Located in an enclave of Dallas, Texas Southern Methodist University (commonly known as SMU) has a rich history at its University Park campus, where the institution was first established in 1911. A private university founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church and still affiliated with her. the school has a population of approximately 11,000 with approximately 55% of those enrolled being college students. Despite the constitution date of April 11, 1911, administrative problems prevented the first class from starting until 1915.
The genesis of the Methodist Church’s interest in the new university being discussed for the Dallas area was the direct result of a 1914 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling that revoked the church’s authority to influence the private school of the Methodist Church. south of Vanderbilt University (located in Nashville, Tennessee). After suffering a court-ordered defeat in Tennessee, the church turned its attention to forming a Methodist university in Dallas while investing resources at Emory University in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
The creation of modern SMU was the direct result of earlier failed attempts to transplant neighboring Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas) to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In the early 20th century, when Southwestern University’s then-president Robert Hyer failed to move the school he presided over from Georgetown, Texas, to Dallas (the two cities are about 170 miles apart), he resigned his post. at Southwestern and spearheaded the effort to start a new university that would eventually become Southern Methodist University.
Despite unsuccessful efforts to move Southwestern University, the school and its new rival to the north of SMU remained on good terms with each other, frequently competing in athletic competitions and sharing senior-level administrators. The once-friendly rivalry faded when Southwestern underwent a reorganization that transformed the school into a small liberal arts college.
Dallas Hall was the name given to the first official building on the SMU campus. The name Dallas Hall is in recognition of the $300,000 (a considerable sum in the early 20th century) that the citizens of Dallas donated to secure the location of the new university. Dallas Hall remains the centerpiece of SMU’s landscape even to this day. The first building stands proudly as a symbol of the community’s willingness to make personal sacrifice in an effort to bring education and culture to their community.
Robert Hyer, former president of Southwestern University, became the first president of Southern Methodist University and one of his first notable acts as president was to select the school colors which are still displayed to this day. In an attempt to associate his esteemed institution of higher learning with the nation’s most renowned place of learning, Mr. Hyer selected “Yale blue” and “Harvard crimson” as the two school colors to adorn all college-related items. university, including logos, sportswear, and stationery. In a further effort to partner with the prestigious Ivy League president, Hyer named several streets in the area after successful schools including: Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Princeton, Tulane, Amherst, Villanova, and Marquette, just to name a few. .
In more recent history, SMU was chosen in 2008 as the site of the Presidential Library to train President George W. Bush, a man who, while not an SMU alumnus, is in fact a native of Texas. On the eve of entering its second century of existence, those most familiar with Southern Methodist University are confident that SMU’s proud history will continue well into the future.
