11 External links History[edit]

6.5 Media
6.6 Traditions
7 Athletics
7.1 Varsity sports
8 People
8.1 Faculty
8.2 Alumni
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
History[edit]

Main article: History of the University of Texas at Austin
Establishment[edit]
The first mention of a public university in Texas can be traced to the 1827 constitution for the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Although an article promised to establish public education in the arts and sciences, no action was taken by the Mexican government. But after Texas obtained its independence from Mexico in 1836, the Congress of Texas adopted the Constitution of the Republic, which included a provision to establish public education in the republic, including two universities or colleges. On January 26, 1839, the Congress of Texas agreed to eventually set aside fifty leagues of land towards the effort; in addition, 40 acres (160,000 m2) in the new capital of Austin were reserved and designated "College Hill."[14] (The term "Forty Acres" is colloquially used to refer to the University as a whole.)
In 1845, Texas was annexed into the United States of America. The state legislature passed the Act of 1858, which set aside $100,000 in United States bonds towards construction of a university. In addition, the legislature designated land, previously reserved for the encouragement of railroad construction, toward the universities' fifty leagues. But Texas's secession from the Union and the American Civil War prevented further action on these plans.


The university's Old Main Building in 1903
After the war, the 1862 Morrill Act facilitated the creation of what is now Texas A&M University, which was established in 1876 as the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas.[14] The Texas Constitution of 1876 mandated that the state establish a university