History Of The Assocaiton ________________________________________________________________________
It is evident from the historical records that the Alumni and Ex-Students Association was first formally organized during the administrative years of Principal Edward Levoiser Blackshear (1896-1915). On the occasion of the Association’s 60th Anniversary Report (Volume 2, January 20, 1960, No.1), then Chairman of the Board, Dr. I. T. Hunter (Class of 1926) sites the year 1901 as the hallmark year. The 60th Anniversary was marked as 1901-1961. Conversely, in the Diamond Jubilee publication of the University published during the 75th Anniversary (1951), the author sites the organizational year of the Association as 1914.
With the benefit of new information and insights gained since 1951, it is safe to conclude that the 1901 formative year is probably correct. This is further supported by the fact that during the Blackshear years, the name of Prairie View Normal School was changed to “Prairie View Normal and Industrial College” in 1899; a four year college course was authorized by the State Legislature in 1901; a formal intercollegiate sports program was instituted in 1904. Principal E. L. Blackshear was a program organizer and political strategist. He realized that a strong Alumni Association in support of the four- year curriculum would give him a much needed organized constituent base, a necessary for survival in the turbulent sectional politics of the South.
The first 22 years of the Association’s history is still being reconstructed and undoubtedly will be recorded in future essays and narratives of our Association, as historical scholars take to the field and engage this great work. It was not until the administration of Dr. J. G. Osborne that the interest in the Alumni Association received new momentum, the consequence of which was the reorganization of the General Alumni and Ex-Students Association in 1923, with O. P. DeWalt as President. Again it is interesting to note that during the Osborne Administration, full University status was again the goal with a four-year course of instruction instituted, fulfilling the requirements of a Bachelors Degree. The first degrees were awarded during the Osborne Administration.
