College of Fine Arts and Communication 2023 Report

HISTORY of the Col lege Cont inued 30 College Report 2023 1947 1947 The Journalism Department is established. - James Barton joins the faculty and is named director of theatre (part of the Speech Department), a post he holds until 1975. - Ira Bowles joins the music faculty as director of choirs. He serves as chair of the Music Department (1957-68). (PICTURED) 1948 Bachelor’s degree in journalism is approved (later mass communication. 1949 Music Hall is dismantled and moved to make way for the Fine Arts Building. 1950 College enrollment bounces back to 2,013 in the fall of 1950, thanks in part to the G.I. Bill. Fall replaces summer as the highest enrollment period. 1951 Music and Art occupy the new Fine Arts Building, which includes 30 practice rooms and an auditorium that seats 200-300. In the mid-1980s, the building is renovated into Taylor-Murphy. Master’s degree in music is approved. 1954 Anton Bek takes direction of the Bobcat Band, encouraging the first drill team and baton twirlers. 1956 The current Music Building is built as Strahan Gymnasium. Strahan Coliseum’s construction in 1982 allows the building to be renovated to house the Music Department. 1957 Master of Education degree in speech is approved. 1959 Southwest Texas State Teachers College becomes Southwest Texas State College. 1960 The Strutters drill team is founded and performs with the Bobcat Band. In 1978 the group is moved from the Music Department to Athletics, where it remains. 1961 The Bobcat Band, now led by Maurice Callahan , marches in the inaugural parade of President John Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson . - Old Main, the oldest landmark on campus is officially designated a Historical Landmark. The SWT Alumni President Sidney Hughes presents Texas State Historical Commission plaque to President John Garland Flowers . (PICTURED) 1962 Dana Jean Smith , a black high school graduate, applies to SWT and is denied admission because of the “whites-only provision in the college’s charter.” She wins her lawsuit against the school and is enrolled, along with four other black female students, in 1963. 1964 JimMcCrocklin becomes president of SWT. His tenure oversees an explosion in enrollment. Fall enrollment in 1963 is 3,850; by fall 1973 it is 12,142. 1965 The band accepts Lyndon Johnson’s invitation to lead his inaugural parade; the University of Texas Longhorn Band attempts to replace SWT, but the Bobcats prevail. - President Lyndon Johnson signs the Higher Education Act in Strahan Gymnasium (the current Music Building). The ceremony had been planned for the steps of Old Main, but rain moves it to the gym. (PICTURED) - LBJ cedes the Fish Hatchery property to SWT. These 25 acres are later the site of J.C. Kellam and the Speech and Drama Center. - 1947 - 1961 - 1965