History of the University of Texas at Arlington (1965–present)

Aerial view of the University of Texas at Arlington campus, circa 1967–1969

In April 1965, the Texas Legislature transferred Arlington State College (ASC) from the Texas A&M University System to the University of Texas System (UT System). In 1966, Maxwell Scarlett became the first African American graduate in ASC's history. In March 1967, ASC was renamed the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Jack Woolf, who had served as president of ASC and then UTA since 1959, resigned the presidency in 1968 and was succeeded by Frank Harrison, who would serve as president until 1972. Also in 1968, UTA awarded its first master's degrees, all in engineering. In 1969, UTA hired Reby Cary, the first African American administrator at the university.

In 1972, Harrison resigned and Wendell Nedderman was named his successor, ultimately serving as president for 20 years. During his tenure, the university constructed 24 buildings, created 64 new degree programs, and grew from 14,028 students to 25,135. From the start of the Nedderman administration to the end, UTA's student demographics changed substantially: the ratio of male-to-female students shifted from approximately 2:1 to nearly 1:1 while African Americans went from 2.6% to 7.2% of the student body, Hispanic students went from 1.9% to 6.3%, and Asian and Pacific Islander students went from less than 1% to 8.5%. By the mid-1970s, UTA had become one of the most accessible universities in Texas for disabled students.

In April 1992, Nedderman was succeeded as university president by Ryan C. Amacher. Focused on actively recruiting minority students and employees to UTA as well as marketing the university aggressively, Amacher and his administration polarized the campus before his sudden resignation in March 1995 in the face of charges that he showed budgetary favoritism to athletics and spent too much on non-essential costs at the expense of academic programs. He was replaced by University of Texas at Austin dean Robert Witt as UTA's enrollment continued to decline for seven consecutive years in the 1990s. UTA returned to growing enrollment by 1999, reaching an all-time high of 25,297 students in fall 2004. In November 2003, Michigan State University dean James D. Spaniolo was named UTA president. In 2013, he was succeeded by Vistasp Karbhari, who served as president until resigning in 2020 in the face of a lawsuit by a former vice president and the release of an audit report.

The UTA campus has grown substantially since 1965, with the addition of numerous new buildings, including College Park Center, the Engineering Research Building, and the Science and Engineering Innovation and Research (SEIR) Building. Student traditions have also developed considerably over the same timespan, with examples being bed racing, oozeball, and International Week. Among the most notable athletics events of the UTA era were the termination of the university's football program in 1985, the women's volleyball team advancing to the Final Four in the 1989 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament, and the Movin' Mavs and Lady Movin' Mavs wheelchair basketball teams winning nine and two national championships, respectively.

Last years as Arlington State College (1965–67)[]

Arlington State College sign noting the college is part of the University of Texas System, circa 1965–67

In April 1965, the Texas Legislature transferred Arlington State College (ASC) from the Texas A&M University System to the University of Texas System (UT System).^[1][2] At the time, the college's total student enrollment was 11,873.^[3] The transition also marked ASC's new requirement that incoming students had an "aptitude for doing college work", according to historian and writer Gerald Saxon, which was based on both SAT scores and high school class ranking.^[4] After ASC joined the UT System in 1965, it established its College of Business, College of Liberal Arts, and College of Science as stand-alone colleges.^[5] Jack Woolf, who had served as president of ASC since 1959, continued to do so after the move to the UT System.^[1] Shortly after ASC joined the system, UT System chancellor Harry Ransom asked Frank Harrison, then the associate dean for graduate studies at the UT System's Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, to spend part of his time at ASC to help it establish graduate programs.^[6]

In the mid-1960s, male students typically made up 75–80% of the student body.^[4] The school had a relatively large number of nontraditional students: 34% of students were married, 60% were 21 or older, 44% worked at least 20 hours per week, and 61% worked at least part-time.^[4][7] The two Texas counties providing the most students were Tarrant County and then Dallas County, while California supplied the most out-of-state students and Iran the most international students.^[4] In 1966, Maxwell Scarlett became the first African American graduate in ASC's history when he graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology after transferring from North Texas State University.^[8][9][10] By 1967, ASC had become firmly established as a commuter school with only a small minority of students living on campus in dormitories.^[7]

In 1965–66, ASC had a budget of $9.4 million, but less than $200,000 of this was spent on research.^[11] By 1966, the college offered new bachelor's degree programs in accounting, government, and sociology, while also debuting a variety of secondary teaching certificate programs.^[12] In summer 1966, ASC gained approval from the College and University Co-ordinating Board to offer master's degree programs beginning that fall,^[13] with four different programs offering master's degrees.^[1][6][13] In the mid to late 1960s, courses in engineering and the sciences were particularly popular among students.^[7]

After UTA became part of the UT System, its previously independent student clubs were allowed to affiliate with national fraternities and sororities beginning in 1966.^[14][15][16] The Texas A&M University System had previously not allowed ASC to have national Greek organizations active on campus.^[17] In 1967, the first chapters of national fraternities and sororities were established at ASC.^[18] During the 1966–67 academic year, student representatives were included on university-wide committees for the first time ever.^[19]

Early years as the University of Texas at Arlington (1967–72)[]

In March 1967, ASC was renamed the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA).^[1][15] President Woolf commented, "I think we have reached a name which does not shackle the future development of the institution."^[20] On March 6, 1967, Texas governor John Connally signed into law a bill that renamed each UT System university "the University of Texas at [location]". Unlike the previous plan of the Texas A&M University System to rename ASC "Texas A&M University at Arlington", UTA's new name was received positively by many students, faculty, and administrators. It was widely perceived as increasing the prestige, name recognition, and funding and recruiting abilities of the university. The first diplomas featuring the new name were awarded on May 31, 1967.^[15]

In September 1967, UTA's enrollment grew to 11,873, an all-time high, despite the opening of the first Tarrant County Junior College (TCJC) campus that fall.^[21][22] Also in 1967, the Institute of Urban Studies was established at UTA by an act of the Texas Legislature. The institute provides planning for economic development, site selection, and transportation as well as feasibility studies.^[23]

In 1968, Jack Woolf resigned his position as president, while continuing to serve as a mechanical engineering professor before ultimately retiring in 1989.^[21][24][25] In the estimation of Gerald Saxon, Woolf had lost the confidence of the faculty, due largely to his support for remaining in the A&M system and his hierarchical view of leadership, which was better suited to the A&M system than the UT System.^[21] During his decade-long tenure as president, Woolf guided the university from junior-college to senior-college status, from the A&M system to the UT System, from an enrollment of less than 5,000 to approximately 12,000, and from a budget of $2.2 million to $11.8 million.^[26] In 1966–67, the average salary for full professors was $12,400 to $13,500. By 1968, when President Woolf resigned, faculty salaries at UTA were the fourth highest in Texas. They had been the lowest at any state university or college when he was first named president in 1959.^[27] In 1995, UTA renamed the first building constructed during his presidency as Woolf Hall.^[24]

Frank Harrison, president of UTA 1968–72

Replacing President Woolf was Frank Harrison, who would serve as president until 1972.^[1][28] Harrison was appointed acting president shortly after Woolf resigned in September 1968, and then was selected permanent president after a nation-wide search that concluded in June 1969. A native of Dallas, he was educated at Southern Methodist University and Northwestern University before serving as an anatomy professor at both the University of Tennessee and Southwestern Medical School.^[26] Harrison had begun working to organize UTA's graduate program in 1965, and by the time he was named acting president two years later, he had extensive knowledge of the university, the system, and the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Although he only served as president for four years, Harrison left a legacy of new programs at UTA: 10 at the bachelor's level, 24 at the master's level, and two at the doctoral level.^[29] Another of Harrison's legacies was his transformation of UTA's administrative culture, making it more democratic and open than during the A&M system era. He accomplished this by improving communications with stakeholders throughout the university, giving faculty a greater voice in decision making with seats on committees, and publishing the university budget for the first time ever.^[30] Total enrollment during Harrison's tenure as president grew from 12,556 in fall 1968 to 14,028 in fall 1972. Much of this growth was due to an expansion in graduate student enrollment, which grew quickly from 301 to 1,008 over the same four-year span.^[31]

