6 Chapter II
Building a University
Aerial View of Ward Island (1948)
Mary and Jeff Bell Library, Special Collections and Archives Department, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Plans for what would decades later become Texas A&M University Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) began in earnest in the mid-1940s. The original plans hardly resemble the university as it stands today. The name, location, and key stakeholders associated with TAMU-CC were different. The type of students to be served, as envisioned by early university founders, might now be considered only a slice of the large and diverse student body that now calls TAMU-CC home. Over decades, the Island University has been re-shaped, often due to pressures well beyond its control. However, the fundamental mission to provide South Texas with access to an educational institution remains true from the earliest discussions about starting a college through today.
U.S. Emergence
World War II defined a generation and transformed the U.S. into a global superpower. Through the period leading up to the war, the U.S. had a small military. There was little necessity for a standing army on the European model. The need to defend the U.S. border was minimal as its neighbors were allies and also had small militaries. The U.S. was only a minor player in terms of imperial expansion unlike Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, and other European nations with their numerous overseas territories. For instance, at its zenith, the British Empire controlled a vast territory on which the “sun never set” as it covered a quarter of the World’s landmass. However, the U.S. was a sleeping giant in terms of industrial capacity. The nation’s large population would prove critical for building the armies necessary to fight a global conflict. Following World War II, a reordering of world powers would catapult the U.S. to the forefront of global affairs and commerce.
The war brought about significant social changes in the U.S. After the war, conditions were right for a historic expansion of higher education. Many of the common occurrences of life had been placed on hold as the U.S. engaged in the singular national mission of winning the war. Millions of young Americans had been called into uniformed service while millions more toiled to build the instruments of war not only for U.S. soldiers, sailors, and marines but also for U.S. allies. Great Britain relied heavily on U.S. goods to continue the fight in Europe against Germany and its ally, Italy. The U.S. had been supplying food and war material to Great Britain under the lend/lease agreement even before the U.S. was attacked at Pearl Harbor and entered the war in late 1941. A monumental effort to build everything from Liberty Ships for transporting goods to ammunition, tanks, jeeps, and aircraft shifted U.S. industrial capacity towards filling these enormous demands. U.S. consumers found limited availability of products ranging from butter to automobiles, as goods were either diver