(traffic whooshing) (bird chirping) (gentle music) (footsteps patter) (gate squeaks) (wind whooshing) (leaves rustling) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music rises) (gentle music continues) (bell ringing) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - [Andy] Few people can gaze upon starched plains and find the beauty, but enough of them did.

(gentle piano music crescendos) (bright piano music) With the introduction of the Texas Land Act in 1887, the plains of the Llano Estacado sprouted two small towns: Old Lubbock and Monterey.

(light piano music continues) They would not be small for long.

Unexpected sources of plentiful water and the coming railways spurred sudden growth for West Texas, and soon the roots of these two pioneering towns tangled together to become the city of Lubbock.

Even through the blowing dirt, even at the turn of the century, it was clear to see that Lubbock was destined for big things.

Big things were happening in Austin, too.

With only two other institutions for higher learning available to Texans, talk of bolstering educational resources were underway in the Texas legislature.

(crowd chattering) Initial suggestions led lawmakers to decide a new branch of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in Abilene was the right choice.

(crowd murmurs) You might be thinking, "Texas Tech story begins with A&M in Abilene?

That sounds like a mistake."

You would be right.

Governor James E. Ferguson had falsely reported Abilene as the selection committee's desired site.

(crowd murmuring) Proceedings stalled amidst the controversy until 1923.

Championed by State Senator William H. Bledsoe and State Representative Roy Alvin Baldwin, both of whom hailed from Lubbock, a new bill entered the legislature.

On February 10th, 1923, Governor Pat Neff signed the legislation to create Texas Technological College.

But they still didn't know where they wanted it.

Another committee was entrusted to find a home for the future student body.

(crowd chattering) The committee would visit Big Spring, Sweetwater, Floydada and more, but when they arrived to Lubbock, they were met by energetic crowds ready to welcome the institution.

(crowd chattering) After a successful vote in the legislature, Lubbock and Texas Tech would become joined forever.

(hopeful piano music) Nearly two years after the official direction came down for a new Texas college, the cornerstone for Texas Tech's first building was set on November 11th, 1924.

Speakers for the event stood on a stage, with a cotton bale serving as a podium, to address the crowd of 20,000 people.

(hopeful piano music) Ushered into existence by communities bound in unwavering support of an idea, determined to do more with less, Texas Technological College opened its doors to students in the fall of 1925.

(hopeful music continues) - [Paul Reenactor] "You have been our comrades in a great adventure this year: the establishment of the Texas Technological College.

You have helped us to lay the foundations for a new institution that will endure for many years to come.

You have had a part in shaping its policies and in establishing its traditions.

Such an opportunity, as we have had, come to people but once in a lifetime.

We trust that, in the future, unnumbered classes of young men and young women will enter this institution and share in its life.

(light piano music) These classes, however, must take the institution very much as they find it.

They will find it very much as we have made it.

You are the first group of young men and women ever to enter the Texas Technological College.

There will be many other groups, but there will never be another first group.

It is a magnificent country in which our college is located.

It is a region of magnificent distances, of far-flung horizons, of deep canyons, of lofty, far-arching skies.

Everything that is done on these West Texas plains ought to be done on a big scale."

(gentle piano music) Paul Whitfield Horn, President Texas Technological College.

(tools clinking) - [Andy] Paul Whitfield Horn was an ambitious intellectual with a remarkable career in education.

When he came to Texas Tech, he oversaw everything from recruiting students and faculty to encouraging the efforts of the school and grounds architect.

He set the pace for growth at Texas Tech by hiring only the most visionary, the most outstanding.

(tools clinking) (bright piano music) Of the 910 students to enroll at Texas Technological College that first fall semester, 268 were women.

Texas Tech's first Dean of Women, Mary Doak, presided over the first Women's Convocation.

During the meeting, they voted to establish a YWCA, elected a temporary leader for the women's organization, and established the Women's Athletic Association.

(lively piano music) Trailblazers, the women of Texas Tech wasted no time staking their claim to a fair share of the school's future.

Though their journey would be a long march with many trials ahead, they certainly took their first steps from here to a better future.

(lively piano music continues) At the time of Tech's legislative inception, Ewing Y. Freeland was an accomplished coach from Southern Methodist University, where he helped to institute a cooperative coaching system in which one person would coach the backfield and ends, while Freeland directed the lines.