Reby Cary, the first African American administrator at UTA, circa 1970

In 1968, UTA's Energy Research Center was established for the study of electrical generation and transmission, and it was soon followed by over ten other research centers in other areas of study.^[1] Also in 1968, UTA awarded its first master's degrees (all in engineering),^[32] began its business graduate programs,^[33] and its School of Social Work began offering the region's first master's degree in social work.^[34] The School of Social Work added a bachelor's degree program in 1979 and a doctoral program in 1983, and since its inception in 1968 has been housed in the former Ousley Junior High School building on the north edge of campus, which was built in 1922 as the original Arlington High School.^[34] In 1969, UTA created a bachelor of fine arts program,^[35] as well as a doctoral program in engineering.^[29] Also in 1969, UTA hired Reby Cary, the first African American administrator at the university, as the associate dean of student life.^[4][36]

In 1969, the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in Richardson joined the UT System. It had been founded as a private institution in 1961 by Texas Instruments.^[30] UTA remained officially neutral on the addition of UTD to the system, but state representative Don Gladden, Arlington mayor Tom Vandergriff, and Tarrant County representative W. C. Sherman were all opposed to it.^[37] Governor Preston Smith achieved a compromise that placated both UTA and UTD supporters by initially restricting UTD to junior-level, senior-level, and graduate-level courses until it began awarding bachelor's degrees in 1975, granting UTA six more years as the only comprehensive public university in the Metroplex.^[31]

Linda Garza, the first female electrical engineering graduate at UTA, in 1970

In 1970, Linda Garza became the first woman to graduate with a degree in electrical engineering from UTA.^[38] Between 1970 and 1973, UTA phased out its two-year associate degree programs in engineering and transitioned them to TCJC.^[39] In August 1971, UTA awarded its first doctoral degrees.^[29] Also in 1971, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare mandated that the university implement an employment affirmative action program by February 1972 after determining that less than 1% of university employees were minorities in 1970.^[40]

Continued growth (1972–92)[]

In 1972, President Harrison resigned to become president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and Wendell Nedderman was named his successor at UTA.^[28][41][42] Saxon described Nedderman as "a popular choice" and a person who was "genuinely liked and admired by staff and faculty".^[28] Nedderman was a native of Iowa who was educated at Iowa State University and Texas A&M University before serving on the USS Patterson during World War II. In 1947, he began working at A&M before taking the position of engineering dean at UTA in 1959. In Arlington, he later served as graduate school administrator, vice president for research and graduate affairs, and vice president for academic affairs before being named acting president in 1972.^[43] Nedderman would serve as president until July 1992, over which time the university constructed 24 buildings, created 64 new degree programs, and grew from 14,028 students to 25,135.^[1][41][44]

Graduate student enrollment increased from 936 to over 4,200 under Nedderman. Saxon argues that the main causes of this growth were the baby boomers coming of age, the growing size and economic strength of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the relatively low cost of attending UTA, the expansion of its programs, and the growth of junior colleges in the area that prepared students for advanced study at UTA.^[44] Additionally, Nedderman's tenure saw an increase in the amount of research and publishing conducted by UTA, which came hand-in-hand with developing graduate programs. In 1972, when Nedderman began as UTA president, the university had just $200,000 in outside funding for research, but this grew to $12.7 million by 1992, when Nedderman retired.^[45]

The 1970s witnessed an expansion of both UTA's curriculum and the services it offered, including joint doctoral programs with the University of Texas Health Center in Dallas and UTD in biomedical engineering, the humanities, and mathematical sciences. Also during the 1970s, UTA's English Department created Pre/Text, An Inter-disciplinary Journal of Rhetoric as a quarterly journal with a focus on rhetorical theory. At the same time, UTA's Foreign Language and Linguistics Department published the German-instruction journal Schatzkammer, and from 1977 published the Robertson Colony papers.^[1] In 1974, the Special Collections department in the UTA Library opened with a donation of over 10,000 books, documents, and maps from Jenkins and Virginia Garrett. The strengths of its holdings are the history of Texas, the broader Southwest, and Mexico.^[46]

Rodney Lewis and Wanda Jo Holiday, UTA homecoming king and queen, 1980

In 1972, UTA created a Minority Student Advocacy Caucus and established a Minorities Cultural Center at its library. Between 1970 and 1979, UTA's African American enrollment grew from 176 to 1,065 and its Hispanic enrollment grew from 157 to 594. The 1970s and early 1980s also witnessed a number of African American "firsts" at UTA: Dickie Fears become the first African American cheerleader in 1971 and Royce West become the first African American president of UTA's Student Congress in 1974.^[28] In 1980, Wanda Holiday became UTA's first African American homecoming queen while Rodney Lewis, also an African American student, became its first-ever homecoming king.^[28][47][48]

By the mid-1970s, UTA had become one of the most accessible universities in Texas for disabled students, largely due to the activism of the Handicapped Student Association (HSA) and an administration willing to spend money and effort on making campus more accessible. In 1994, Office for Students with Disabilities director Jim Hayes reflected, "I work at probably the greatest university in the world when it comes to a real commitment to the advancement of disabled students. Based on the national picture, UTA has the premiere program from a funding and policy standpoint."^[49]

In 1975, the Department of Architecture was separated from the College of Liberal Arts to become the independent School of Architecture.^[50] By 1976, UTA had four colleges in addition to schools of architecture and environmental design, nursing, and social work, as well as its Institute of Urban Studies.^[1] Also in 1976, the University of Texas School of Nursing at Fort Worth was transferred to UTA, despite protests by its students, becoming the School of Nursing (later the College of Nursing).^[51][52] Renamed again to the College of Nursing and Health Innovation (CONHI), it is housed principally at Pickard Hall, named in honor of the nursing school's founding dean, Myrna Pickard.^[53] In 1978, UTA created the Office of Continuing Education with the goal of providing cultural enrichment, activities, and non-credit courses.^[1]

Left to right, Jenkins Garrett, Virginia Garrett, and Wendell Nedderman in the atrium of Central Library, undated

By fall 1986, total enrollment at UTA reached 23,245, making it the second-largest university in the UT System. That semester, the university offered a total of 49 baccalaureate programs, 53 master's programs, and 18 doctoral programs. By 1986, the UTA Library had acquired 970,000 volumes, more than double the 400,000 volumes it held in 1969. Its Special Collections department most notably had acquired materials relating to cartographic history, the Mexican–American War, minority cultures, the Robertson Colony, Texas labor history, and Texas political history.^[1]

In December 1986, the state's Select Committee on Higher Education recognized the University of Houston (UH), the University of North Texas (UNT), and Texas Tech University as emerging national research universities, but not UTA.^[54] It deemed the Arlington university instead to be a "comprehensive university" focused on teaching, although UTA considered itself to be a peer of UH, UNT, and Texas Tech.^[54][55] Many faculty on campus blamed the Nedderman administration for not demonstrating more clearly to the state government and the public that UTA was also deserving of emerging research university status.^[54] Nedderman responded by urging faculty members to write letters to their elected representatives and holding a rally for students and faculty in support of research status. Local politicians, including state senator Bob McFarland, Fort Worth mayor Bob Bolen, and the Arlington City Council, also backed the university in its endeavor. In February 1987, Select Committee chairman Larry Temple announced that UTA's status in the eyes of the committee had been upgraded to that of a research university. He also explaining that its earlier designation as a "comprehensive university" was not meant to be "limiting".^[56]

