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The Caesar Kleberg Foundation
awarded the school $5.2 million dollars to establish the Caesar Kleberg
Wildlife Institute in the College of Agriculture and the Kleberg Hall of
Natural History at the Conner Museum and provide professional wildlife
and range management experts with the opportunity to concentrate
solely on research or continue in a teaching/research status. The
research was to be both |
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theoretical and practical and cover the broad areas
of wildlife diseases, native plants, commercial utilization of wildlife
and basic ecology of native plant and animal species. The Museum
established the Hall of Natural History with a major collection donated
by Graves Peeler of the heads and horns of the many animals he hunted,
had stuffed and mounted for display in the Peeler Hall of Horns.
The administration began working on a South Texas Regional Studies
Center that would offer services to the people of South Texas and
develop courses that would assist in the development of South Texas
industries. |
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By 1988, the Coordinating Board, which controlled many
of the actions of the state's institutions of higher education, was
carefully considering ways to harness the
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development of programs and devote fewer dollars to the
most promising programs and schools. The Board of
Directors of USST and the administrators at Texas A&I, clearly recognized
that there was a need to be merged into a larger system where funding
could be obtained with the assistance of a University system with more
political clout than the small A&I had ever known. The Board further
recognized the need for more professional education and toward that end
worked to secure a law school for the Kingsville campus. In return
for the political assistance the larger system could bring to the small
school it was felt that A&I would bring "knowledge of the
region and 65 years of experience in dealing with the issues in the
region. 1989-present |
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