. 2 .
THE A~TORNEYGENES
OF TEXAS
January 22, 1957
Honorable E. IQ. Jones, President
Texas Technological College
Lubbock, Texas
Opinion No. WW-5
Re: Authority of Board of
Directors of Texas Tech-
nological College to en-
gage In educational tele-
vision broadcasting on a
non-commercial basis.
Dear Sir:
your letter of January 8, 1957, relates that Texas
Technological College has petitioned the Federal Communica-
tions Commission to change the designation of T. V. Channel
5 in Lubbock from a commercial to an educatitinal.chanr+l And
has filed an application for permission to operatd a T. V.
station. The Federal Ctimmunications Commls&iQn has asked
for clarification of the authority of the College to engage
In such an activity.
The question to be determined Is whether the Board
of Directors of the College has authority to engage in educa-
tional television broadcasting on a non-commercial basis.
Article 2629 of Vernon’s Civil Statutes eets forth
the purposes of the Texas Technological College a8 follows:
“The Texas Technological College at Lubbock
shall be a co-educational college giving thorough
instruction in technology and textile engineering
from which a student may reach the higheat degree
of education along the lines of manufacturing cot-
.,i ton, wool, leather and~textlle engineering, the
chemistry of materials, the technique of weaving,
dyeing, tanning and the doing of any and all other
things necessary for the manufacturing of raw materials
into finished products; and said college shall also
have complete courses in the.arts and sciences,
Hon. El N. Jones, Page 2. (Opinion No .WUi5)
phyalcal, social, political, pure and applied,
such as are taught In colleges of the first clae~,
. leading to the degrees of bachelor of science,
” bachelor of’arts, bachelor of literature, bachelor
of technology and any and all other degrees given
by colleges of the first alass; eald college being
designed to elevate the Ideals, enrich the lives and
Increase the capacity of the people for the demo-
cratic self-government, and particularly to give
Instruction In technology, manufacturing and agrl-
cultural pursuits, domestic husbandry and home
economics so that the boys and girls of this State
may attain their highest usefulness and greatest
happiness and in so doing, may prepare themselves
for producing from the State Its greatest possl-
ble wealth. ”
Article 2631 of Vernon’s Civil Statutes relates to
the courses of study to be offered by the college and reads
as follows :
“In addition to the &OuraeEiprovided In
technology and textile engineering, said college
shall offer the usual college courses given. in
standard senior colleges of the first class and
shall be empowered to confer appropriate degrees to
be determined by the board of directors, and shall
offer four year courses, two year courses, or short
term courses in farm and ranch husbandry and econom-
ics and the chemistry of soils and the adaption of
farm crops to the peculiar soil, climate and condl-
tion of that portion of the State in which the col-
lege Is located and such other courses and degrees
as the board of directors may see fit to provide as
a mean8 of supplying the educational facilities
necessary for this section of the State. The Board
shall furnish such assistance to the faculty and
students of said college as will enable them to do
original research work and to apply the latest and
most approved method of manufacturing and, in gener-
al, to afford the facilities of the college for
the purpose of originating, developing, supporting
and maintaining all of those agencies for the de-
velopment of the physical, mental and moral welfare
of the students who attend the college and for the
further purpose of developing the material resources
of the State to their highest polntof vblue and
usefulness by teaching the arts of commerce and
Hon. E. N. Jones, page 3. (Opinion No. W-5)
manufacturing. All male~'students attending
tNs coll,egeahall~be reqtired to'reoelve such
Instruction1n"mllitaryacl~ce~a&dtactlcs~ as
the board of.dlrectorsmay prescribewhich Shall
at all times, damply In full with the require-
ments of the Unlted'StatesCovernmentnow given
as a prerequisiteto any aid now extended or
hereafter to be extended by the Government of
the United States to State Institutionsof this
character and all such white male students shall,
during their attendanceat such college, be sub-
ject to such military dlsclpllne and zontrol as
the board of directors may prescribe.
The powers and franchisesof a college or university
are In general such that may~be conferred by charter, statutory
or constitutionalprovisions,and an Institutionwill ordlnari-
ly be accorded the right to perform acts incidentalto its main
wmose, although It ,wlllbe denied the right to perform acts
not reasonably Incidental. Our examinationand study of the
Statutes Indicates that the Legislaturehas seldom, if ever,
undertaken by law to prescribewith exactness the courses of
study, or related activities,of any of our state Institutions
of higher learning. Final determinationof such matters has
largely been left to the sound and wise discretion of the
various governing authoritiesof said Institutionswith the
limits of their authority being marked and defined In the most
general terms.