He would come to Texas Tech on June 1st, 1925 to begin working on Tech's football and baseball teams.

(lively piano music) Yes, he coached both.

We do more with less around here, remember?

He was the major force to shape what would become Texas Tech's athletic program, and Coach Freeland had his eyes on the Southwest Conference.

Reflecting on that first season, Freeland was once quoted as saying, "Coxey's Army had nothing on us."

That couldn't be truer.

More than a hundred hopefuls showed up in September to shoot their shot at a chance to be the first to play ball for Tech.

Once teams were picked, another major decision was left to be made: what to call ourselves.

What's in a name?

Well, it's who your fans cheer for and what your foes jeer at.

It must inspire spirit, be heroic, and it has to stick for good.

(lively piano music continues) This decision also fell into Coach Freeland's lap, who had already presented the first letterman sweaters at the beginning of the fall semester.

The sweaters were scarlet with two black outlined Ts.

But still, we needed a name, a mascot.

It would be Freeland's wife who suggested we call ourselves Matadors in keeping with the school's Spanish Renaissance-style architecture.

This name was good, and it stuck for a little while.

♪ Long live the Matadors ♪ (triumphant music) (crowd cheers) (bright piano music) On May 30th, 1927, our first graduating class met that Monday morning in the college gymnasium.

Excitement was brewing about who would be the first to receive their diploma and begin their future as the first Matador to have graduated from Texas Tech.

It was decided, like most difficult decisions, in the fairest way possible: by drawing a name at random.

The lucky name to be drawn was Mary Dale Buckner.

She earned a Bachelor's Degree in English, and thus, also became the first alumna of Texas Tech.

Following the ceremony, the first 26 graduates founded what would become the Alumni Association.

(lively piano music fades) Students chronicled their college experience with their yearbook, "La Ventana."

(bright piano music) The name is Spanish for the window, giving us a look inside student life.

- [Student Reenactor] From the vantage point attained after three years of successful effort, we halt for a moment to gaze backward along the trail where on we have met much that was pleasant and much that will remain dear to us.

- [Student Reenactor] We do not deceive ourselves that ours is a royal road.

Rather, we are proud to have been able to surmount most of the difficulties as we met them.

It is our hope that we may profit by these experiences in attaining to greater heights.

- [Student Reenactor] Three years ago, the vision of Texas Technological College became a reality.

Today, it has become more than a mere reality.

There has been born a spirit of unity, a oneness of purpose in the hearts of the student body.

(sentimental piano music) - [Andy] The next year, President Horn would invite William Curry Holden to come to Texas Tech, and the rest is history.

He was hired to be the chair of the History, Anthropology, and Sociology Departments.

But he did so much more in his long career at Texas Tech.

Holden found Tech to be a playground of discovery.

(sentimental piano music continues) Even during the Great Depression, he helped secure funding to start what would one day become the Museum of Texas Tech University.

He identified the great significance of the Lubbock lakeside and encouraged archeologists from across the nation to come and learn from it.

Today, the Lubbock Lake Landmark attracts scholars and visitors from around the globe.

Holden played a major role in founding the Southwest Collection and drove the development of the National Ranching Heritage Center.

Perhaps more than anyone else during the institution's first half century, Holden helped to build a strong scholarly reputation for Texas Tech, working tirelessly to preserve the past for the future.

(sentimental music fades) (morose music) - [Narrator] Closing time, the close of an era.

The great "Big Spree," the Jazz Age is over, all over.

In the 1920s, the great American word was prosperity.

Now the '30s have begun and there is a new word: depression.

(morose music fades) - [Andy] When Dr. Dewey O. Wiley came to Tech in 1934, the only instrument the Goin' Band owned was an old E-flat tuba.

(lively band music) And the only music they had was our very own "Matador Song."

And the once colorful Spanish uniforms were now worn and beaten after several rounds of winter.

But Prof, as the students began to call him, was quick to get the Goin' Band back up and goin' again.

Regarding uniforms, instruments, and, well, music, Prof Wiley checked with the business manager to see what was possible.

Prof discovered that the band had managed to save back a little money, so Wiley bought some used instruments, and even went all the way to Dallas to buy the music library of the old State Fair of Texas band.

(spirited band music) They didn't call him the Father of Texas Bands for nothing.

(crowd cheers) (cheerful piano music) With the Goin' Band in good hands, something now needed to be done about those rowdy students and their raw enthusiasm for Tech.