By the early 1990s, many faculty believed that President Nedderman had become resistant to change and had delegated too much authority to the deans of UTA's colleges.^[57] In 1991, Nedderman announced his intention to retire at the end of the year, although UT System chancellor Hans Mark asked him to stay in the position until his replacement had been hired. He did so, ultimately retiring on July 13, 1992.^[58] In the words of Saxon, "Nedderman's years as president were characterized by an atmosphere of open communication, a free flow of information, and teamwork".^[59] Like President Nedderman himself, his administrative team also demonstrated remarkable longevity: three of his four vice presidents served with him for his entire 20-year presidency.^[60] Saxon summed up Nedderman's presidency by saying: "Critics would say he was well liked in Austin because he did not make waves for the system, but the reality was that Nedderman was an effective advocate for UTA and a skillful political player."^[60] In Saxon's estimation, Nedderman's greatest shortcomings were not effectively raising money from beyond the system, especially from alumni, and his inability to recruit minorities to administrative and faculty positions.^[61]

By the end of President Nedderman's tenure in 1992, UTA's student demographics had changed substantially since he had begun as president in 1972. Over those 20 years, the ratio of male-to-female students shifted from approximately 2:1 to nearly 1:1 while African Americans went from 2.6% to 7.2% of the student body, Hispanic students went from 1.9% to 6.3%, and Asian and Pacific Islander students went from less than 1% to 8.5%. In 1992, 47.6% of students were 25 or older. Also, in student surveys conducted throughout the Nedderman era, students consistently stated that their top reasons for enrolling at UTA were its location, low tuition costs, and academic reputation.^[58]

Turmoil and decreasing enrollment (1992–99)[]

Gerald Saxon, UTA president Ryan C. Amacher, and an unidentified woman in the UTA Library's Special Collections, circa 1990s

In April 1992, Nedderman was succeeded as university president by Ryan C. Amacher.^[1][62][63] At his inauguration ceremony, Amacher promised to both actively recruit minority students and employees to UTA as well as market the university aggressively.^[62] Amacher was a native of Wisconsin who was educated at Ripon College and the University of Virginia. Before being hired by UTA, he had taught at the University of Oklahoma, Arizona State University, and Clemson University, where he served as the dean of the College of Commerce and Industry. At Clemson, Amacher gained a reputation as a highly capable fundraiser who was very enthusiastic for marketing and outreach. He also worked briefly for the United States Department of the Treasury.^[64]

Amacher's early presidency was filled with meetings with stakeholders on campus, which highlighted the widespread desire for change on campus after 20 years of President Nedderman's administration. The first challenge Amacher faced in office was an 8% decline in enrollment over the first three fall semesters of his tenure, which jeopardized UTA's funding because of how Texas allocated money for universities. Worried that raising admission standards would result in fewer students and less funding, Amacher blocked a plan supported by many faculty to raise such standards in fall 1992.^[64] By 1993, enrollment stood at 24,783 students.^[1] Also by that year, as numerous administrators retired or resigned, Amacher began assembling an administrative team that reflected his own style. Most notable among the new additions was provost Dalmas Taylor. Arriving from the University of Delaware, Taylor fully embraced Amacher's philosophy and also became the highest ranking African American on campus.^[65]

As part of his plans for aggressively marketing UTA and increasing its recruiting potential, Amacher decided to heavily invest in its athletics program. Hiring his former Clemson colleague B. J. Skeleton as UTA's new athletic director in October 1992, Amacher brought UTA athletics into full compliance with Title IX. He then proceeded to spend an additional $500,000 on athletics in 1994, raising its budget to $2.9 million and funding both additional personnel and improvements to its facilities. Saxon observed that this represented the first time in UTA history that "an administration was willing to invest significantly in athletics and make sports a priority".^[65] While Amacher himself declared that "real universities do athletics" and his goal was for athletics to ultimately "enhance academic programs across the campus", Saxon noted that many on campus saw this as "a costly gamble destined to lose".^[66]

Amacher also turned his attention to the lack of student housing on campus. When he was named president, UTA only operated four residence halls, although it also owned 17 apartment complexes around its campus. In 1993, the university partnered with Houston-based Century Property Management Company to open the Centennial Court Apartments just southwest of campus as a public–private partnership. After its second phase was completed in 1995, it housed nearly 1,000 students. As part of the deal, Century paid for both the costs of construction and management of the apartments on land leased from the university. Both Century and UTA split the profits, and after 30 years, the apartments will become the university's property.^[66]

In 1994, history professor Alusine Jalloh established the Africa Program at UTA, which provides opportunities for study abroad, outreach projects, and guest lectures, including one by Desmond Tutu.^[67] During the 1990s, approximately 7% of UTA's students were African American, while 6% were Hispanic.^[1] As has been the case during the ASC era, the student body at UTA tended to be older than at other colleges, worked more, were more likely to be part-time students, and most of them lived off campus.^[57]

By the mid-1990s, Amacher was working with the City of Arlington on a proposal for a 19,000-seat multi-purpose arena to accommodate UTA athletics and events while also potentially serving as the home arena for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association and the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League.^[68] While this arena was never built, Amacher implemented a single graduation ceremony for the whole university in spring 1994, instead of the traditional separate ceremonies held by UTA's nine colleges and schools. Numerous faculty and students objected to a single ceremony they saw as "long, impersonal, and inconvenient", in part because it was held at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth instead of on the UTA campus.^[69][70]

Many on campus also disagreed with Amacher's funding priorities, such as his spending of $186,000 to move university administrative offices from Davis Hall to the more centrally located College Hall and his spending of $218,000 on renovating an unused space in the university center into "an upscale dining and meeting facility ideal for entertaining donors and potential donors".^[69] Such spending decisions, coupled with what many perceived as his misdirected support for athletics, centralized decision-making style, inability to tolerate criticism, and insensitivity to the desires of students and employees, led to increasingly strong criticism of Amacher from students, faculty, and staff. Over one 18-month period, the president's house was vandalized four times. At the same time, there remained many supporters of the Amacher administration, who highlighted the success it was making in increasing the visibility of UTA, diversifying its faculty and student body, and strengthening ties with alumni as well as the local community. As Saxon described the situation that had developed by fall 1994, "the university was divided into two warring camps, and President Amacher and Provost Taylor seemed incapable of unifying the campus".^[71]

In January 1995, Rebecca Sherman wrote an article harshly critical of UTA under the Amacher administration titled "Fast Times at UTA" that was published in the Dallas Observer. It concluded with a quote from a former dean that the campus resembled a wagon "going down the street with all the wheels coming off it".^[72][73] This article, combined with similar stories published in The Shorthorn and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, convinced UT System chancellor William H. Cunningham to conduct a thorough audit of the finances and management at UTA. However, before the audit could be completed, UTA's Faculty Senate approved the circulation of a petition that, if signed by 10% of the university's faculty members, would force President Amacher to call a meeting of the faculty and address their concerns. If the faculty were unsatisfied with the results of the meeting, they then could go forward with a motion of no confidence on Amacher and his administration. Amacher strongly objected to the criticism of him and the steps taken by the faculty, declaring to the Faculty Senate that "I've been assassinated unfairly by what is no other fashion than a conspiracy."^[73] By February 17, 45% of eligible faculty members had signed the petition, and a meeting between Amacher and the Faculty Senate was scheduled for March 8.^[74]

