Texas Southern University in Houston and Wiley College, a private Historically Black college in Marshall, Texas, have formalized a new partnership to assist students in completing undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Through the agreement, Texas Southern will also offer a variety of courses to Wiley students during the winter mini-semester and during summer sessions. The partnership also addresses the critical demand for educators by establishing a strategic pathway for teacher education through which Wiley students will have the opportunity to be part of the College of Education Educator Preparation Program at the university.
Texas Southern University traces its roots to Wiley College. In 1925, Wiley started extension classes for African Americans in the Houston area who desired to obtain a teaching certification. This extension led to the establishment of the Houston Colored Junior College, which became the Houston College for Negroes in 1924. It was a Wiley College graduate named Heman Sweatt, whose fight for admission to the University of Texas School of Law in 1946 resulted in the Texas legislature establishing a law school in the Houston area for African Americans, which would be housed on the campus of the Houston College for Negroes. That decision birthed the Texas State University for Negroes, which became Texas Southern University in 1951.
Mary Evans Sias, president of Texas Southern University stated that “we honor that history while formalizing a partnership that will benefit students from both institutions well into the future by facilitating an exchange of ideas and experiences that we know will enrich both campus communities.”
