Texas State University is the only college in Texas to have a U.S. president as an alumnus, a distinction that helped its bid to become the first university in the state to host a presidential debate. The debate is set for Sept. 16, 2024, at Strahan Arena at the University Events Center.
Although LBJ has a connection to the entire Texas Hill Country, with the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, the LBJ National Park in Stonewall, and the LBJ Ranch in Johnson city, his political roots sprouted in San Marcos.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College from 1927 to 1930, where he received a bachelor of science degree and a permanent high school teaching certificate. Southwest Texas State Teachers College went through two name changes since LBJ graduated, and became Texas State University in 2013.
Research Assistant, Jason Crouch shares how during his time at Texas State University, LBJ left a lasting impact on the way students interact with the student body.
“LBJ, along with some of his fellow students, set up a secret society,” Crouch said. “They were called the ‘White Stars’, and he used that as an opportunity to influence the student body to elect student council presidents and officers. He spent, a long day and a night going around to all the frat houses and student housing buildings and kind of pressuring some of the students to vote for his desired candidates for these positions and was successful in doing so. That in itself might have been the first time we saw what was called the ‘Johnson Treatment’ much later in his years in national government and in the Presidency, even though he had a way of influencing people, sometimes through humor and cajoling, and sometimes by not a little bit of grumpy threats, it really was an early indication of what kind of political will he could impose on people that served him for decades to come.”
Throughout his time at Southwest Texas State Teachers College, LBJ was able to establish connections and gain experiences that eventually prepared him for his political career. Crouch shares an opportunity LBJ had to teach at a Mexican School in Cotulla, Texas.
“He had enough credits to actually teach,” Crouch said. “He took a break before graduation for one year. When he did teach at a kind of middle school in Cotulla, Texas, which informed a lot of his political ideology. The students were 5th, 6th, and 7th graders, and the children of migrant workers, Mexican Americans, and there were quite poor.”
Oral Histories and Archive Specialist Robert Gutierrez explains how LBJ’s time in Cotulla ultimately opened his eyes to poverty and racism and eventually prepared him for his political career.
“Noting the poverty and the discrimination,” Gutierrez said. “he realized that these kids were never going to have a chance at a higher education if they could really finish high school at all, that was pretty much the end. The Higher Education Act was his baby, and that was born out of seeing this. So he wanted to give everybody a chance to reach that higher education.”
LBJ made a commitment to come back and visit where his budding for politics began, his alma mater, throughout his political career. Gutierrez shares one occasion when LBJ came back to sign the Higher Education Act of 1965.
“The story goes that it was supposed to be outside of Old Main, a big outdoor event. But of course, Texas weather came through and ruined it all. So they had to scurry over to Strahan Gymnasium at the time. And that’s where. We have all those famous pictures of him sitting at the desk, a borrowed desk, and a borrowed chair as he was signing this big piece of legislation.”
Strahan Gymnasium, now named Strahan Arena, will soon be the location of a 2nd piece of political history later this year by being the location of the first 2024 presidential debate. The University is expecting 500 attendees or less total to be at the actual debate, Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Dr. Beth Wues said. Dr. Wues shares Texas State Students will be able to take a lot from the debate.
“We bring in every aspect of education in general of what students study here at Texas State. We have a lot of things to give students out of the debate process.”
Texas State University is looking forward to having another historical distinction later this year. To learn more about the 2024 debate visit Texas State University’s Presidential Debate 2024 page.