On March 6, 1995, Amacher abruptly announced his resignation in the face of charges that he showed budgetary favoritism to athletics and spent too much on non-essential costs at the expense of academic programs.^[1][74] In Amacher's own words, his resignation was "to put an end to the circus atmosphere that has developed on campus".^[74][75] Shortly after his resignation, African American students, faculty, and community members, including Lee Alcorn (president of the Dallas chapter of the NAACP) and Darren Reagen (of the Black State Employees Association), advocated for the appointment of Dalmas Taylor as interim president. While Amacher, because of his resignation, did not attend the March 8 meeting with the Faculty Senate, Provost Taylor had to do so. While some admired his bravery in addressing the faculty, few of those in opposition to him changed their minds after the meeting.^[74] A faculty vote of confidence in Taylor went ahead, and on March 27 the released results showed UTA faculty expressed no confidence by a 9-to-1 margin. Saxon noted that this vote "surprised even the administration's most vocal critics".^[76] Rumors swirled that the decision was at least partially related to race, with African American pre-medicine major Tasha Kendricks describing the confidence vote as a "witch hunt and public lynching of an African American".^[76]

African American students advocating for Dalmas Taylor to be named interim president of UTA, 1995

Both before Amacher was hired in 1992 and then again after he resigned in 1995, African American organizations on campus pushed for the selection of an African American president at UTA, but were unsuccessful both times.^[1] This was partially due to there not being an African American member of the search committee that ultimately hired Amacher in 1992, nor was an African American candidate considered as a finalist for the position. Furthermore, there were no staff members on that hiring committee, only faculty members.^[62]

In 1995, after the vote of no confidence, Taylor was not named president. Instead, University of Texas at Austin dean Robert Witt was named interim president, with the intention of serving for at least two years.^[1][76][77] Chancellor Cunningham knew Witt well, and he selected him as UTA's next president largely due to his administrative experience, calm demeanor (in contrast to Amacher), and his status as an outsider "untainted by the controversies" at UTA.^[76] Cunningham explained why he did not hire Taylor as president by saying, "There was simply too much bitterness on this campus. We felt we needed to get someone [from] off this campus to begin to heal that process."^[78] Witt joined Amacher in being the second UTA president to have a background in business.^[33]

Witt was a native of Connecticut who had been educated at Bates College, Dartmouth College, and Pennsylvania State University. He had worked at UT Austin since 1968, rising quickly from assistant professor of marketing to chair of the department in 1973, associate dean for academic affairs in 1983, and finally permanent dean in 1986. During his introductory press conference at UTA, Witt promised to build a campus culture "characterized by a mutual respect and trust".^[78] He was given broad authority to assemble his administrative team, with the principal goal of restoring tranquility on campus and reconciling the pro-Amacher and anti-Amacher camps.^[79] From the beginning of his administration, Witt faced numerous challenges, including dealing effectively with racial tension, involving campus stakeholders in decision making, repairing UTA's reputation, dealing openly with the press, and establishing stronger ties with alumni and the community.^[80]

Taylor was replaced as provost by George C. Wright, an African American administrator working as vice provost at Duke University. This provoked the ire of some African American students at UTA, who called for UT System chancellor William Cunningham to resign due to his ordering of the audit that led to Taylor's dismissal.^[1][79] Less than a week after the system's audit of the Amacher administration placed the blame for turmoil on campus "squarely on President Amacher and Provost Taylor", Witt replaced Taylor's team in the provost's office with selections of his own.^[79]

By 1995, UTA had attained Doctoral University I status in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Most on campus believed that it would eventually attain the Carnegie Classification's highest status, Research I, the same status as UT Austin and Texas A&M University had already reached.^[81] Also in 1995, UTA commemorated its centennial with a yearlong celebration. President emeritus Nedderman spoke at the kickoff event, suggesting "with all due respect to General Motors, that UTA is the heartbeat of Arlington".^[82][83] That event, on August 30, 1995, included other speakers as well as a parade, a salute by the Carlisle cannons, and the unveiling of a historical marker documenting the history of the university.^[84]

By fall 1996, total enrollment fell for the fifth consecutive year, to 21,097.^[85] By fall 1998, enrollment dropped further, to 19,121,^[86] which was over 6,000 students fewer than in 1993.^[1] The number of faculty members also shrunk to 1,214.^[1] During the 1990s, male enrollment dropped at UTA, in terms of both total enrollment and as a percentage. It fell from 12,484 (53% of the student body) in 1993 to 9,526 (49%) by 1997.^[87]

In 1997, UTA established its Center for Professional Teacher Education, which evolved into the School of Education in 1999 and ultimately the College of Education in 2003.^[88]

Return to growth and stability (1999–2020)[]

In fall 1999, enrollment finally increased again, to 19,148 students, reversing seven consecutive years of decline.^[89] By fall 2000, enrollment increased to 20,424, up almost 2,000 since two years previous, but still over 4,000 students less than in 1993.^[1] In fall 2001, minority enrollment grew 18% compared to fall 2000, with African Americans composing 11.8% of the student body, Hispanic students making up 10.6%, Asian Americans at 9.67%, and Native Americans at 0.78% that semester.^[90] In fall 2002, UTA student enrollment grew by 12.5%, its largest increase since 1991.^[91] It was also the largest increase in students in the UT System at the time.^[92] Indian students were the largest group of international students, making up 45.3% of international students that semester.^[93] In August 2002, a substantial increase in demand for on-campus residence hall housing caused a wait list of approximately 1,000 students.^[94] However, as student enrollment increased, the number of tenured faculty at UTA decreased by 17% between 1995 and 2001.^[95] By summer 2003, the university's continuing growth in enrollment outpaced its growth in funding.^[96] By fall 2003, as total full-time enrollment reached 13,972, the average age of students also decreased.^[97] In September 2004, UTA's total enrollment reached 25,297 students, an all-time university record.^[98]

In July 1999, a committee answering to the UT System Board of Regents proposed creating multiple flagship universities in the UT System, similar to the model used by the University of California System.^[99] Some supporters of the plan argued for UT Dallas, UT San Antonio, and the University of Houston to be named additional flagships, but President Witt stressed that UTA would also be considered.^[99][100] In March 2001, state representative Kenn George proposed House Bill 3568, which would have merged UTA with UTD and the UT Southwestern Medical Center in an effort to create a single flagship university in North Texas.^[101] UTA president Witt also supported this bill.^[102] A similar bill proposed by state senator Chris Harris, and likewise supported by Witt, endeavored to increase funding for Texas universities not designated flagships, which would have benefited UTA.^[103] In March 2003, state representative Toby Goodman proposed legislation to separate UTA from the UT System and give it an independent board of regents, largely in an effort to attempt to make sure the university "receives a fair share of funding and is treated equally in the system".^[104]

The honors program at UTA was upgraded to an Honors College in 1999, the first of its kind in North Texas and just the third in the state.^[50][105] In November 2002, President Witt cut UTA's graduate French and German programs, lamenting that they were collectively a "well-designed program with excellent faculty but not enough graduate enrollment to be able to economically back it".^[106]

In 2001, UTA collaborated with the City of Arlington and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce to begin operating the Arlington Technology Incubator, which was formally dedicated and became fully functional by 2005. The purpose of the incubator was to aid "technology-based entrepreneurial ventures in the community".^[107] In August 2002, the UTA budget was $247.1 million, the largest in university history.^[108] In September 2004, the university's budget had grown to $310.6 million.^[109] In April 2010, as part of efforts to reduce its budget by $9 million to comply with state mandates, UTA offered voluntary buyouts to over 200 staff members.^[110] In March 2011, it also offered voluntary buyouts to 113 faculty members.^[111]

UTA president James D. Spaniolo, 2009

In January 2003, President Witt resigned to take the position of president at the University of Alabama.^[112] In February, UT System vice chancellor Charles A. Sorber was named interim president of UTA.^[113] In November, Michigan State University dean James D. Spaniolo was named UTA's permanent president,^[114][115] beginning his tenure in February 2004.^[116] The decision was considered surprising by many on campus.^[117]

