Prairie View A&M University

Infobox University
name = Prairie View A&M University
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motto = "Prairie View Produces Productive People"
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established = 1876
closed =
type = Public, HBCU
affiliation =
endowment = $34 million
officer_in_charge =
chairman =
chancellor =
president = Dr. George C. Wright
vice-president =
superintendent =
provost =
vice_chancellor =
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principal =
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faculty = 422
staff =
students = 8,382
undergrad =
postgrad =
doctoral =
other =
city = Prairie View
state = Texas
province =
country =
United States
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campus =
former_names =
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free =
sports = baseball
basketball
cross country
football
golf
tennis
track and field
bowling
soccer
softball
volleyball
colors = Purple and Gold
color box|purple color box|gold
colours =
nickname = Panthers
mascot =
athletics = NCAA Division I-AA
affiliations = Southwestern Athletic Conference - West Division
website = [http://www.pvamu.edu www.pvamu.edu]

footnotes =

Prairie View A&M University is a historically black university located in Prairie View, Texas and is a member of the Texas A&M University System. PVAMU offers baccalaureate degrees in 50 academic majors, 37 master’s degrees and four doctoral degree programs through nine colleges and schools.

History

Founded in 1876, Prairie View A&M University is the second oldest state-sponsored institution of higher education in Texas.

In 1876, the Fifteenth Texas Legislature, consistent with terms of the federal Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, which provided public lands for the establishment of colleges, authorized an "Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Benefit of Colored Youth" as part of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University).cite web|url=http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/PP/kcp6.html|title=Handbook of Texas Online] Governor Richard Hubbard appointed a three-man commission, including Ashbel Smith, a long-time supporter of public education. The Commissioners bought Alta Vista Plantation, near Hempstead in Waller County, Texas for $15,000, and turned the school over to the A&M board. Texas A&M President Thomas S. Gathright selected L. W. Minor of Mississippi as the first principal, and on March 11, 1878, eight young African-American men enrolled in the short-lived Alta Vista Agricultural College. They were charged tuition of $130 which included nine months of instruction, board, and one uniform. In 1879, as the institution was struggling to find resources to continue, Governor Oran Roberts suggested closing the college. But Barnas Sears, an agent for the Peabody Fund, persuaded the Sixteenth Texas Legislature to issue charters two normal schools for the training of teachers, one of which would be called Prairie View Normal Institute. The Texas A&M College board met at Hempstead in August 1879, and established thirteen elementary and secondary subjects, and founded the coeducational institution. Women were housed in the plantation house, now called Kirby Hall, and boys were housed in a combination chapel-dormitory called Pickett Hall. Among the first faculty appointed to the new normal school was E. H. Anderson. In 1882, a strong storm damaged Pickett Hall. This came at the same time as state funds ran out. State Comptroller William M. Brown refused to continue paying the school's debts from the state's university fund, so Governor Roberts had to solicit money from merchants. E. H. Anderson died in 1885, and his brother L. C. Anderson became the principal of Prairie View. A longstanding dispute as to the mission of the school was resolved in 1887 when the legislature added an agricultural and mechanical department, thus returning the college to its original mission.

Academics

The university offers academic programs through the following administrative units:
*College of Agriculture and Human Sciences
*School of Architecture
*College of Arts and Sciences
*College of Business
*College of Education
*College of Engineering
*College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology
*College of Nursing
*Graduate School

Demographics

The university enrolls 6,324 undergraduate students and 1,758 graduate students who come from all 50 U.S. states and several countries throughout the world.fact|date=September 2008 Currently 56% of the students are female, and 44% are male.

Campus

The university sits on a convert|1440|acre|km2|sing=on campus in Prairie View, Texas and is convert|47.4|mi|km from the city hall of Houston, Texas.

Students may live in campus housing owned by American Campus Communities. Freshmen students on campus may reside in the University College community. Upperclassmen may live in apartment style living either in University Village Phase I, II, or III. Phase III has a academic standard (3.0 GPA). The first of these apartment buildings was built in 1996.

tudent activities

Athletics

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

Men's and women's athletics teams are nicknamed the Panthers, and the team colors are purple and gold. Prairie View A&M is a charter member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), and is a member of the West Division of the SWAC in sports where the conference is divided. Prairie View competes in NCAA Division I-AA in football, and Division I in all other varsity sports.

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.

Football

The first football coach at Prairie View was H.B. Hucles who began in 1924. Prior to coach Hucles's arrival at Prairie View, the school played two games without a coach on record: a 1907 7-0 win against a team from Wylie, Texas [cite web|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/southwestern/prairie_view_a&m/yearly_results.php?year=1907|title=Prairie View 1907 Football Results] and a 1920 6-7 loss against Tuskegee University. [cite web|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/southwestern/prairie_view_a&m/yearly_results.php?year=1920|title=Prairie View 1920 Football Results]

The team lost 80 consecutive games between 1989-98, almost doubling Columbia University's 44 straight losses between 1983-1988. [cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0702/gallery.losingstreaks/content.4.html|title=SI.com - Photo Gallery - Memorable Losing Streaks]

On November 10, 2007, it clinched its first winning season since 1976 with a 30-27 victory over traditional power Jackson State University under coach Henry Frazier, III.

Women's basketball

The women's basketball team received national attention in 2005 with the naming of Cynthia Cooper as the head basketball coach. Cooper, a two-time WNBA MVP, led the Lady Panthers to the school's first ever SWAC title and NCAA Tournament berth in her second season as coach.

Women's outdoor track & field

In 1974 and 1976 the women's outdoor track and field team won AIAW national championships.

Marching band

The university's official marching band is referred to as the Marching Storm and supports the Delta Psi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity Inc. along with the Epsilon Psi chapter of Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Sorority Inc.. Past performances include President George W. Bush’s 2001 Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C., the 2004 Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day game, and the Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase in Atlanta, Georgia.

;Blackk FoxxesThe Marching Storm is joined by the Black Foxxes, the university majorette line.

;The McFunk B.O.XThe McFunk B.O.X is the drumline. "The B.O.X.", as they are affectionately called, was the first black collegiate showstyle drumline to debut a feature in the middle of a halftime show, beginning in the fall season of 1985.fact|date=September 2008

Fraternities and sororities

All nine members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council are represented at PVAMU. Though not a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Kappa Kappa Psi a national Honorary Band Fraternity, was the first Greek organization to have a chapter on campus.

Notable alumni

References

External links

* [http://www.pvamu.edu/ www.pvamu.edu] Official web site
* [http://tamus.edu/ tamus.edu] The Texas A&M University System