East Texas Baptist University

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about East Texas Baptist University, right there in Marshall, Harrison County. Now, Marshall, Texas has had a relationship with education going way back. Secondary education, academies, the whole tradition, dating all the way to the 1840s.

So when a new college came along in the early twentieth century, it wasn't exactly landing on unfamiliar soil. But here's where the story gets interesting. The year is 1911.

There's a banquet in Marshall, a dinner for donors to the brand-new Southern Methodist University. And sitting at that table is Dr. William T.

Tardy, pastor of the First Baptist Church. Now, Dr. Tardy is a Baptist at a Methodist dinner.

Somebody invites him to offer remarks. And instead of making small talk, Dr. Tardy looks around at all those Methodist leaders and says, in so many words, why don't y'all start a college right here in Marshall?

You have to appreciate the audacity of that. A Baptist preacher, guest at a Methodist fundraiser, essentially saying, while you're at it, build something. The Methodist leaders, to their credit, didn't miss a beat.

They promised their support for a Baptist college, provided Dr. Tardy would be the one to undertake it. So now the man had made his pitch, and the pitch had come right back around and landed in his own lap.

He undertook it. In 1912, the charter for the College of Marshall was sealed. It was established as a two-year school, a junior college.

And Dr. Tardy got to work. He negotiated the purchase of one hundred acres of the original K.M.

Van Zandt plantation. Fifty of those acres were earmarked to be sold to pay off the note. That, combined with donations, community fundraisers, and support from the Baptist General Convention of Texas, raised the funds to get buildings up on campus.

Under the leadership of Thurman C. Gardner, the college's first president, Marshall Hall rose on that land. It was an educational facility with a gymnasium, laboratories, a library, offices, and classrooms, and it was completed in 1916.

The first freshman class registered in 1917. By the 1918 to 1919 academic year, around three hundred students were enrolled. The place was alive.

By the 1920s, dormitories had encircled the campus quadrangle. The school was growing, taking shape, becoming a real institution. Then 1935 brought another expansion, an additional forty-three acres purchased, including the land and buildings of the St.

Joseph's Boys Industrial Orphanage. Some of those buildings were converted to men's housing. World War Two hit enrollment hard, and I mean severely.

But the college came through it, and the postwar years brought a vigorous enrollment and building boom. The kind of rebound that tells you something about what a place means to a community. In 1944, the college changed its name to East Texas Baptist College and was authorized to offer bachelor's degrees.

That was a milestone, growing from that two-year junior college charter back in 1912 to a full four-year degree-granting institution. Then in 1984, it was renamed again, East Texas Baptist University, the name it carries today. All of it traces back to one Baptist preacher who stood up at a Methodist banquet in 1911 and said, you know what Marshall needs?

A college. And then had the good sense, and the grit, to go build one.

What the marker says

SECONDARY EDUCATION IS A FAMILIAR INSTITUTION IN MARSHALL WITH ACADEMIES DATING BACK TO THE 1840s. DURING A 1911 BANQUET FOR DONORS TO THE NEW SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY, DR. WILLIAM T. TARDY, THE PASTOR OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, WAS PRESENT. INVITED TO OFFER REMARKS, HE URGED THE METHODISTS TO BEGIN A COLLEGE IN MARSHALL. IN RESPONSE, THE METHODIST LEADERS PROMISED SUPPORT FOR A BAPTIST COLLEGE IF DR. TARDY WOULD UNDERTAKE IT. IN 1912, THE CHARTER FOR THE COLLEGE OF MARSHALL WAS SEALED FOR A TWO-YEAR SCHOOL, OR JUNIOR COLLEGE. DR. TARDY NEGOTIATED THE PURCHASE OF 100 ACRES OF THE ORIGINAL K.M. VAN ZANDT PLANTATION. FIFTY ACRES WERE TO BE SOLD TO PAY OFF THE NOTE. THIS ALONG WITH NUMEROUS DONATIONS, COMMUNITY FUNDRAISERS AND SUPPORT FROM THE BAPTIST GENERAL CONVENTION OF TEXAS HELPED RAISE FUNDS TO ERECT EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS ON CAMPUS. UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE FIRST PRESIDENT, THURMAN C. GARDNER, MARSHALL HALL, AN EDUCATIONAL FACILITY WITH A GYMNASIUM, LABORATORIES, LIBRARY, OFFICES AND CLASSROOMS, WAS COMPLETED IN 1916. THE FIRST FRESHMAN CLASS REGISTERED IN 1917 AND, BY THE 1918-1919 ACADEMIC YEAR, AROUND 300 STUDENTS WERE ENROLLED. BY THE 1920s, DORMITORIES ENCIRCLED THE CAMPUS QUADRANGLE. AN ADDITIONAL 43 ACRES WERE PURCHASED IN 1935, INCLUDING THE LAND AND BUILDINGS OF THE ST. JOSEPH'S BOYS INDUSTRIAL ORPHANAGE, SOME OF WHICH WAS CONVERTED TO MEN'S HOUSING. DURING WWII, ENROLLMENT DROPPED SEVERELY BUT THE COLLEGE SAW A VIGOROUS POSTWAR ENROLLMENT AND BUILDING BOOM. IN 1944, THE COLLEGE CHANGED ITS NAME TO EAST TEXAS BAPTIST COLLEGE AND WAS AUTHORIZED TO OFFER BACHELORS" DEGREES, AND, IN 1984, IT WAS RENAMED EAST TEXAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY. THE UNIVERSITY CONTINUES TO SERVE THE HONORABLE GOAL FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN EAST TEXAS.