UTA began admitting students who were provisionally accepted to UT Austin in June 2001.^[118] In April 2003, UTA signed an agreement with Tarrant County College (TCC) that allowed TCC students to more easily transfer to UTA while also encouraging them to apply to the university.^[119] In September 2003, the UTA Undergraduate Assembly passed a resolution to increase admission standards,^[120] which was approved by the Board of Regents in November in an effort to help recruit students.^[121] In November 2004, a UTA committee submitted a report to the university provost arguing that UTA's graduation rate was too low.^[122] Enrollment for 2006–07 declined slightly from 25,432 the previous academic year to 24,832, due in part to the implementation of tougher admissions standards.^[123] In September 2010, UTA inaugurated a new University College with the goals of "enhancing student services and improving retention".^[124] By fall 2011, the University College was credited with helping to raise UTA's freshman retention rate by 4% (to 74%).^[125]

In 2003, the Arlington Archosaur site was discovered, with excavations beginning in 2008 by a team led by UTA paleontologist Derek Main. Fossils unearthed during the excavations were sent to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas.^[126] In 2007, UTA research assistant Brad Carter discovered a new species of lungfish as a fossil in the Woodbine Formation in northern Arlington.^[127] In 2008, a team lead by UTA professor and PhD student Derek Main discovered a new species of archosaur as fossils at the Arlington Archosaur Site in the northern part of the city.^[128][129] In August 2017, a team of UTA astrophysicists led by Suman Satyal discovered a potential exoplanet orbiting the star Gliese 832.^[130]

By fall 2005, the number of African American faculty on campus had fallen to 45, of whom only six were tenured. According to management professor and diversity researcher Myrtle Bell, the number of Black faculty members on campus had been consistently decreasing since 1996.^[131]

In fall 2006, the College of Education announced a new doctoral program in K-16 Educational Leadership and Policy.^[132] In December 2007, Maxine Adegbola and Gloria Carr became the first PhD graduates from UTA's nursing program.^[133][134] In 2009, UTA's School of Nursing established a new Doctor of Nursing Practice program,^[135] while the university began offering its Executive Masters in Business Administration program at its Fort Worth Center.^[136]

In 2008, Carrizo Oil and Gas drilled for natural gas via hydraulic fracturing at the corner of Pecan Street and Mitchell Street on campus.^[137] In January 2009, the university received its first royalty check from the natural gas drilling, worth over $500,000.^[138] In September 2009, Carrizo announced they would be drilling four to seven additional natural gas wells on the southeastern portion of the campus.^[139]

In fall 2009, enrollment reached a record 28,084, a 12% increase.^[140] In fall 2010, enrollment increased to a new record of 32,956,^[141] and the growth rate of 17.3% since fall 2009 made UTA the fastest-growing institution in the UT System.^[142] In 2012, UTA had the largest population of transfer students of any university in the country (8,649).^[143] By 2013, approximately 4,300 UTA students lived in residence halls on campus, markedly more than in previous years.^[144] By spring 2015, enrollment reached 47,977 students, including online students.^[145] In fall 2015, UTA had 37,008 Texas-based students.^[146] Between fall 2012 and summer 2014, enrollment of Indian students at UTA increased by 56%. By summer 2014, 9% of the student body consisted of international students.^[147] In February 2014, UTA was recognized as a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) after its Hispanic enrollment reached 7,335, surpassing the 25% of total enrollment required to become an HSI.^{[148][149][150]} By spring 2015, Hispanic enrollment reached 8,062, a 10% increase over spring 2014 numbers.^[151]

CAPPA Building in 2021

In January 2010, UTA's School of Nursing was renamed the College of Nursing.^[152] Starting in September 2014, the College of Nursing and the Department of Kinesiology began collaborating on research proposals.^[153] In November 2014, UTA received permission from the UT System Board of Regents to rename the College of Nursing the College of Nursing and Health Innovation (CONHI) and rename the College of Education and Health Professions simply the College of Education.^[154] In January 2015, the School of Architecture and the School of Urban and Public Affairs announced they would merge into a single school.^[155] In November 2015, the combined schools officially became the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA).^[156]

In June 2012, President Spaniolo announced his retirement after a new university president was selected.^[157] On June 1, 2013, he was succeeded as president by Vistasp Karbhari, the provost at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.^{[158][159][160]} Following Jack Woolf and Wendell Nedderman, Karbhari became the third UTA president with a background in engineering.^[51]

In fall 2013, UTA's history department established a minor in disability studies program.^[161] In fall 2018, the Disability Studies Minor separated from the History Department to form its own program under the College of Liberal Arts.^[162] In fall 2014, the College of Business eliminated its bachelor's degree in economics program due to declining enrollment in the program,^[163] while the College of Engineering established a new minor in sustainability.^[164] In fall 2018, the UTA College of Business launched a fully online Master of Business Administration program.^[165]

In 2014, the UTA Alumni Association collapsed after it lost operational and programming support from the university. In July 2015, it was reestablished as an independent organization run by volunteers.^[166]

In 2015, the largest program at UTA in terms of students was nursing, and business was second largest.^[33] In spring 2016, CONHI's enrollment increased to 12,178, making it the largest college at UTA and giving it 31.5% of the total student population.^[167] In fall 2017, UTA's total enrollment increased to 41,715 (a 5% increase over fall 2016),^[168] it welcomed its largest-ever freshman class (3,346 students),^[169] and female enrollment as a percentage reached an all-time high (59.3%).^[170] In fall 2017, CONHI became the largest college at UTA after increasing by 16.7% since fall 2016.^[171] International student enrollment decreased by 233 between fall 2016 and fall 2017, part of a national trend.^[172] In February 2018, Troy Johnson, UTA's vice president for enrollment management, credited the university's increasing reputation and greater recognition for its increased enrollment.^[173] In fall 2018, UTA's Hispanic enrollment reached 11,615 students, a 7.37% increase over fall 2017.^[174]

In February 2016, UTA was awarded R1 (Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity) status by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.^[175][176] In March 2018, the University College was renamed the Division of Student Success to more clearly articulate its purpose.^[177] In November 2018, UTA created a new Chief Sustainability Officer and hired Meghna Tare for the position, in an effort to increase the scope of the Office of Sustainability.^[178]

Crisis and transition (2020–present)[]

On March 4, 2020, President Karbhari announced his resignation, a month after a former vice president filed a $200,000 lawsuit against the university following her termination in 2019, accusing Karbhari of bullying and threatening to terminate her.^[179][180] Initially planning to resign on August 31, Karbhari resigned effective immediately on March 19 after the release of a 2019 audit report that showed UTA appeared to violate university rules, UT System rules, and state laws.^[181] Provost Teik Lim was named administrator in charge on March 19, and on May 2 was named interim president of UTA.^[182] Lim, formerly a dean at the University of Cincinnati, had joined UTA as its provost and vice president for Academic Affairs in June 2017.^[183] In January 2022, Lim accepted the position of president at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.^[184] Later that month, UNT provost and vice president of academic affairs Jennifer Evans-Cowley was named the sole finalist for the presidency of UTA.^[185][186]

On March 12, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, UTA announced that it was extending its ongoing spring break an additional week and then resuming classes online only on March 23.^[187][188] On March 17, UTA decided to keep all classes for the spring 2020 semester online only, require students to vacate residence halls, and postpone spring commencement ceremonies.^[189] In April, it also made all summer classes online only.^[190] For the fall semester, UTA transitioned to a mix of online, in-person, and hybrid classes, transitioning to online-only classes again after Thanksgiving.^[191][192] In spring 2021, UTA continued to offer a mix of on-campus, online, and hybrid classes.^[193] That semester, UTA mandated masks and daily self-monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms.^[194] UTA returned to primarily on-campus instruction and resumed hosting on-campus events in fall 2021,^{[195][196][197]} while mandating randomized COVID-19 testing of 20% of its students, faculty, and staff each week.^[198]