The townspeople, and some students, had enough in the fall of 1933.

- [Staff Reenactor] "The bonfire has caused suffering and heartache, for much of the property was taken from the poorest families in Lubbock, who need every stick of wood to keep warm during the winter.

If Tech cannot be honored among its own townspeople, how can it be outside?

And a college cannot sanction an act which burns up stolen property and be in the right."

"Daily Toreador" staff, 1933.

(lively piano music) - [Andy] Tech needed a fix.

The community should feel pride for the school they fought so hard to bring to Lubbock just a decade ago.

Luckily, a solution to Tech's disruptive spirit problem would soon ride into Lubbock with just $75 in his pocket.

Arch Lamb enrolled at Texas Tech in 1935.

He, like many others, heard the stories of saddle tramps from the old frontier days: traveling men who'd come to a farm for a little while, fix up some things, and move on.

Lamb and others looked around Tech, a young and wild college with so much potential, and decided that he could fix up some things, too, before moving on.

He shined shoes around campus for spending money and worked at the creamery, making 25 cents an hour.

In the early days, some students even had the option to bring their own cows to keep it at the dairy barn to help them pay tuition.

Lamb was very active on campus, serving on student council and as vice president of the student body.

He made a lot of good friends, too.

One stunt stands out: when he and classmate George Tate, in true Tech fashion at the time, borrowed a palomino stallion named Tony from the Ag Pavilion.

Wearing a cape and mask to protect his identity, George Tate rode that loaned palomino around the football field right before the 1936 home game against TCU.

This tradition of a caped, masked rider would continue on for a handful of games in the 1930s.

They called this character the Ghost Rider.

The saddle tramp's early exploits perhaps inspired what would become our official mascot nearly 20 years later.

(lively music fades) (light piano music) Another friend of Arch's was Maxine Fry, who came to Texas Tech from Floydada a year earlier, in 1934.

At this time, women made up 40% of the total 2,328 undergraduate students and more than 53% of the graduate student body.

Maxine lived in the same dorm room for all four years she attended Texas Tech, two of those years sharing it with her younger sister, Marilynn.

In 1936, Maxine was encouraged to run for student council president, a role that was primarily filled by men at other institutions throughout the state.

With support from her sister and Arch Lamb's newly formed booster organization, the Saddle Tramps, Maxine became the first woman to be elected president of the student council in May, 1937.

(piano flutters) Her administration's crowning achievement: (crowd cheering) (lively band music) successfully reinstating the school's bonfire tradition, which the Saddle Tramps have continued to sponsor legitimately ever since.

(fire crackling) ♪ Fight Matadors for Tech ♪ ♪ Songs of love we'll sing to thee ♪ ♪ Bear our banners far and wide ♪ ♪ Ever to be our pride ♪ (chain rattling) (bells ring) The class of 1936 would gift our college another icon: the victory bells, which rang for the first time at their graduation ceremony.

(bells ringing) The next year, the bells rang so loudly and for so long after a football win, a 30-minute limit had to be placed on their triumphant songs.

The bells continued to ring out loud and proud after every Texas Tech victory, to this day.

(bell chimes) (foreboding music) Growth at home would halt, however, following Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941.

- Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.

- [Andy] While army recruitment numbers for Uncle Sam climbed, enrollment for men at Texas Tech would fall in the coming years.

(somber piano music) Enrollment for women shot up.

From 1944 to 1945, the student government officers were all women, for the first time in the college's history.

- [Eleanor Reenactor] "The year since December 7th, 1941 have seen many changes here on the campus of Texas Technological College.

Enrollment has been cut in half.

Khaki-clad pre-flight students and engineers have partially filled the gap left by Texans now in service.

The entire campus is quieter, more subdued than it was before Pearl Harbor.

(somber piano music continues) A change in students and student spirit has taken place.

We have heard our victory bells ring out many times in the past, but now we long to hear bells of victory and peace pealing throughout the nation and the entire world.

Then Tech will be Tech again.

It is to this idea, to this aim, to this universal desire that we dedicate your 1944 'La Ventana.'"

Eleanor Cotton, "La Ventana" editor, 1943 to '44 academic year.

(crowd chattering indistinctly) - [Andy] Following the war, (projector flittering) dedications were made to Jones Stadium and Memorial Circle.

(projector flittering) Tech was beginning to feel more like Tech again.