In Article 2629 the Legislatureexpressly manifested
an Intention that Texas TechnologicalCollege be 'a college
of the first class" and that said college was designed "to
elevate the ideals, enrich the lives and increase the capacity
of the people for the democratic self-government". The ac-
complishmentof such purposes is the primary responsibilityof
the Board of Directors of the college.
The Supreme Court of Montana In the case of State ex
rel:.PublicService Commissionerv. Brannon, 86 Mont. 200, 283,
p. 202, aescribed the functions of the modern university in
the following language:
?Phe activities of modern universitiesembrace
a wider scope than mere teaching. Indeed
the potentialitiesof service which'$y.y'be rend&-
ed through these agencies cannot be compassedby
any small measure. The knowledge diffused by these
institutionsradiates far beyond the student body."
Hon. E. N. Jones, page 4. (OpinionNo. WW-5)
The case of Ingram v. TexasChristian University
196 S.W. 610, Court of Civil Appeals, Fort Worth, concernkd
the authority of that Institutionto maintain a hospital in
connectionwith Its medical school, said hospital rendering
medical services to certain classesnot connectedwith the
school, as well as the general student body. It was urged
that such an activity was ultra vires of the school charter
which defined the purposes of the school in the following
terms:
11
. . . The support of an educationalunder-
taking, to-wit the establishmentand maintenance
of an Institutionof learning of universityrank
for the education and training of students in the
arts, sciences and languages and in all branches
of learning."
The court held that it was not ultra vlres of the
school's corporate charter to establish and maintain a hospital
In connectionwith its medical school and the universityas a
whole, that such activity was "within the purview of the recited
charter purposes of the university and was within the legitimate
objects of its creation".
An Attorney General's letter opinion dated January 27,
1948, addressed to Honorable Frank C. Smith, Presidentof the
Board of Directors of Texas College of Arts and Industries,up-
held the right of that Institutionto permit the installation
and operation of a broadcastingstudio on the college camp'!-is.
The building was to be constr,uctedand equipped by a private
individual,the building to become the property of the St?lte
but ownership of the equipment to be retained by the individ,ual.
Although the opinion dealt with the question presented prima-i-
ly in the 11 ht of the provisions of Senate Bill 393, page 262,
Acts of the &6th Legislature,Regular Session, 1939, which con-
cerned gifts and bequests'to our institutionsof higher leirn-
ing, it did use language which we consider pertinent to y;7u:*
inquiry as follows:
%ICIS, your Board is not authorizedto permit
the constructionon the campus of a broadcasting
studio to be used primarily for commercial purpoaesP
with only incidentalbenefits to the college. The
determinationof whether the proposed installatior
inquestion meets the statutory requirementsherein-
before set out is a matter within the sound discre-
tion of your Board." /
. .
Hon. E. N. Jones, page 5. (Opinion No.WW-5)
We, therefore, conclude that the question of whether
the Board of Directors of Texas Technological College may en-
gage in educationa. television broadcasting on a non-commercial
basis is a question that rests within the sound discretion
of said Board; that if, in the exercise of such discretion,
the Board ascertains that such an activity Is reasonably nec-
essary for the accomplishment of the recited statutory pur-
poses of the college and within the legitimate objects of its
creation, said Board may legally engage in such an activity.
Since Me question is not raised by yoiz inquiry,
this opinion shall not be construed as dealing with the auth-
ority of the college to engage in any type of television
broadcasting on a commercial basis, in whole or in part, and
neither do we pass upon the question of the availability of
funds for such activities, either commercial or non-commercial.
The Board of Directors of Texas Technological
College has the authority to engage In educa-
tional television broadcasting on a non-com-
mercial basis provided that said Board, in the
exercise of sound discretion, determines that
such activity is reasonably necessary for the
accomplishment of the statutory purposes of
the college and within the legitimate objects
of its creation.
Yours very truly,
WILL’WILSON
Attorney General
By *e’&
LP:st Assistant
APPROVED:
OPINIONCOMMITTEE
H. Qrady Chandler, Chairman