Editing Texas Tech University (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Texas Tech University}}

=== Establishment ===
[[File:Texas Tech Adminstration Building 1923.jpg|left|thumb|[[Administration Building (Texas Tech University)|Administration Building]] (''circa'' 1925)]]
The call to open a college in [[West Texas]] began shortly after settlers arrived in the area in the 1880s.<ref name="Landing Tech may have been biggest step in Lubbock's first 100 years"/><ref name="Hub"/> In 1917, the Texas legislature passed a bill creating a branch of [[Texas A&M University|Texas A&M]] to be in [[Abilene, Texas|Abilene]].<ref name="Abilene home to three distinguished colleges"/> However, the bill was repealed two years later during the next session after it was discovered [[governor of Texas|Governor]] [[James E. Ferguson]] had falsely reported the site committee's choice of location. After new legislation passed in the state house and senate in 1921, Governor [[Pat Morris Neff|Pat Neff]] vetoed it, citing hard financial times in West Texas. Furious about Neff's veto, some in West Texas went so far as to recommend West Texas secede from the state.<ref name="Grad"/>

In 1923, the legislature decided, rather than a branch campus, a new university would better serve the region's needs under legislation co-authored by [[Texas State Senate|State Senator]] [[William H. Bledsoe]] of Lubbock and [[Texas House of Representatives|State Representative]] [[Roy Alvin Baldwin]] of [[Slaton, Texas|Slaton]] in southern [[Lubbock County, Texas|Lubbock County]].<ref name="Handbook"/>  On February 10, 1923, Neff signed the legislation creating Texas Technological College, and in July of that year, a committee began searching for a site.<ref name="Grad"/> When the committee's members visited Lubbock, they were overwhelmed to find residents lining the streets to show support for hosting the institution.<ref name="KCBD"/><ref name="Three universities power higher education in Lubbock"/> That August, Lubbock was chosen on the first ballot over other area towns, including [[Floydada, Texas|Floydada]], [[Plainview, Texas|Plainview]], [[Big Spring, Texas|Big Spring]], and [[Sweetwater, Texas|Sweetwater]].<ref name="KCBD"/> On November 22, 1923, Paul Whitfield Horn was selected as the university's first [[list of presidents of Texas Tech University|president]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Paul Whitfield Horn Made Texas Tech What It Is Today|url=https://www.ttu.edu/now/posts/2024/08/paul-whitfield-horn-made-texas-tech-what-it-is-today.php|publisher=Texas Tech University|access-date=2024-11-29}}</ref>

Construction of the college campus began on November 1, 1924.<ref name="Hub"/> Ten days later, the cornerstone of the [[Administration Building (Texas Tech University)|Administration Building]] was laid in front of 20,000 people. Speakers at the event included Governor Pat Neff; [[Amon G. Carter]]; Reverend E. E. Robinson, Colonel [[Ernest O. Thompson]]; and Representative [[Richard M. Chitwood]], the chairman of the House Education Committee, who became the first Texas Tech business manager. Chitwood served in the position only fifteen months; he died in November 1926.<ref name="Texas Tech University Archives"/> With an enrollment of 914 students—both men and women—Texas Technological College opened for classes on October 1, 1925.<ref name="College of Arts and Sciences"/><ref name="Joining of communities led to Lubbock"/><ref name="Texas Tech... The Unobserved Heritage"/> It was originally composed of four schools—Agriculture, Engineering, Home Economics, and Liberal Arts.<ref name="Handbook"/>

Military training was conducted at the college as early as 1925, but formal [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps]] training did not start until 1936. By 1939, the school's enrollment had grown to 3,890. Although enrollment declined during [[World War II]], Texas Tech trained 4,747 men in its [[armed forces]] training detachments.<ref name="Handbook"/> Following the war, in 1946, the college saw its enrollment leap to 5,366 from a low of 1,696 in 1943.<ref name="Raw Enrollment Data"/>
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=== Expansion and growth ===
[[File:TTUadmin.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Administration Building (Texas Tech University)|Administration Building]]]]
By the 1960s, the school had expanded its offerings to more than just technical subjects.<ref name="Controversy"/> The Faculty Advisory Committee suggested changing the name to "Texas State University", feeling the phrase "Technological College" did not define the institution's scope.<ref name="Fighting"/> While most students supported this change, the Board of Directors and many alumni, wanting to preserve the [[Double T]], opposed it.<ref name="About Us: History"/> Other names—University of the Southwest, Texas Technological College and State University,<ref name="Triumph, tragedy in world's spotlight"/> and The Texas University of Art, Science and Technology—were considered,<ref name="Game"/> but the Board of Directors chose Texas Tech University, submitting it to the state legislature in 1964.

A failed move by [[John Connally|Governor John Connally]] to have the school placed into the [[Texas A&M University System]], as well as continued disagreement and heated debate over the school's new name, kept the name change from being approved.<ref name="Controversy"/><ref name="Fighting"/> In spite of objections by many students and faculty, the Board of Directors again submitted the change in 1969. It finally received the legislature's approval on June 6, and the name Texas Tech University went into effect that September.<ref name="Game"/> All of the institution's schools, except Law, became colleges.<ref name="Handbook"/><ref name="General Information"/>

Texas Tech was [[Racial integration|integrated]] in the summer of 1961 when its first [[African-American]] student, Lucille S. Graves, was admitted.<ref name="Diversity Timeline"/> After its initial rejection of African-American students' enrollment and the threat of a lawsuit, the university enacted a policy to admit "all qualified applicants regardless of color".<ref name="Advancing Democracy: African Americans and the Struggle for Access and Equity in Higher Education in Texas"/> The university offered its first athletic scholarship to a black student in 1967, when Danny Hardaway was recruited to play for the Red Raiders football team.<ref name="Hardaway relates Tech experience"/> In 1970, Hortense W. Dixon became the first African American student to earn a doctorate from the university.<ref name="Texas Tech University Archives: Graduation Milestones"/> In 1972 Emory Grant Davis became the first full-time African American faculty member.<ref name="Diversity Timeline"/>