A frozen fountain on campus during the 2021 Texas power crisis

On June 11, 2020, UTA's African American Faculty and Staff Association, Center for African American Studies, and Multicultural Affairs office collaborated to host a virtual town hall meeting about systemic racism on campus after the murder of George Floyd and widespread protests in response to it.^[199] On July 9, Lim announced eight initiatives UTA was making to address systemic racism on campus, including establishing a new vice-president position focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion and creating a Diversity and Inclusion Committee by fall 2020.^[200][201] In March 2021, UTA selected Bryan Samuel as its inaugural vice president for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He was formerly Kansas State University's chief diversity and inclusion officer.^[202] In May 2021, UTA renamed Davis Hall as the University Administration Building. It had previously been named for former university administrator and eugenics advocate Edward E. Davis.^[203]

For the fall 2020 semester, UTA made standardized test scores optional for both undergraduate admissions and scholarship applications.^[204] That semester, UTA enrolled its largest-ever freshman class, totaling 3,820 students.^[205] In February 2021, UTA closed for an entire week during the Texas power crisis.^[206][207] In August 2021, UTA became the fourth university to achieve Texas Tier One status, joining Texas Tech, UH, and UTD. The designation by the state recognized it as an "emerging research university" and allowed it to gain access to the state's National Research University Fund, worth approximately $6.2 million annually.^[208]

Building and campus development[]

Arlington State College aerial view, circa 1967

In the mid-1960s, ASC constructed a new student health center, completed an addition on its student center, built an auditorium and a theater, ungraded its physical education building, and also expanded parking on campus. At this point the main campus of the college comprised 130 acres (53 ha), while it also owned another 100 acres (40 ha) of what had formerly been farmland to the west of the main campus.^[209] In 1967, UTA's Central Library, which had been built as a two-story building in 1964, was expanded to a height of six stories.^[46] This was primarily funded by the UT System at a cost of $12.1 million. Also shortly after ASC joined the UT System, the system allocated $1.4 million for a mathematics and languages building and $350,000 for an addition to its men's physical education building. Joining the UT System prompted ASC to revise its master plan, which had been drafted in 1960. The updated master plan emphasized making the campus more walkable by turning streets into pedestrian malls. It also recommended the development of a compact campus with mostly low-rise buildings.^[209] This plan considered the new library and Texas Hall to form the main axis on campus and recommended developing the southern edge of the campus, where it bordered Mitchell Street, into a "beauty spot".^[210]

During President Harrison's tenure from 1968 to 1972, numerous new buildings were constructed on campus, including Hammond Hall and Trimble Hall (1968), Carlisle Hall (1969), the Business-Life Science Building and University Hall (1970), and Davis Hall (1971). In 1972, construction began on the new Fine Arts Building, which cost $8 million to build.^[31] By that year, the campus spanned a total of 197 acres (80 ha). A self-study report from the early 1970s also contained the first mention of a plan to lower Cooper Street, which carries Farm to Market Road 157 through the heart of campus, although it would take 20 years for this goal to be realized.^[211] Ultimately, in November 1990, UTA, the City of Arlington, and the State of Texas collaborated to lower Cooper Street and build pedestrian bridges over it after wheelchair athlete Andrew David Beck was struck and killed while crossing the road in January 1989.^[212][213]

In 1977, UTA failed to receive funding for a new special events center that would have cost $14 million and accommodated 10,000 spectators for basketball and volleyball in addition to special events. This special events center was never built.^[214] In 1978, the College of Business Administration building was dedicated.^[33] In 1982, UTA received funding for constructing its Architecture Building and a thermal energy building.^[214] In 1984, UTA, along with all the universities in both the UT and A&M systems, were granted access to the Permanent University Fund for the first time, although only for classroom and research building construction.^[1][215]

In 1986, there were 85 buildings on the UTA campus that were collectively valued at $238 million. The campus itself had by then expanded to 348 acres (141 ha) in size.^[1] In 1987, UTA opened a new Automation and Robotics Research Institute as a satellite campus at River Bend in Fort Worth in partnership with the Fort Worth Chamber Foundation.^[1][216] Saxon considered it among the most notable additions to the physical campus during the Nedderman era.^[216] In 1989, UTA opened a new engineering complex that cost $39.9 million.^[1] In 1991, the building originally named Engineering II was renamed Nedderman Hall in honor of UTA president Wendell Nedderman.^[217] The total cost of construction on campus during Nedderman's tenure (1972–92) was over $158 million.^[218]

In October 1999, UTA unveiled a new 20-year master plan, the first new master plan for the university in 33 years. Highlights of the plan included 22 new buildings proposed to be built over the next 20 years, a main entrance to UTA developed at the intersection of Border and College streets, and the closure of several streets to create pedestrian walkways on campus.^[219] In January 2001, UTA demolished Pachl Hall, a 52-year-old residence hall.^[220] In 2004, it dedicated a new residence hall, Kalpana Chawla Hall.^[221][222] In 2005, the City of Arlington and UTA bid together for the George W. Bush Presidential Library,^[223][224] but their combined bid was not one of the four finalists selected in October of that year.^[225]

In January 2006, the Chemistry and Physics Building was opened, a 128,000-square-foot (11,900 m²) building containing mostly laboratories as well as a planetarium.^[226] Also in 2006, the university redeveloped a section of West Street on campus into a pedestrian mall at a cost of $100,000.^[227] In 2007, UTA purchased the Coronado Apartments and Hamilton House on the eastern edge of campus for $2.9 million, with the goal of demolishing them and converting the 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) of land they stood on into green space for the eastern side of campus.^[228] In October and November 2008, the university demolished the Coronado Apartments with the goal of replacing it with a landscaped park and a trail as part of the City of Arlington's Center Street Pedestrian Trail.^[229]

In August 2007, UTA opened the Smart Hospital, a nursing simulation facility with manikins able to simulate bleeding, breathing complications, and childbirth.^[230] In September of that year, the university opened the Maverick Activities Center (MAC), its new campus recreation facility.^[231] In April 2008, UTA installed the first green roof in the DFW Metroplex on the Life Science Building,^[232] and in September 2008 the Engineering Research Complex became the first certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building on the campus.^[233] In November 2009, UTA announced that it would make its entire campus tobacco-free by August 2011.^[234]

Greene Research Quad and the Engineering Research Building, 2021

In January 2011, UTA opened the new Engineering Research Building, which was constructed at the cost of $126 million.^[235] In April, the university opened the College Park Green, a park in the College Park District on the eastern edge of campus.^[236] In August of that year, UTA constructed a 35-foot (11 m) tower as a landmark building at the corner of UTA Boulevard and South Cooper Street. It was built with $481,666 left over from the construction of the Engineering Research Building.^[237] In February 2012, UTA opened its new College Park Center as the home to its men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball teams as well as events.^[82][238] In April 2012, the university purchased the Johnson Creek Crossing Apartments on South Pecan Street for $17.8 million, which it renamed The Heights on Pecan. The building provided UTA with approximately 300 more rooms for students living on campus.^[239]

In spring 2018, UTA opened a new parking garage on the west side of its campus.^[240] In July 2018, 82-year-old Brazos Hall, the smallest and oldest dormitory on campus, was demolished.^[241][242] Brazos Park, situated on the former site of Brazos Hall,^[243] was opened in August 2019.^[244] In August 2018, The Commons, a new dining facility on west campus, and the new West Hall, a residence hall, were both opened.^{[245][246][247]} In September 2018, UTA opened its new Science and Engineering Innovation and Research (SEIR) Building.^[248][249] In February 2019, UTA acquired the Centennial Court apartments, which had previously been privately operated, and integrated them into its University Housing department.^[250] In March 2019, the university opened its new Military and Veteran Services (MAVS) Center.^[251]

