST as an assistant professor in the medical laboratory science (MLS) program in the College of Health Professions. Along the way, I earned my Ph.D. from the College of Education, APCE, while also obtaining tenure and eventually becoming chair of the MLS program and serving as the longest tenured research dean for our college. 

The greatest joy I now have is that I can pay it forward as a mentor for my students. I hope some of them come to view TXST as home in the same way that I do. 

Dr. Rohde is a Regent’s Professor in the College of Health Professions.

From the moment I arrived at Texas State 35 years ago, the university has been more than just a workplace for me. It’s been a dynamic environment where my passion for education and commitment to students have flourished. Watching TXST grow from a campus of 10,000 students to a vibrant institution of nearly 40,000 has been nothing short of remarkable. 

Longtime Journalism Chair Roger Bennett recruited me to TXST in 1989. Since then, I’ve watched the small Journalism Department grow into the School of Journalism and Mass Communication offering a range of degrees—from advertising to digital media innovation to a master’s in mass communication. Through it all, this large academic unit still feels like an extension of my personal family. 

I have the privilege of teaching about 400 students each semester. Each class, each discussion, and each interaction has been a two-way exchange where I hope to impart knowledge and skills while learning from my students’ perspectives and experiences. The growth I have witnessed in my students—from their initial curiosity to their eventual personal and professional achievements—has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career. 

As an African American educator, I feel great personal pride in TXST’s legacy of civil rights and affiliation with Lyndon B. Johnson. President Johnson championed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and his commitment to equality and social justice resonates deeply with the ethos of our institution and with my very soul. LBJ’s “Great Society” is, in large part, the reason I’m able to teach at this prestigious institution. 

Looking ahead, I am filled with anticipation. As the university continues to evolve, I’m excited to contribute to its progress, to mentor new generations of students, and to uphold the values that have defined my 35-year tenure here. I hope to one day fully live up to the faith that Dr. Bennett saw in me in 1989. 

Dr. Fluker is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Shortly after I arrived at Southwest Texas State University in 1991, I noticed that our graduate program was different than the one up the road in Austin. At the University of Texas, where I earned my doctorate in colonial Latin American history, we were all full-time “traditional” students. We either already had our master’s degrees or were going directly into the Ph.D. program from undergraduate studies. 

In contrast, the master’s program in San Marcos had a considerable number of part-time students. Some students were not even history majors but graduate students in education who were interested in history as a secondary field. Many of my master’s students drove in for evening classes that started at 6:30 and lasted for three hours. 

I came to admire the sacrifices and dedication of these students, particularly those looking to make history a second (or third) career after retiring from jobs in other fields. Of these, I found veterans, both career military and those moving on after one or two enlistments, particularly motivated students. They had drive, discipline, and maturity. Even when they didn’t get the highest grades, their effort showed. 

Occasionally, I run into an alum of our graduate program. One just won a teaching award from the Texas State Historical Association for her work at Sul Ross State University. Another recently got an adjunct teaching position at Texas A&M-San Antonio. One, who teaches at Texas Southern, just won an award for his book on Mexican American education history. Another student, who served as an instructional assistant long ago, chaired the History Department at Texas A&M in College Station. Other former graduate students are working at the Texas Historical Commission and in school districts around the state. 

I am very proud of these alumni because they represent two important traditions at Texas State—empowering Texans from all walks of life to pursue impactful careers and producing history educators. LBJ was, after all, a history major. I like to think his history education stayed with him as he advanced educational opportunities throughout his political career. This is something that our graduates are doing every day throughout the Lone Star State, and something for which we should all feel proud. 

Dr. de la Teja taught in the Department of History from 1991 to 2017, including five years as director of the Center for Southwest Studies. The author and editor of numerous books on Tejano history, he served as Texas State Historian from 2007–09 and is a former executive director of the Texas State Historical Association.