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Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University

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Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), founded in 1876 is a historically black university located in Prairie View, Texas and is a member of the Texas A&M University System. Prairie View A&M University is the second oldest institution of higher education in Texas. With an established reputation for producing engineers, nurses and educators, PVAMU offers baccalaureate degrees in 39 academic majors, 31 master’s degrees and four doctoral degree programs through nine colleges and schools. PVAMU is dedicated to fulfilling its land-grant mission of achieving excellence in teaching, research and service. It is also a school with a long and proud military tradition, producing some of the foremost minority Generals in both the Army and Navy.

Prairie View A&M University has been accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as a comprehensive public institution of higher education authorized to award Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees since 1934.[link] It is a land-grant university authorized under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Acts of 1862 and 1890. The main campus is located in Waller County approximately 40 miles northwest of Houston and one mile north of US Highway 290 on Farm Road 1098. The College of Nursing facility is located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. Though the University’s service area has generally extended throughout Texas and the world, the University’s target service area includes the Texas Gulf Coast Region, i.e., Waller, Harris, Montgomery, Washington, Grimes, Fort Bend, Galveston, Jefferson, Chambers, Liberty, Colorado, Wharton, Brazoria, and Austin Counties; the rapidly growing residential and commercial area known as the Northwest Houston Corridor as noted in the original Texas Plan; and urban Texas centers likely to benefit from Prairie View A&M University’s specialized programs and services in juvenile justice, architecture, teacher education, social work, and the food, agricultural and natural resource sciences. Prairie View A&M University is authorized to offer a number of undergraduate and graduate degree programs at distant sites.

Prairie View A&M University prides itself on its core values of:

Contents

History

Establishment-1876

Prairie View A&M University, the first state supported College in Texas for African Americans, was established during the Reconstruction Period after the Civil War. This was an historical period in which political and economic special interest groups were able to aggressively use the Federal Government to establish public policy, in an attempt to "alter or reshape the cultural milieu of the vanquished southern states". The University had its beginnings in the Texas Constitution of 1876, which, in separate articles, established an "Agricultural and Mechanical College" and pledged that "Separate schools shall be provided for the white and colored children, and impartial provisions shall be made for both." As a consequence of these constitutional provisions, the Fifteenth Legislature established "Alta Vista Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth" on August 14,1876.

Enrollment of the First Students-1878

The Board of Directors purchased the lands of the Alta Vista Plantation (1388 acres), from Mrs. Helen Marr Kirby, the widow of the late Col. Jared Ellison Kirby, for the establishment of the State Agriculture & Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth. The College was named "Alta Vista Agriculture & Mechanical College for Colored Youth". The A&M Board of Directors was authorized to appoint a President of A&M College and Alta Vista College with an assigned principal station at Alta Vista to administer the college's day to day affairs. Confederate President Jefferson Davis recommended Mr. Thomas S. Gathright of Mississippi, also from Mississippi and he brought Mr. L.W. Minor, of Mississippi to serve as Principal. Eight young African American men, the first of their race to enroll in a state-supported college in Texas, began their studies on March 11, 1878.

Names Given to the University-1998

The Fifteenth Legislature August 14,1876 - established "Alta Vista Agriculture & Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth"; The Sixteenth Legislature April 19, 1879 - established "Prairie View State Normal School" in Waller County for the Training of Colored Teachers; The Twentieth Legislature in 1887 attached the Agriculture & Mechanical Department to Prairie View Normal School; The Twenty -Six Legislature in 1899 changed the name to "Prairie View State Normal & Industrial College"; The Forty-ninth Legislature June 1, 1945 changed the name to "Prairie View University" ; The Fiftieth Legislature March 3, 1947 established "The Texas State University for Negroes (Texas Southern University) and changed the name of Prairie View University to "Prairie View Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas" ; The sixty-third Legislature in 1973 changed the name to "Prairie View A&M University".

Today

The University's enrollment now exceeds 8,000 including more than 2,000 graduate students. Students come from throughout the United States as well as many foreign countries. In the last five years, 5,970 degrees were awarded, including more than 2,400 graduate degrees. During the University's 130-year history, some 46,000 academic degrees have been awarded.