In 1949, Elo Urbanovsky came to Texas Tech to do two things: teach, of course, and resume development of campus, using his skills as a landscape architect.

Urbanovsky preferred living things over buildings.

One of his first tasks was to place the new statue of Will Rogers riding Soapsuds somewhere on campus.

The original idea was to put the statue at the entrance and point it west, with Rogers riding into the sunset.

But then the horse's rear would be pointed east, right at Downtown Lubbock.

With that now in mind, a new plan was formed.

The statue was to be moved to Memorial Circle, with Soapsuds's posterior shifted 23 degrees southeast, pointed right at College Station.

This seemed to be an appropriate solution to us.

It wouldn't be long before another horse and rider would gallop loud and proud into Tech's future.

By now, the wind really did a number on some of our Matador traditions, (gentle music) but one stuck: our football coach being dead set on joining the Southwest Conference and in need of a mascot.

(crowd applauding) The idea would come to Football Coach DeWitt Weaver with the completion of the Student Union Building.

Funded in part by campus vending machines and a portion of proceeds from the bookstore, the Student Union Building was completed in the fall of 1952.

(students chattering) And in the spring of 1953, you'd think Coach Weaver saw ghost.

(hoof clopping) Legend has it, a masked rider galloped through the doors and into the brand-new Student Union Building as a prank during Rodeo Week.

(students chuckle) Following the incident, the culprit was confronted by Football Coach DeWitt Weaver.

He knew the boy's parents, knew he was an ag major, and figured he could make a big difference for Tech's chances at getting into the Southwest Conference.

(celebratory music) - [Reporter] Visitors by the thousands, from all over the South have moved into Jacksonville to participate in the Gator Bowl program.

The views look splendid in honor of the two teams, and the fans, too, have chosen either the red of Texas or the orange of Auburn to carry into the Gator Bowl Stadium where the game is about to get underway.

- [Andy] On the first day of the new year, Joe Kirk Fulton channeled the spirit of the first Ghost Rider, bolting out onto the field at the 1954 Gator Bowl game.

(crowd cheering) - [Announcer] The wild red horseman is the Red Raider from Texas Tech, onto the field.

(crowd cheering) (percussive music) (players shout) (crowd cheering, applauding) (gentle music) - [Andy] This new mascot, then called the Red Raider, was a sensation.

(thrilling band music) Four years later, Tech would finally join the Southwest Conference.

About time.

(thrilling music fades) (bell ringing) At the start of the 1960s, it was about time for other changes, too.

Texas Tech would integrate thanks to the brave efforts of one local educator, who insisted that she, and those who looked like her, be allowed to enroll.

(bell ringing) Lucille S. Graves opened the first Black private school in Lubbock in 1954.

The school's aim was to give students of color the tools needed to reach for a higher education.

And in 1960, she would put that knowledge to the test by applying to enroll at Texas Tech.

(gentle piano music) She and two of her colleagues were denied entry because of the color of their skin.

With the help of the NAACP, she finally was allowed to enroll in the summer of 1961.

- [Lucille Reenactor] It is an experience I'll never forget.

I couldn't understand why they would let foreign students enroll and not Blacks.

I took two classes.

In one class, there were 27 whites and one Black: me.

The professors wouldn't speak to you.

The atmosphere was so heavy you could cut it.

Blacks must believe that they are something and let the administration of Tech know how they feel.

I just knew that I needed to go to school.

An education is a mountain; you must climb it.

(gentle piano music continues) - [Andy] Word traveled fast after Lubbock Mayor David Casey, on behalf of the Texas Tech Board of Directors, announced that the university would accept applications from Black students, starting with the fall semester, 1961.

Stella Ruth Crockett, a recent graduate of Dunbar High School, had visions of playing in the college band.

She was counting on her clarinet to be her ticket to a scholarship at a historically Black university.

But upon hearing the news that the door to Tech was now open to her, she joined the very small group of Black students who decided to enroll.

They formed a support system for each other, and she was able to march as the first African American in the Goin' Band under Dean Killion.

But breaking the race barrier at the college was no easy task.

The first round of Black students faced discrimination in the classroom and around campus.

In 1963, the board of directors would integrate the athletic program, paving the way for Danny Hardaway to be the first African American to receive an athletic scholarship at Texas Tech, in 1967.

- [Danny Reenactor] Those guys really led in making sure that I was protected and made a smooth a transition as possible.

