Angelo State University history

In May 1929, six students walked across the stage in the institution’s first commencement exercise.

The voters of Tom Green County in 1945 created a county junior college district and elected the first board of trustees.

In 1947, the first building was constructed on the present university site.

SAC also broke the color barrier in Texas intercollegiate football in 1953 when Ben Kelly, who later that academic year would be named class favorite, started for the Rams.

Board of Education and in 1955 graduating its first black student, Mary Frances Simpson, the outstanding graduate that year.

In 1957, the institution won the first of its three team national championships, taking the national title in basketball for the National Junior College Athletic Association.

John Connally in 1963 signed legislation making SAC a state institution and a part of what became the Texas State University System.

In May 1967, the first baccalaureate degrees were awarded.

Shortly after Hardeman retired from the Texas Senate, the name of the institution was changed to Angelo State University in May 1969.

The graduate program was initiated in 1970 with the start of the university's College of Graduate Studies.

The Graduate School of Angelo State University opened in 1971.

Intercollegiate athletics for women began in 1975.

Upon his death in 1978, long-time ASU supporter Robert G. Carr established a foundation funded by his mineral and royalty interests from oil-producing properties in 16 West Texas counties.

The first scholarships were awarded in 1981.

By 1991, ASU was receiving national attention, being recognized by United States News and World Report as one of the nation’s up-and-coming universities.

By 2007 the fund was valued at more than $65 million and provided scholarships for one in every six ASU students annually.

The implosion of University Hall, also known as the Women’s High Rise, marked 2009 as an explosive year in ASU history, and allowed for further campus growth and expansion.

Another milestone came for the university in 2011 when fall semester enrollment surpassed 7,000 students for the first time.

ASU also continued to attract national attention in 2012 when it was named for the fourth straight year to the Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges” guide.

Angelo State completed its first capital campaign in 2013, raising $35 million for facility construction, scholarships, and academic support.

A new construction boom began in 2014 with major renovations to several athletic facilities, and ASU received initial approval for a new civil engineering program in conjunction with the largest private donation in school history for a new engineering lab facility.