2021-College-Report

hi story of the college continued 1 98 6 - 1986 - In Physical Education, Division of Dance created (pictured) ; Joan Hays serves as director until 2002. - 1987 - In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, theatre faculty member Charles Pascoe writes and tours The Next Amendment . - 1988 - Theatre Arts becomes a separate department from Speech Communication, with Fred March as its first chair. - Speech Communication holds its first COMM Week and it grows into an annual event featuring national and international guest speakers. - 1989 - Jerry Supple comes from the State University of New York system to become SWT’s president. For fine arts, changes include international exchanges in choral music and instrumental ensembles, a recognized jazz program, and for the first time, a sustained orchestra. It also means a state-of-the-art broadcast training area in the new Alkek Library and beginning construction of the Joann Cole Mitte Building for Art. - Jazz Studies hosts its first Hill Country Jazz Festival. - 1990 - Of the 20,940 university enrollment, 2,095 are Fine Arts and Communication majors. - EARLY 1990s - Robin and Linda Williams are the first act in what will become the Supple Music Series, named for Jerry and Cathy Supple. (pictured) A 2004 endowment ensures its continuance. - 1991 - The first Mass Communication Week is held and becomes an annual event. - Bachelor’s degree in musical theatre is approved. 1 9 90 S 1 9 92 - 1992 - The university’s radio station, KTSW-FM 89.9, officially goes on the air April 15. (pictured) - The university buys the Fire Station Studio on Guadalupe Street, a refurbished sound recording facility that was built in 1915 as a city hall and fire station. - Bachelor’s degree in sound recording technology is approved, the first such degree program in the Southwest. - 1993 - The Journalism Department begins use of television studios on the first floor of the Alkek Library for on-the-job training for students in the broadcast sequence. - 1997 - Master’s degree in mass communication is approved. - 1998 - Bachelor’s degree in dance is approved. - 1998- 99 - Fine Arts and Communication helps the university celebrate its Centennial. Music’s John Paul Johnson organizes the Centennial Singers (now VocaLibre). - 1999 - A gift of $1.2 million from the estate of Reed Brantley Parr and her late husband Lewis. Half of the gift goes to Fine Arts and Communication for an endowment. - 2000 - Enrollment reaches 22,423 with 3,030 Fine Arts and Communication majors. - Music hosts its first Feria del Mariachi. 2002 - 2002 - Denise Trauth (pictured) becomes SWT’s ninth president. For fine arts, her tenure includes the opening of the Performing Arts Center and the Joann Cole Mitte Building for Art. - Bachelor’s degree in digital and photographic imaging is approved (later photography). - Speech Communication renamed the Department of Communication Studies. - 2003 - The Legislature changes the university’s name to Texas State University. - Art and Design moves to the Joann Cole Mitte Building. - Jazz Studies and the Center for Texas Music History host the first Eddie Durham Jazz Celebration, honoring the legendary San Marcos-born Durham, a pioneer in jazz guitar. - Under the direction of Eugene Lee , Theatre hosts its first Black and Latino Playwrights Conference, which becomes an annual nationally recognized event. - 2004 - The Division of Dance joins the Department of Theatre and Dance; LeAnne Smith serves as director from 2002-2017. - 2007 - Master of fine arts degree in communication design is approved; the College’s first terminal degree. - 2008 - Patti Strickel Harrison , an SWT student in 1947-48 (pictured) , donates $8 million to launch the construction of the Performing Arts Center. - 2009 - Texas State buys land and a broadcasting tower in southeast New Braunfels for KTSW 89.9 transmission. 2008 20 1 4 - Radio studios are located on the third floor of Old Main. - 2010 - University enrollment hits 32,572, with 4,668 Fine Arts and Communication majors. - Texas State earns Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) status. - The International Piano Festival is hosted by Texas State and becomes an annual event. - 2012 - Master of fine arts degree in theatre is approved. - 2014 - The Performing Arts Center opens. (pictured) Its main theatre is named for donor Patti Strickel Harrison . - Texas State’s C3 Research Center (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity) is established with the aim of fostering grant funding and interdisciplinary research. - 2015 - Fall 2015 enrollment of 37,979 includes 4,968 Fine Arts and Communication majors. - 2016 - KTSW 89.9 begins broadcasting from studios in the Trinity Building; Digital media innovation degree approved. - 2019 - University enrollment stands at 38,187 with 5,136 Fine Arts and Communication majors. - 2021 - Today Texas State is the first and only university to have recent top 20 rankings in Art, Dance, Music, Theatre, Musical Theatre, and Mass Communication. It also has the best master’s program in the country for Communication Studies, according to the National Communication Association. 26 ■ C O L L E G E R E P O R T 2 0 2 1 ■ 27