If it weren't for them, and also some of the kids I met, I probably couldn't have made it.

I went through hell, but I caught more hell when we went to other schools.

My teammates, almost all of them, really protected me and sheltered me from all that stuff when we were at home.

- [Andy] Hardaway was a force to be reckoned with on the field and one of the early forces for change on campus, becoming a charter member of Texas Tech's first Black student organization.

Doors would continue to be pushed open at Texas Tech for those courageous enough to knock, knowing they were in the right to learn just like everybody else.

(gentle piano music) (piano chimes) (lively guitar music) The '60s would bring another significant change to Texas Technological College: We became a university.

But the name change would not be without its own controversy.

Ex students in the administration insisted that our word, Tech, was good enough.

But many students and faculty thought state could carry us to new heights.

Questions arose from both sides.

What would happen to the double T?

(lively guitar music) What does tech even mean?

Who do we want to be?

The debate of whether to keep Tech or replace it with State would rage on throughout the decade.

It was a time of disagreements, but it was also a time of progress.

Tech seemed to be growing in every direction under new President Grover E. Murray.

During his decade-long tenure, 17 new buildings were constructed on campus.

We would also gain a law school and a medical school.

West Texans had been calling for improved medical care as early as 1950.

One man would make all the difference.

(lively music fades) Preston Smith graduated from Texas Technological College in 1934.

(gentle music) He would go on to be elected to the Texas House of Representatives a decade later.

He spent his political career talking to folks one-on-one to get things done.

He promoted farm-to-market roads, better schools with more teachers' benefits, and, of course, more small-town hospitals.

In 1957, Smith urged Tech's board of directors to make a formal request for a medical school, unsuccessfully.

But he would not give up so easily.

He was elected lieutenant governor of Texas in 1962, and three years later, there was finally legislation authorizing the creation of a medical school, passing the Senate 25 to 2.

A new medical school at Texas Technological College seemed to be a sure thing, until Smith received a call from Governor John Connally a few days later.

He told his lieutenant governor, "I'm going to have to veto that medical school."

"John, for gosh sakes," Smith replied, outlining again over the phone a clear need for medical resources in West Texas.

At the time, there were 118 counties in West Texas without a doctor.

But Connally insisted his hands were tied, that he had gotten pressure from Midland, Odessa, El Paso, and Amarillo, who felt they didn't get a fair shake at landing the school.

Later, Smith found out that Connally's veto was to pay off some political debts.

This was a devastating setback, but it wouldn't stop Lieutenant Governor Preston Smith.

As for the squabble back in Lubbock about what to call ourselves, well, Governor Preston Smith pretty much settled it when on May 27th, 1969, he signed the bill creating the Texas Tech University School of Medicine.

(percussive music) Months later, on September 1st, 1969, - Go team, go!

Go team go!

- [Andy] the name would officially change from Texas Technological College to the one we all recognize today: Texas Tech University.

(triumphant music) (bass-heavy upbeat music) In the 1970s, Tech would welcome a new student to campus.

He was kind and sweet to classmates.

Sure, he could be a bit boisterous at times, but he had a good head on his shoulders and he meant well.

(jazzy upbeat music) His name was Raider Red, and he got his start in the funny pages.

In 1964, local cartoonist Dirk West figured that a rambunctious little cowboy would be the perfect way to draw up Tech's coming football match with the University of Texas.

Dirk called him Old Red.

The comic strips of Old Red were an instant hit with the people of Lubbock and of Texas Tech.

But how did Old Red come off the page to become Raider Red?

(jazzy music crescendos) - There was a rumor that the Southwest Conference was going to pass a rule where live mascots would not be able to travel to out-of-town games, and we were a little befuddled.

Why would they do that?

And then realized that the Masked Rider, when he came out of the tunnel at away games, you know, all the fields were grass, would kinda tear up the field.

(jazzy upbeat music) We heard it was really pointed at Texas Tech to keep our mascot from traveling.

And I said, "You know, if we could create a mascot that could travel, like in a costume, maybe that might solve our problem."

We kinda conceived the beginning of Raider Red, this little character, which was very similar to Dirk West's Old Red.

So I called him, and I introduced myself.

You know, "I'm a sophomore, junior student, and I'm a Saddle Tramp, and we're thinking about creating another maybe caricature mascot that could go to away games and really go to different venues."