In November 2019, the UT System Board of Regents allocated $60 million in funding for a new building for the UTA School of Social Work,^[252] after President Karbhari addressed the 86th Texas Legislature in February about the dire state of the current Social Work building, which was built in 1922.^[253] In 2019, UTA demolished its Maple Square and Garden Club apartments, both of which had been built in 1964 and had reached the end of their useful lives.^[254] In December 2019, UTA demolished Trinity House, a residence hall on the west side of campus.^[255] In September 2020, UTA opened its "grand entrance" addition on the University Center, the completion of a $9.8 million expansion project.^[256]

Student life[]

By the conclusion of the ASC era in 1967, there were 91 active student clubs and organizations on campus, more than four times more than in 1957.^[15]

UTA was not a major center for student protest during the 1960s and 1970s, although it did witness smaller protests both for and against the Vietnam War, against the Middle Eastern policy of President Jimmy Carter, against the construction of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant in Glen Rose, and against those responsible for the Iran hostage crisis. The Ku Klux Klan also staged a protest on campus during a speech by Alex Haley.^[57]

A dancer in costume during UTA's International Week, 1987

In September 1975, UTA hosted its largest-ever single event, an "Urban Survival Fair" that drew 65,000–70,000 attendees. Co-sponsored by UTA's Institute of Urban Studies and Dallas radio station KZEW, it featured live music in addition to 85 booths distributing information about art, education, and social service organizations.^[257][258] UTA has celebrated International Week since 1977, which features the customs, dance, fashion, and food of thousands of UTA's international students.^[259]

Since 1980, one of the most enduring traditions at UTA is bed racing, involving mounting wheels on bed frames with mattresses.^[260] The races are run at Maverick Stadium.^[261] Since 1981, UTA has held an Activity Fair to welcome students to campus and connect them with leadership and volunteer opportunities.^[262] In more recent years, the Activity Fair is held in conjunction with the Maverick Cookout, which features university faculty and staff serving burgers and drinks to students, as part of the larger Maverick Stampede series of events introducing students to campus and to fellow students.^[263] Since 1989, students, faculty, staff, and alumni have competed annually in oozeball, a mud volleyball competition with proceeds helping to fund student scholarships.^[264]

In 1985, UTA's practice of occasionally showing X-rated films on campus resulted in controversy when Baptist Student Union president Greg Sullivan protested the screening of the films Emmanuelle 2 and Story of O. State Senator Robert McFarland and Representative Jan McKenna, both representing Arlington, also expressed outrage over the practice and threatened withholding state funding to the university.^[265] In response, President Nedderman developed a new policy that banned any X-rated films with "strong sexual content" from being screened on campus unless they were for a "legitimate academic or educational program".^[266] While the resolution to the controversy was satisfactory to McFarland and McKenna, it was criticized as "an arbitrary kind of standard" by the Fort Worth chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and disapproved by 87% of the student body, according to a poll conducted by The Shorthorn.^[266]

After UTA's football program was terminated in 1985, homecoming moved from football season in the fall to the spring to better align with basketball season.^[264] In 2012, homecoming returned to the fall.^[264][267]

Beginning in 1989, every student in the engineering program at UTA was represented by their nation's flag hanging in Nedderman Hall.^[217] In 2006, President James Spaniolo removed all 123 flags from the Hall of Flags after protests by the local Vietnamese American community following the inclusion of the flag of the extant Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) and not the historic flag of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).^[268][269] The decision ended the 17-year existence of the Hall of Flags,^[269][270] and in an open forum in June 2006 Spaniolo declared that the flags would not return to Nedderman Hall in the foreseeable future.^[270]

In February 1991, a pro-Operation Desert Storm rally was held on UTA's Library Mall after the beginning of the Gulf War.^[271] In September 2005, the university declared Fridays to be "Spirit Days" and encouraged students, faculty, and staff to wear UTA apparel on those days.^[272] In spring 2016, industrial and organizational psychology major Erin Porche started Natural Kinks, a natural hair club, on campus.^[273]

In February 2018, UTA's chapter of Phi Gamma Delta was suspended for three years after an investigation, although no further details were provided.^[274] In April 2019, UTA suspended all fraternity and sorority activities on campus due to "concerns regarding the culture of the fraternal community both at UTA and nationally".^[275] President Karbarhari elaborated that the decision was made due to "cases of hazing, sexual assault, extreme intoxication, and other inappropriate behaviors connected to some members of our Greek Community".^[276] In August 2019, UTA allowed fraternities and sororities to resume operation after each met new requirements mandated by the university, such as more training and limits on alcohol at events.^[277]

Geraldine Ferraro on the UTA campus, 1984

Among the most notable guest speakers on campus in the UTA era were Jane Fonda in 1970 and vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.^{[57][278][257]} Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto spoke on campus in 2007.^[279] In 1975, country musician Willie Nelson played a benefit concert at UTA for its athletic department.^[257]

Per campus lore, it is considered good luck to rub the head of the bronze bust of former president E. H. Hereford, which is on display in the Hereford University Center.^[280] Another legend concerns a white elephant that is reputedly buried on the UTA campus. Former UTA professor John D. Boon explained that paleontology professor C. L. McNulty needed to create a collection of vertebrate skeletal elements. To accomplish this, UTA's biology and paleontology departments had bought the skeleton of an elephant named "Queen Tut", who lived and died at the Fort Worth Zoo, from the Fort Worth Rendering Company for $24. In order to clean the skeleton, it was buried in a parking lot near Maverick Stadium.^[281] The skeleton was exhumed a few years later and added to the collections of UTA's Geology Department. A second elephant skeleton was similarly purchased by the university and cured on the roof of UTA's Science Building instead of being buried.^[282]

Notable alumni[]

In 1971, Tommy Franks graduated from UTA with a degree in business. After serving in the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, he rose to the rank of general before leading the American invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.^[283][284] In 1984, Kalpana Chawla graduated from UTA with a master's degree in aerospace engineering. In 1997, she became the first Indian woman to fly into space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia,^[38] and she was killed while flying on the Columbia again in 2003 when it disintegrated during reentry.^[38][285] UTA subsequently named both a residence hall and a scholarship in her memory.^[38][221] Actor Lou Diamond Philips also graduated from UTA in 1984.^[286]

Athletics[]

ASC football player Mel Witt, one of the first African Americans on the team, 1966

After Memorial Stadium was demolished in 1972, the UTA football team was forced to play games on local high school fields until Maverick Stadium was opened in September 1980.^[287] While it never recaptured the successes it achieved in the 1950s and generally struggled on the field while attracting often lackluster crowds, during the UTA era the football team won the Pecan Bowl in 1967 and won the Southland Conference (SLC) championship in 1981.^[288]

In November 1985, President Nedderman announced the elimination of the football program, which was losing nearly $1 million per season.^{[266][288][289]} In the words of Saxon, this was money that "could be used to further the university's primary mission of teaching and research, but instead was supporting a financially weak football program".^[266] Another reason for the elimination of the football program was its sagging attendance, which declined from 7,950 per game in 1980, the first year at Maverick Stadium, to just 5,600 per game in 1985. The team had the poorest attendance of any school in the SLC, despite UTA having the largest total enrollment in the conference. A third reason was that the cost of football was drawing funding away from UTA's other athletics teams, making them less competitive. The decision to end the football program was opposed by UTA's Maverick Club athletic booster organization and community leaders such as Tom Cravens and Tom Vandergriff, and the resulting controversy even prompted Nedderman to refuse to talk to the press for two weeks after the initial announcement. Regardless, in the aftermath of his decision Nedderman received twice as many letters and calls voicing support for cutting football than those that were critical of his decision.^[290]