Presidents of Prairie View A&M University

Organization

The University offers a broad range of academic programs through the following administrative units:

Athletics

right
Prairie View A&M University offers a wide variety of varsity and intramural sports programs.

Prairie View A&M University plays it archrival the Texas Southern University Tigers in the annual Labor Day Classic in Houston at Reliant Stadium. Students, alumni, and friends of the annual Labor Day Classic also enjoy the battle of the bands between the Texas Southern University Ocean of Soul and the Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm, two of the countries premier bands. Prairie View A&M University's colors are purple and gold.

Varsity Sports

Men's and women's athletics teams at the University are nicknamed the Panthers. Prairie View A&M is a charter member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Prairie View competes in the West division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference in Division I-AA (football), and Division I-A in all other varsity sports. The women's basketball team received national attention in 2005 with the naming of Cynthia Cooper as the women's head basketball coach. Cooper is a two time WNBA MVP. Cooper brings a wealth of knowledge, connections and expertise to the women's basketball program.

Men's varsity sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, and track and field. Women's varsity sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

The Band-Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm

The Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm is the university's official marching band. The marching band is under the direction of Prof. George W. Edwards. The Marching Storm has earned a reputation as one of the best bands in the land, and has received many accolades for its outstanding performances and showmanship. The Marching Storm is joined by the renowned Black Foxxes, the university majorettes. The Black Foxxes are known for their energetic, yet classy and elegant performance style. The band has performed at such high-profile events as President George W. Bush’s 2001 Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C., and the Dallas Cowboys' 2004 Thanksgiving Day game. The band has been selected as one of the top 10 marching bands in the country by the Historically Black Colleges and Universities to participate in the Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase in Atlanta, Georgia.

Student Life

The University enrolls 6,324 undergraduate students, and 1,758 graduate students who come from all U.S. states, and countries througout the world. Currently 56% of the students are female, and 44% are men.

The University sits on a beautiful 1509 acre campus in Prairie View, TX. The University is only a short drive from Houston, TX, the country's fourth largest city. Prairie View's beautiful campus is considered one of the finest of member institutions in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Prairie View A&M University has some of the best on campus housing communities of any Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Students at Prairie View A&M University live in on campus housing owned by American Campus Communities. Freshman students live in the University College community on campus. Upper classmen live in all apartment style living. They can either live in University Village Phase I, II, or III. The first of these apartment buildings were built in 1998.

Greek Life

The university welcomes a very rich Greek life. All nine members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council are represented at PVAMU. Greek Life at Prairie View A&M University is a very well respected and notable entity. Sororities, notably, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Delta Sigma Theta generally have over 300 young ladies interested in each sorority each year. PVU's chapter of Zeta phi Beta is considered to be the largest undergraduate Z phi B Chapter in Texas, and maybe the United States. This large interest often creates large lines and very well respected chapters. Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., the nations premier black fraternity is also highly respected on campus. Its chapters generally have the highest GPA's of any chapter in Texas. However, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity remains as the number one and most respected fraternity on campus.

The University Alma Mater

"Dear Prairie View"

Dear Prairie View, our song to thee we raise in gratitude, we sing our hymn of praise, For mem'ries dear, for friends and recollections, For lessons learned while here we've lived with thee, For these we pledge our hearts full of devotion, To serve thee now, and through eternity.

As days go by, our hearts will not grow cold, We'll love thy purple royal and they gold, We'll through our lives exemplify they teachings, We'll always strive a blessing be. Thy children we our love and pride confessing, We'll love thee now, and through eternity.

Words by O. Anderson Fuller, Music from "Finlandia" by Silbelius

Notable graduates

(actor Mr. T also attended, albeit briefly.)

For more visit: http://www.pvamu.edu/alumnihub/one/index.php?topic=distalum&page=1

External links


The Texas A&M University System
Universities: Texas A&M University | A&M–Commerce | A&M–Corpus Christi | A&M–Kingsville
Prairie View A&M | Tarleton State | A&M–Texarkana | A&M International | West Texas A&M Branches: TAMU at Galveston | TAMU at Qatar
Agencies: TAES | TCE | TEES | TEEX | TFS | TIGM | TTI | TVMDL
Health Science Center: Dentistry | Medicine | Biomedical | IBT | SRPH | HSC Satellites

 

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