History of East Texas State Normal College
In the context of the college's significant institutional debt, a pressing need for repairs to campus facilities, and American entry into World War I, Randolph B. Binnion, the Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction, was selected as its second president in July 1917.
The late 1910s and early 1920s were an era of marked conservatism at ETSNC, as all prospective faculty members were asked whether they danced or belonged to a church, while the school viewed itself as a surrogate parent for students in line with the principle of in loco parentis.
ETSNC also became known for its low costs as its reputation for quality grew, exemplified by the fact that the Cleveland, Ohio, school board offered to hire its "entire output of teachers" in 1920.
[7] Against the backdrop of significant institutional debt (estimated at $15,000), a pressing need for repairs to campus facilities (to cost in excess of $40,000), and American entry into World War I,[8] the Board of Regents selected Randolph B. Binnion, the Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction, as the college's second president in July 1917.
[19] In the late 1910s, state normal colleges in Texas were not permitted to have on-campus dormitories, so the burden of accommodating students fell largely to Commerce citizens who were willing to host boarders.
[21] However, that year ETSNC and the other state normal colleges pressured the board of regents to permit dormitories, largely to accommodate growth at the schools.
[24] Due to the poor condition of the economy of Texas after World War I, caused largely by an agricultural depression, state funding for higher education suffered.
[26] The problem of renovating the decaying campus on a shoestring budget led to some temporary solutions, including buildings constructed with scrap materials and lacking either central heating or electric lights that were derisively referred to as the "dairy barn" (which housed the Training School) and the "shack".
[28] Although Binnion generally adhered to the same principles regarding teacher education that Mayo did, ETSNC's conversion into a state school brought inevitable and extensive changes.
By the time ETSNC became a state institution in 1917, blue and gold had been adopted as its school colors, and in 1919 its teams began using the nickname "Lions".
[36] During Binnion's presidency, the college took a highly paternalistic attitude towards its students in line with the principle of in loco parentis, which stipulated that it should serve as a surrogate "for absent parents in setting and enforcing rules of behavior and discipline".
[40] In 1917, the W. L. Mayo Literary Society for Young Men was founded, the first of a new breed of student club that emphasized social activities and academic excellence.