Tim McKyer, who played on the final 1985 UTA football team, went on to win three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos.^[291] UTA political science professor Allan Saxe summarized his perceptions of student attitudes toward eliminating the football team by stating "70 percent [of UTA students] would say they are not heartbroken over dropping football. 10 percent are heartbroken, and the remaining 20 percent did not know UTA even had a team."^[292] UTA also eliminated its swimming program by the early 1980s.^[1][293] As of 2015, UTA is the only college in the country with a marching band but no football team.^[294]

Final men's basketball game at Texas Hall, view from the floor looking at the stage, 2012

Between 1965 and the opening of College Park Center in 2012, UTA's basketball and volleyball teams played at Texas Hall, a multipurpose auditorium built to hold concerts and theatrical plays in addition to athletics.^[295][287] On February 1, 2012, the university opened College Park Center, the home to its men's basketball, women's basketball, and women's volleyball teams, with a basketball doubleheader against the University of Texas at San Antonio.^{[82][238][296][297]} The arena has also hosted professional boxing^[298][299] and professional wrestling since its opening.^[300] After gaining approval from the UT System Board of Regents to lease the arena,^[301] College Park Center became the new home arena of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s Dallas Wings after the franchise relocated from Tulsa, Oklahoma, before their first season in Arlington in 2016.^[302]

On July 1, 2012, UTA left the SLC and joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).^[303][304] It remained in the WAC only for one year, leaving it to join the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) on July 1, 2013.^[305] In January 2022, UTA announced that it would be leaving the SBC no later than summer 2023, largely due to its lack of a football program and the conference's emphasis on football.^[306] Later that month, it announced it was re-joining the WAC, with membership effective July 1, 2022.^[307][308]

In 1973, after the passage of Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments Act, UTA began sponsoring four women's sports: basketball, softball, track, and volleyball.^[309] That was also the first year that women's athletics received a line item in the university budget.^[58] During the 1980s, these four sports remained the four options for intercollegiate athletics for women at the university, while men's teams were fielded in baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, and track.^[1] Cross country and tennis have subsequently been added as women's sports.^[309] In 1990, The Dallas Morning News investigated the impact of cutting football on the remaining sports at UTA, finding that their competitiveness had improved after the demise of the football program. Conference championships were won by softball in 1988, men's track and field in 1988 and 1989, and women's volleyball in 1990. The volleyball team also went on a 54-game conference winning streak that was active through 1990.^[54]

The men's basketball team qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament in 2008.^[295] The 2007–08 team won the SLC championship for the first time in program history, winning a record 21 games in the process and qualifying for the NCAA tournament.^[310] A #16 seed in the tournament, they were defeated by #1 seed Memphis, 87–63, in their first-ever NCAA tournament game.^[311] The 2011–12 team won the SLC regular-season championship,^[312] and the 2016–17 team won the SBC regular-season championship.^[313]

The women's basketball team qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament in 2005 and 2007.^[295][314] The 2004–05 women's basketball team qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time in its history after winning the SLC title game against Louisiana–Monroe. Selected as a #13 seed in the tournament, they played their first-round game against #4 seed Texas Tech at Reunion Arena in Dallas, losing 69–49.^[315] In 2006–07, the women's basketball team set a program record for wins in a season (24), went undefeated in SLC play, and made an appearance in the NCAA tournament, their second in three seasons.^[316] In 2018–19, the women's basketball team won a regular-season SBC title.^[317] The 2021–22 team won the SBC tournament championship.^[318]

UTA Freewheelers wheelchair basketball player Abu Yilla and UTA volleyball player Judith McGill, 1985

The volleyball team advanced all the way to the Final Four in the 1989 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament.^[58][319] That team defeated the reigning national champion Texas Longhorns en route to the Final Four in Hawaii, where they lost to eventual national champions Long Beach State.^[320] The UTA volleyball program has won SLC titles in 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1992.^[58]

In 1990, the baseball team won its first conference championship, defeating Sam Houston State in the SLC title game.^[321] It won another conference title in 1992.^[322] In 1993, star player Clay Gould won the SLC Player of the Year award. In 1999, as head coach Butch McBroom retired after leading the team since 1974, Gould was named head coach at the age of just 27.^[321][323] After being diagnosed with colon cancer in 2000, Gould continued to coach through the end of the season, but ultimately died from the disease in June 2001.^[321][324] In April 2003, UTA's baseball field was renamed Clay Gould Ballpark in his memory.^[321][325] In June 2004, UTA baseball player Hunter Pence was selected 64th overall in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the Houston Astros, making him the highest draft pick in UTA baseball history.^[326] The 2006 team won the SLC tournament championship and qualified for the NCAA tournament,^[327] and the 2012 team again won the SLC conference tournament,^[328] qualifying it for that year's NCAA tournament.^[329]

In 1986 and again in 1989, the softball team won SLC championships.^[322]

In 1986 and 1991, the women's cross country team won conference championships.^[58] The men's track and field team won outdoor conference championships in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992. It also won indoor conference championships in 1990, 1991, and 1992.^[322] In October 2012, the UTA men's cross country team won the WAC championship.^[330] In February 2014, the UTA men's track and field team won the indoor SBC title,^[331] and in May 2014, it won the outdoor conference championship.^[332] The team won the 2017 SBC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May 2017,^[333] and the SBC Indoor Championship in February 2019.^[334] In November 2014, the UTA women's track and field team won the SBC conference championship.^[335] In fall 2015, the UTA men's cross country team won the SBC conference title,^[336] and it repeated as conference champions in fall 2016.^[337] In June 2018, UTA high jumper Alexus Henry won an individual national championship at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.^[338]

The women's tennis team has won six regular-season SLC titles, winning their last championship in 2011.^[339] The men's tennis team won the SLC championship in 2010,^[340] and the SBC championship in 2016.^[341]

The men's golf team won the SLC championship in 2005,^[342] and again in 2011.^[343] In 2017, UTA established a women's golf program.^[344][345]

Established in 1976, the Movin' Mavs men's wheelchair basketball team has won nine national titles, the most recent in 2021.^[346][347] The team was founded by UTA alumnus Jim Hayes as the Freewheelers in 1976, and in 1988 they joined the National Wheelchair Basketball Association and changed their name to the Movin' Mavs.^[347] After they won their third consecutive national championship in 1993, they were invited to the White House by President Bill Clinton.^[322][348] In 2002, the Movn' Mavs became the first ever college team to make the semifinals of the professional-division National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament.^[349] In October 2009, James Patin of the Movin' Mavs wheelchair tennis team won a national championship,^[350] and in October 2014, the UTA wheelchair tennis team won the ITA/USTA Intercollegiate Wheelchair Tennis National Team Championships.^[351] In fall 2013, UTA established a women's wheelchair basketball team, commonly known as the Lady Movin' Mavs.^[352] In March 2016, they won their first NWBA National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament,^[353] and in March 2018, they won their second national championship.^[354] Five members or alumni of the Movin' Mavs and Lady Movin' Mavs competed in wheelchair basketball at the 2016 Summer Paralympics: Abby Dunkin, Aaron Gouge, Rose Hollermann, Mike Paye, and Jorge Sanchez.^[355][356]

The UTA cheer squad has won national championships in its division in 2010,^[357] 2014,^[358] 2015,^[359] 2016,^[360] 2017,^[361] and 2018.^[362]

In 1982, UTA mechanical engineering professor Robert Woods created a Formula SAE team that designs and builds a race car for competition every year. The UTA Formula SAE team has won both national and international competitions, and in 2014 it was ranked fifth in the world.^[347] In September 2004, the team won its first-ever international competition against 26 other cars in Japan.^[363] In September 2015, it won the Sports Car Club of America Nationals.^[364]

References[]

Sources[]

External links[]

• Lynn Bougher University of Texas at Arlington Photographic Slide Collection finding aid at University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Special Collections via Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO)