Parenting, Texas History

The University of Texas has been in operation for nearly 140 years. Since that time, tens of thousands of UT graduates have Ken Bridges enjoyed careers in all fields that have shaped both the state and the world alike. In its early years, it struggled as it had difficulty finding students, funding, or respect. It took the efforts of its first president, George T. Winston, to change the direction of UT.

George Tayloe Winston was born in North Carolina in 1852. Exceptionally bright, he entered the University of North Carolina at age 13 in 1866. The college, however, was struggling after the end of the Civil War and shut down. Instead, Winston accepted an appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy, attending from 1868 to 1870. Though he excelled academically, severe seasickness ended his naval career, and he left the academy. He earned a degree in literature from Cornell University in New York in 1874 and then returned to North Carolina.

The University of North Carolina had reopened by 1875, and Winston took a position as professor of Latin and German. Respected by his fellow professors, he was named secretary of the faculty. In 1891, Winston was promoted to president of the university. He understood the potential that a university could have for an impoverished state looking to rebuild its economy. He went across the state to convince residents of the university’s importance, which helped improve its reputation and enrollment. Within a few years, its income would double and enrollment would triple. By 1895, Winston had been elected president of the Association of Southern Colleges and Secondary Schools in recognition of his work.

Texas was facing similar struggles at the time. In the early days of the University of Texas, there was not a president in charge of the college. The administrative system was very loose, with professors often taking multiple administrative roles. The university was governed by a board of professors who jointly set policy and oversaw the day-to-day operations, and one professor would head this committee. This committee then reported to the Board of Trustees, which was appointed by the governor. This was very common among many colleges and universities at the time. But with the university growing in number of students enrolled and in importance to Texas, the professors decided that a president was needed to manage the college and to be the face of the university to the world.

Prof. George Waggener, a professor of history and English who had worked at the university since it opened in 1883, was chosen to be the interim president in 1895 while a permanent president was found. By 1896, the search had lasted a year, and trustees were no closer to finding a candidate. In June 1896, Winston was invited to give the graduation address at the university. By this time, he had earned a great deal of respect among academics in regard to higher education. He gave a rousing address on the future of universities. The trustees were especially impressed. They had found their president. The trustees quickly offered the job to Winston, and he accepted.

Starting in the fall semester of 1896, Winston began his service as the first president of the University of Texas. While the university was growing, it had its struggles. It faced fierce competition from church-sponsored colleges across the state, most notably Baylor University, and many legislators were still skeptical about financing a state university. As a result, Winston had very little money to work with. The university had two million acres of land at its disposal, including mineral rights from a grant dating to the Republic of Texas in the 1830s, but the land was in West Texas. Until it was discovered that a fortune in oil was under that land in the 1920s, the land did little for the university’s finances.

In spite of these challenges, Winston began an active campaign across the state to improve the university’s reputation and drum up support for it. New professors were hired, and the curriculum was modernized. The campus, however, was largely undeveloped and was mostly a series of pastures dotted with cattle. In spite of its location just a few blocks north of the Capitol, Winston struggled to gain more funding from the state legislature.

Slowly, the university’s reputation began to improve. A new student newspaper was founded, the University Calendar. By 1899, enrollment neared 500 students. But UT still operated without electricity. Frustrated by his lack of progress, Winston decided to step down. In spite of his short three years at UT, he set in motion the growth, management, and sense of pride associated with the university. UT would never again be just an afterthought.

He accepted a position as president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of North Carolina, later known as North Carolina State University. As with the UT and the University of North Carolina, Winston worked to improve its finances and to promote it across the state. However, his health was starting to decline. In 1908, while only 55 years old, he decided to retire. He lived quietly on a pension and wrote a number of books. He died in 1932. Today, UT is a state-fo-the-art university with more than 50,000 students.

John Rosemond

Okay, I’ve had it! I’ve reached my limit! My tolerance for wellintentioned nonsense is kaput! Over and done with! Maxed out! Stop it! Just stop it!

I’m referring to the oft-tendered recommendation that mom and dad set aside a weekly “date night” for the purpose of taking a break from parenting and rejuvenating their marriage.

First, does anyone actually think that three to five hours a week spent in the roles of husband and wife is sufficient to maintaining a vibrant marriage? Five hours over approximately 112 hours of waking time per week is 4.46 percent.

When I ask people who are married with children to estimate the percentage of overall waking time they spend in the roles of husband or wife, the average answer is ten percent, which simply means that parenting rules in the American family. That further means that the typical American child rarely sees what a functional marriage looks like. For one thing, a functional marriage is not a five or ten percent marriage. It’s eighty percent. It’s certainly no less than sixty-six-pointseven percent.

This is a FACT, however counterintuitive and paradoxical: Nothing puts a more solid foundation of well-being under a child’s feet than the knowledge his parents are in a committed, vibrant marriage. A child needs to see that his parents enjoy one another’s company, even that they would rather talk to one another and spend time with one another than to or with him. That defines the eightypercenters.

The shrieking and blaspheming that you may now be hearing is coming from people who have become ensnared in the mental straitjacket of parenting correctness, the most debilitating doctrine of which is “Children need lots of attention.” No, outside infancy and toddlerhood, they do not, and children who act like they need lots of attention are nearly always children who are receiving entirely too much attention. The children in question are addicted to being center-stage in their families.

Those children –they are rare but still exist –who tolerate, even prefer, being virtually ignored under normal, day-today circumstances are the most secure, happiest children. They know they are loved. They know their boundaries, first and foremost of which is they are not members of the wedding. On an average hourly basis, their parents leave the children in question to their own devices, which, speaking as a former child who was left to his own devices, is an incomparable gift (so long as the devices in question are not screen-based).

Mom and dad should be part-time jobs. During the labor-intensive first two years of a child’s life, part-time is an ideal. Past that point, part-time should be the state of things. Husband and wife should be most of the time. Most-of-the-time husbands and wives take vacations without their kids—not all vacations, mind you, but at least one a year. Most-of-the-time husbands and wives put their kids to bed relatively early because they look forward to being husbands and wives without distractions.

Most-of-the-time husbands and wives don’t have one night a week set aside for being husband and wife. They are husband and wife whenever they feel like it, which is most of the time.

Family psychologist John Rosemond:parentguru.com,johnrosemond. com.

John Rosemond has worked with families, children, and parents since 1971 in the field of family psychology. In 1971, John earned his masters in psychology from Western Illinois University and was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.