Because the Masked Rider pretty much was limited to a football stadium.

And it was a short conversation.

He said, "Oh, yeah, go right ahead."

- [Andy] With Dirk's blessing, Raider Red would make his debut at the pep rally for the first football game of the season.

- And I came down the tunnel with the, we only had, believe it or not, four cheerleaders.

They were not aware, other than maybe a couple hours before that pep rally, that I was even gonna be there.

They weren't even quite sure who I was, what I was.

And I did all the crazy things that I thought a little mascot could do.

Nobody knew who I was.

I was anonymous.

And I'd roll on the ground, and I'd rally a cheer.

And there were about 4,500 students at that pep rally.

We kinda did an unofficial poll, and there was really no objection.

He really is the character mascot of Texas Tech.

You know, our real mascot is the Masked Rider, and we certainly respect that fact.

But we get along just fine.

(lively celebratory music) (gentle guitar music) - [Andy] In 1974, one student felt destined to climb up into the saddle and be the Masked Rider, but was told she couldn't try out because she was a girl.

But to be told she couldn't even try out, that didn't work for Anne Lynch.

- I don't know where this program would be without Anne Lynch.

She changed the program, really forever.

She was an expert rider, she worked at the farm where the Masked Rider horse was kept.

And so she would, I believe kind of sneaky, ride the horse.

Happy Five was his name.

And so when it came time for tryouts, she wanted to try out, and she was told she couldn't.

Anne has the wonderful kind of personality where she's very sweet, but she's very driven.

She's a very strong woman, and she was not going to take no for an answer.

- When Anne Lynch tried out, typically the Masked Rider had been hand-selected by a group of people, and with her trying out, it created what is now our modern tryout process that consists of the written test, the horseback riding test, truck and trailer driving, and the in-person interview.

- And so she tried out, and she was chosen because she was the best.

And that led to a lot of issues.

I think the community had grown so accustomed to having male riders, it was a kind of a hard pill to swallow at first that here was going to be a female rider.

And so she went through quite a bit of negative press and negative comments from people who thought the Masked Rider should always be a man.

- I think it's important for women to be able to do this position because it gives women an opportunity to experience things that men have also experienced.

And for little girls, the little girl I used to be, it gives them somebody to look up to.

- Without Anne Lynch's bravery, none of us female riders would be able to represent Texas Tech in this way.

And I'm so thankful that she stood up and decided that she was gonna try out and become the rider, because it set such a wonderful precedence for our program.

And we've had so many accomplished female riders, and it's really thanks to her.

- [Crowd] Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar, all for the Raiders, stand up and holler!

(thrilling music) (thrilling music crescendos) (gentle piano music) - [Andy] Lauro F. Cavazos first came to Tech in the years after serving our country in World War II.

He earned his BA and MA from Texas Technological College.

In the spring of 1980, he returned to Texas Tech University.

(gentle music continues) He was the first alumnus and first Mexican American to become president of Texas Tech and the Health Sciences Center.

(bright piano music) And he was in high demand.

(bright music continues) During his first fall semester as president, he received a call from Washington DC.

President Elect Ronald Reagan wanted very much to consider Cavazos for Secretary of Education.

He declined, saying that he had made a commitment to Tech, that this was where he wanted to be.

He came to repay his alma mater for all it had given him.

(bells ringing) But what did Tech give him, and what did he pay back?

More than you think, which briefly served as a university motto during his tenure.

His time as president was spent building up Tech's image, from a cowboy college in the middle of nowhere, to be what he saw: a tremendous university with great potential.

(uplifting piano music) He guided dramatic expansion of the Health Sciences Center while increasing funded research and academic quality at Tech.

He worked to preserve the university's history while directing its continued development and progress.

(gentle piano music) He wouldn't leave the university until President Reagan called again in the late '80s.

He still wanted Cavazos.

- President Reagan made history today when he named Lauro Cavazos the new secretary of education.

- He's a Texan, the first Hispanic to be nominated for a cabinet post.

- President Reagan has named a new secretary of education, and in doing so, has chosen the first Hispanic ever to serve in the cabinet.

He is Lauro Cavazos, the president of Texas Tech University.

- [Reporter] He's served as president of Texas Tech University since 1980.

- [Reporter] With both men at his side today, the president said this is a proud day for all Americans.

