Southwestern University

Southwestern University stakes its claim to be the oldest university in Texas. It is the product of the combination of four church related institutions including Rutersville College which received its charter from the Republic of Texas on January 24, 1840. The other schools were also chartered long ago: Wesleyan College of San Augustine (1844), Soule University of Chappel Hill (1856) and McKenzie College of Clarksville (1860). Southwestern’s charter was approved February 6, 1875 to be the combination of the four earlier institutions.

Rutersville College was named for Dr. Martin Henry Ruter. Ruter was born in 1785 in Massachusetts to a working class family. As a teenager, he felt a call to the ministry and joined the Methodist Church. He served as pastor of several churches on the east coast and was involved in the operation and management of a number of schools. Ruter volunteered to come to Texas as a missionary around 1836. He traveled extensively as he surveyed the prospects for Methodist work. Ruter died in 1838 at the age of 58 in Washington County after becoming ill. Ruter had written several charter proposals, one of which was submitted to the Texas Congress shortly after his death. After some adjustments, the charter was approved without denominational references. The school was located near La Grange but like some other early institutions, it fell on hard times.

Wesleyan College of San Augustine was chartered to educate young men for the Methodist ministry. It was founded by Rev. Daniel Poe and lasted a few years before it closed its doors. Soule University was chartered years later in Chappel Hill as an outgrowth of an earlier private preparatory school. An early president of its predecessor was Rev. Philander Ruter, son of Martin Ruter. McKenzie College was founded on the plantation of Methodist minister Rev. John W. P. McKenzie outside Clarksville. It might have been the most successful of the four schools in terms of the number of students until it also began to suffer from low attendance with the outbreak of the Civil War.

A convention of Methodists occurred in 1870 in Galveston. A concerned group of attendees discussed the general state of education and religion in Texas and their desire to have one institution that could support and foster both goals. Such an institution would allow Texas residents to forego having to send their students to other states to obtain that education. It was organized to be a union of the four predecessor institutions (Rutersville, Soule, Wesleyan and McKenzie). The name selected was “Texas University.” The town of Georgetown was chosen due to its central location and for the concentration of Methodists in the area. The school opened its doors in the fall of 1873. According to an article in the August 15, 1889 issue of the Austin American-Statesman, the entity was first governed by two groups: a board of curators made up of ministers who governed the school and elected the faculty and a board of trustees made up of laymen to hold its property and manage its finances.

Its first year, the student body was all male and numbered thirty-three. By 1888, its enrollment had increased to 412. The number of instructors had grown from three to sixteen during that same period. A ladies annex had been added by then as well. Future plans included the possible additions of a theological school, a law school and a preparatory school. A revised charter for this new institution was introduced to the 14th Texas Legislature by area Senator William Harrison Westfall. Westfall was a medical doctor from Burnet who had served one term in the Texas House of Representatives in the 13th Texas Legislature during 1873. The entire Senate was up for reelection due to Senatorial redistricting for the upcoming session and Westfall won a Senate seat in that election. He represented much the same area as a senator as he had as a representative, though the counties were not identical. Dr. Westfall served a two year term, 1874 and 1875, before returning to private business. The school appears to have gone by the name “Texas University” but there was a desire to reserve that name for a state school. The January 27, 1875 issue of the Austin American-Statesman reported that Senator Westfall had made a motion to take up the bill incorporating the Wesleyan University at Georgetown and that the bill had passed with an amendment changing the name to “Southwestern University.”

There was a proposal around 1910 led by Dr. H. A. Boaz, president of Fort Worth’s Polytechnic College, also founded by Methodists, to move Southwestern University to Fort Worth and consolidate it with Polytechnic. In early 1910, Dr. Boaz met with leaders of Southwestern and outlined his proposal to be submitted to the trustees. In the proposal, the name would continue to be Southwestern University, its current president would continue and Dr. Boaz would resign. The proposal was submitted and declined allowing Southwestern to remain in Georgetown. Two later developments appear to have been related to the failed proposal of Dr. Boaz. In 1911, Texas Methodists founded Southern Methodist University to be located in Dallas. A few years later, Polytechnic was reorganized to serve Texas young women. Initially it was renamed Texas Woman’s College but by the 1930s it had again become coeducational and was renamed Texas Wesleyan University. Dr. Boaz had served as president of Polytechnic from 1902 to 1911 and briefly served as president of Southern Methodist University during the years 1920 to 1922. He became a bishop of the Methodist denomination.

Southwestern University was segregated until around 1965. Its first undergraduate degree awarded to an African American student was in 1969. The school’s attendance has recently numbered around 1,500 undergraduate students with a peak enrollment in the last twenty years of about 2,000. Undergraduate degrees that are currently offered include Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Fine Arts. It offers a variety of majors and minors. It’s recent breakdown of students is about 55% female and 45% male.

Its many notable graduates include United States Representative Pete Sessions, United States Senator John Tower, Author J. Frank Dobie and others.

It has remained affiliated with the United Methodist Church although the curriculum would be described as nonsectarian. Students are not required to attend religious services. Southwestern is affiliated with a number of academic organizations. These affiliations include: Association of American Colleges and Universities, Associated Colleges of the South, Association of Texas Colleges and Universities.

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