By Fernando Ramirez, Chron.com / Houston Chronicle

Published 10:31 am, Friday, April 7, 2017

This month, Texas A&M is celebrating its 146-year anniversary. 

When it was founded on April 17, 1876, the school was almost unrecognizable. The “Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas,” as it was called, only accepted white males and required all students to participate in military training.

A  few months after being founded, the schools official body count was six professors and 40 students. Now, Texas A&M boasts more than 60,000 students and 3,500 teachers and researchers.

The campus owes part of its creation to Jonathan Baldwin Turner, a botanist, political activist and figurehead behind an 1850s movement that sought to create agriculture colleges.

PHOTOS: See the evolution of College Station, Texas A&M

Turner’s reasoning was that private universities focused too much on the study of ancient literature and not on the practical concerns of life, like agriculture.

Newspapers and private universities called his ideas foolish and many farmers believed that university schooling would only prevent students from learning practical lessons with their hands.

A decade after his movement began, Turner’s wishes were granted through the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Acts, a statute signed by Abraham Lincoln that donated public lands for the creation of agricultural and mechanical colleges.

Thanks to Turner’s efforts, the Morrill Land-Grant Acts is now responsible for nearly half of the top 50 engineering schools in the country, one of which is Texas A&M.

ALUMNUS: Former Texas A&M offensive lineman Chris Dausin dies

Aside from academics, the school is well-known for its passionate student body, which has carried school spirit through multiple generations. Things like the Midnight Yell, Elephant Walk and the school’s vast array of slang have helped cement the school’s legendary status.

The proud and enduring traditions that many students hold dear help give credence to Texas A&M’s opening inaugural words, said by Gov. Richard Coke more than 14 decades ago: “In time these halls will become classic.”

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