By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
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Dallas, TX – There was quiet celebration today on the campus of the University of North Texas in Dallas. Yesterday Governor Perry signed legislation that will make it the first four-year public university in the city. KERA's Shelley Kofler has more on the growth to come.
Just one building sits on the 264 acre campus of the University of North Texas in Dallas. But those who've fought for this institution have a much larger vision. Vice Chancellor John Ellis Price says the vision came into focus with a stroke of the Governor's pen.
Price: We were technically born yesterday when the governor signed that legislation which gives us the autonomy to have our own programs our own faculty our own staff and to have our own degree programs.
Since opening in 2000, the UNT-Dallas campus just South of I-20 has only enrolled juniors and seniors. Its new designation means the campus will also admit freshmen and sophomores next year and become a full-fledged university. The legislation also provides $2.5 million dollars that will enable the school to sell bonds and construct a second building.
Wright: It's very exciting for me.
Karen Wright is pursuing a double major that includes human services management. For her and many students at UNT Dallas the campus is a lifeline for young people in a part of the city that has struggled to provide opportunity.
Wright: As a student of UNT I'm able to see the expansion and other students from this area will be able to come and be students here. The reason I chose this campus was convenience. It was close to where I live. It's no more than ten miles from my home and the university offered scholarships.
At the state capitol, where the legislation came together, Dallas Senator Royce West celebrated ten years of effort. He authored the UNT legislation, and sees the current 22-hundred student body growing much larger.
West: My vision is that institution will ultimately serve 20,000 to 30,000 students. What an impact that is going to make on education, what an impact that is going to make on the local economy.
One study estimates the university will have 16,000 students in two decades, and its economic impact will hover close to a half billion dollars.
And the single campus building on the hill will be surrounded by many others.