From Normal College to University
In 1889 William Leonidas Mayo founded a school in Cooper, Texas he named East Texas Normal College. In 1894, the college was moved to its present location in Commerce, Texas when a fire destroyed the school. In 1917, the college was renamed East Texas State Normal College and then renamed again in 1923 to East Texas State Teacher's College. In 1962, the college became a university following the inauguration of its first doctoral program and was renamed East Texas State University. Finally, in 1996, the name changed to what it is today, Texas A & M University-Commerce.
Although there were many name changes in those early years of the college/university, the one thing that maintained until 1964 was the presence of only white students. |