In the 1960s and 1970s, the university invested [[United States dollar|US$]]150&nbsp;million in the campus to construct buildings for the library, foreign languages, social sciences, communications, philosophy, electrical and petroleum engineering, art, and architecture. Some other buildings were significantly expanded.<ref name="TTUS"/>

On May 29, 1969, the [[Sixty-first Texas Legislature|61st Texas Legislature]] created the Texas Tech University School of Medicine.<ref name="Texas Tech University Archives: Medical School"/> The Texas Legislature expanded the medical school charter in 1979, creating the [[Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center]]. TTUHSC, which is now part of the [[Texas Tech University System]], includes Schools of Allied Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. It has locations in four Texas cities in addition to the main campus in Lubbock.<ref name="Profile: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center"/>

In 2011, the combined enrollment in the [[Texas Tech University System]] was greater than 42,000 students—a 48% increase since 2000. Chancellor Kent Hance reiterated plans for Texas Tech's main campus to reach enrollment of 40,000 students by 2020, with additional 5,000 students at [[Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center]] and 10,000 students at [[Angelo State University]].<ref name="Balancing state's budget requires all do fair share"/>

=== Recent history ===
[[File:TTU English Philosophy Building.jpg|thumb|left|Texas Tech's Humanities Building, with the university's signature Spanish Renaissance-inspired architectural style, faces a building of similar construction for the College of Education.]]
In 1996, the [[Board of Regents of the Texas Tech University System|Board of Regents of Texas Tech University]] created the Texas Tech University System. Former [[Texas State Senate|State Senator]] [[John T. Montford]], later of [[San Antonio]], was selected as the first [[Chancellor (education)|chancellor]] to lead the combined academic enterprise.<ref name="Perry suggests AT&T executive for UT chancellor job"/> Regents Chair [[Edward Whitacre Jr.]] stated the move was made due to the institution's size and complexity. "It's time," he said, "to take the university into the 21st century".<ref name="TTUS"/> The Texas Tech University system originally included Texas Tech University and [[Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center]]. On November 6, 2007, the voters of Texas approved an amendment to the [[Texas Constitution]] realigning [[Angelo State University]] with the Texas Tech University System.<ref name="Texas Legislature Online"/> [[Kent Hance]], a Texas Tech graduate who had served as [[United States Representative]] and as one of the three elected members of the [[Railroad Commission of Texas|Texas Board which regulates the oil-and-gas industry]], assumed the duties of chancellor on December 1, 2006.<ref name="Kent Hance Officially Named Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System"/>

To meet the demands of its increased enrollment and expanding research, the university has invested more than $548&nbsp;million in new construction since 2000. It has also received more than $65.9&nbsp;million in private donations.<ref name="TTUS"/> In April 2009, the [[Texas House of Representatives]] passed a bill to increase state funding for seven public universities. Texas Tech University was classified by the state as an "Emerging Research University", and was among the universities that received additional state funding for advancement toward "Tier 1" status. Three funds—the Research University Development Fund, the Texas Research Incentive Program, and the National Research University Benchmark Fund—provided $500&nbsp;million in grants and matching funds during fiscal years 2010 and 2011.<ref name="Texas House OKs bill to fund 'tier one' competition'"/> On September 2, 2009, the university announced it had received private gifts totaling $24.3&nbsp;million. Of these, $21.5&nbsp;million are eligible for match under the Texas Research Incentive Program.<ref name="Texas Tech Announces TRIP Funds"/>

In late 2011 and throughout 2012–13, construction began on several new buildings on campus.<ref name="newconstruction"/> The construction included a new $20&nbsp;million Petroleum Engineering and Research building, a new building to house the Rawls College of Business, two new residence halls, a $3.5&nbsp;million chapel, and extensive remodeling of the building that previously housed the Rawls College of Business.<ref name="newconstruction"/> In 2021, construction began on the new $100 million, 125,000-square-foot Academic Sciences Building.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Board |first=AJ Media Editorial |title=Our view: Tech's Academic Sciences Building will have huge impact |url=https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/opinion/2022/01/05/texas-techs-academic-sciences-building-have-huge-impact/9104053002/ |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>

The university system's endowment reached $1.043 billion in March 2014, surpassing one billion dollars for the first time.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ursch|first=Blake|title=Texas Tech System endowment exceeds $1 billion|url=http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2014-03-30/texas-tech-system-endowment-exceeds-1-billion|access-date=March 31, 2014|newspaper=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal|date=March 31, 2014}}</ref>

In 2023, Texas voters approved the creation of a new funding mechanism, the Texas University Fund. Its $3.9 billion endowment was created by combining a one-time grant from the state’s budget surplus with the National Research University Fund, interest income from the Economic Stabilization Fund, and charitable contributions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Texas University Fund|url=https://texasuniversityfund.com|publisher=Texans for More Top Ranked Texas Universities PAC|access-date=2024-11-24}}</ref> Four Texas universities, including Texas Tech, initially qualified to receive TUF funds based on their research expenditures and doctoral degrees awarded annually. Texas Tech received approximately $44 million for fiscal year 2024.<ref>{{cite web|title=What is the TUF?|url=https://www.depts.ttu.edu/research/strategicresearch/tuf.php/|publisher=Texas Tech University|access-date=2024-11-24}}</ref>