- It's hard right now to think of a more exciting moment than this one, and the knowledge that Dr. Cavazos will be the first Hispanic American member of the cabinet.

That says a lot about him and about Americans of Hispanic heritage.

It also says something about America, about America as a place of opportunity and hope.

- I share these views, and I look forward to serving you and our great country in this most important post.

- [Andy] During his time as secretary of education, he continued to work tirelessly to provide better educational services for minority students, especially for those who looked like him.

- As an Hispanic American once said to me, let me assure you, mi casa es su casa.

(triumphant piano music) (upbeat music) - [Andy] When Jeannine McHaney first came to Texas Tech in 1966, she was appointed women's intramural director and given a measly annual budget of $500.

In 1975, she was given a fighting chance with a passage of Title IX.

This new law was enacted to put an end to sex-based discrimination at all public colleges and universities.

(upbeat music continues) - Jeannine scared me to death (chuckles) because she was a very strong personality, as were most of the women in the Physical Education Department at that time, a great group of women and role models, but she was a fireball.

She had extremely high expectations and standards, and, you know, she was one of those people that you didn't want to disappoint.

(upbeat music continues) - She hired me in 1982, and it became possible for me to become the head coach.

I went to her office that day, I was 29 years old, and asked her if she would consider me to be the head women's basketball coach at Texas Tech.

I had grown up in the panhandle.

My dad was a Texas Tech ex.

I had coached high school basketball, and then one year as an assistant coach.

So my resume wasn't all that strong to become a head coach at a Division 1 program, but she patiently listened to me.

And I will never forget that she looked at me, and she said, "Kid, I'm gonna give you a chance to do this, but don't screw up."

I remember sprinting out of the office as fast as I could, before she changed her mind, and ran down the hall.

And as they say, the rest is history.

We had a decent budget, not a great budget, and we didn't have very much fan support.

I remember going to the old Coliseum, and there would be 200 people in there, and I'd be really proud that we had that many people at one of our games.

(upbeat music ends) I remember the two of us sitting in a room, talking about what we really thought that women's basketball program could become.

And we talked about selling the Coliseum out when there were 200 people in there.

We talked about winning a national championship when we were barely having a winning record.

But she could sense that vision, and she shared it with me, and she supported it every step of the way.

And I've said many times that all the successes we had in women's basketball at Texas Tech are on her back.

She told me very often, "You fight the battles on the floor, and I'll fight the battles off the court."

I think there were battles that we could talk all day long about, as far as trying to gain respect for women, for women athletes, for really making Title IX, the law itself, relevant, because a lot of people knew it was the law, but they still kind of overlooked it.

And I will say that there were some men at Texas Tech who played a huge role in that with her.

She was great at building coalitions.

She built a very strong one around this athletic program and convinced a lot of people that it was the right thing to do.

(TV clicks) (bittersweet music) And she wasn't afraid of anything.

She would go attack anything, and if she thought it would help our Women's Athletic Department to be stronger, she was all about going and being the one that was in front of it and to try to make sure that she gave us the best chance we had to be successful.

There were people here on this campus that came to her to talk about how they could do things in the law school similar to what we did in athletics, or mass communications the way we do it in athletics, because she had all that information and she had lived it.

(bittersweet music continues) She already was really struggling with her health, and she wore these hats because she didn't have any hair, and she was taking a lot of treatments because she'd had cancer for a while and she hadn't been doing well.

And I remember going to her room the day we were playing for the national championship.

I just remember telling her that, "This is gonna be a great day.

No matter what happens, this is gonna be a great day for us."

I'm grateful every day for what she did.

My career was so much more impactful because of the wars that she fought and the things that she did every single day, the courage that she had to go out, and when women's athletics was not a really popular thing to do, she fought the battles anyway and took a lot of hits because of it.

And it's the same story as a lot of women around the country, when you try to start something or change a culture, that you really have to be ready and strong and be willing to, in a lot of cases, be the bad guy.

And I think she really played that role in a great way for all of us.

(uplifting violin music) Particularly when you look back on it now, and knowing that she only lived for about 14, 15 more months and then passed away, I'm just so grateful that she got to share that championship because so much of it belonged to her.

(gentle piano music) But she came down on the floor and she grabbed my arms with both of her hands, and she just shook me and said, "This is amazing."

It was just such a special moment.

And for the two of us, who had been there, really since the beginning of it, it was something that I will never forget and I will always be grateful for.

(gentle piano music fades) (crowd cheering) - [Announcer] The victory is a two-point margin for the Lady Raiders of Texas Tech.

(lively celebratory music) (crowd cheering) (players cheer) (gentle piano music) - [Andy] Marsha Sharp would continue to coach at Texas Tech until her retirement in 2006.

She had been at the helm of the Lady Raider basketball program for 24 years.

(gentle piano music crescendos) Sheryl Swoopes still holds the Tech record for highest career scoring average and most points in a season.

With four WNBA championships, three Olympic gold medals, and multiple single-player awards, she would go on to be one of the best basketball players in the history of the sport.

(gentle piano music) In 1996, we became the Texas Tech University System, and we left the Southwest Conference to join the Big 12 that same year.

(gentle piano music continues) Crossing into the new millennium, Texas Tech began to position itself to own the 21st century.

- This has been a a labor of love for all of us, and what a beautiful building it is.

And wait 'til you go inside, you're gonna love it even more.

- [Andy] In 2006, Kent Hance was appointed chancellor.

Under his leadership, Tech reached and surpassed a monumental fundraising goal of $1 billion.

Philanthropy at Texas Tech has always paid off.

It equips the university to prepare its students to solve global problems.

Following the Great Recession of 2008, one of our graduates even helped to direct the comeback story of General Motors.

Ed Whitacre graduated from Texas Tech in 1964 with a degree in industrial engineering.

He began his career with Southwestern Bell, known today as AT&T.

He climbed the ranks, eventually becoming chairman, CEO, and president of the company.

A few years after retiring from AT&T, Whitacre received a call from the White House.

President Barack Obama asked for Whitacre's help to fix what many were calling the unfixable: General Motors.

- In short, our goal is to get GM back on its feet, take a hands-off approach, and get out quickly.

- [Andy] He shook up the company with his decisive management style, leading to GM earning $1.3 billion just one year after they had declared bankruptcy.

- We have repaid, in full and with interest, the loans made last July by the US Treasury and Export Development in Canada to help launch the new GM.

We are moving at GM and improving at a rapid pace.

(attendees applaud) - [Andy] Speaking of comeback stories, in 2008, our very own Michael Crabtree scored the touchdown of a lifetime.

- [Announcer] Deep strike- (crowd cheers) - [Andy] His catch won the game for Texas Tech with one second left on the clock.

- [Announcer] And touchdown!

(crowd cheers) Red Raiders, one second to go!

- [Andy] Longhorns everywhere were stunned as Tech fans rushed the field in excitement.

(crowd cheering) (gentle piano music) - [Announcer] The fans have stormed the field.

They're gonna have to clear the field here.

- [Andy] Red Raider baseball earned their first appearance in Omaha for the College World Series in 2014.

(crowd cheering) (gentle music continues) (crowd applauding) In 2016, Dr. Lawrence Schovanec became the 17th president of Texas Tech University.

Under his leadership, Tech has reached record levels in research and grant funding.

This helped to establish Texas Tech as a premier research institute, upholding Carnegie Tier 1 research status since it was first awarded in 2015.

During President Schovanec's tenure, Texas Tech has invested in its faculty and staff, supporting the university's mission to provide the highest quality education to its students.

In 2017, Texas Tech University became an Hispanic-Serving Institution.

In 2019, Texas Tech men's basketball earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament championship game, with a Final Four victory over Michigan State.

That same year, we got the green light for a new School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo.

It was a lot like our fight for a medical school in '69, but we won't get into all that right at the end of the movie.

(crowd cheering) (gentle piano music) - We begin the centennial journey to commemorate what Texas Tech has been, but with anticipation of what is yet to be.

Texas Tech is a place about friendships, life-lasting bonds, and ideas and values that have weathered the test of time.

(triumphant piano music) Born as Texas Technological College in the vast, open spaces of West Texas and imbued with a Texas-size ambition, Texas Tech has always aspired to big goals and a worldwide presence.

As we embark upon our second century, join with us (bell rings) as we elevate our thinking from big to bold.

Together, we will work tirelessly to welcome all those seeking knowledge and life-changing opportunity.

We will honor a century that has turned potential into power, education into inspiration, and passionate students into proud alumni.

And now it is my honor to officially declare the start of the Centennial Celebration.

(crowd cheering) (fireworks crackling) (fireworks popping) - [Andy] From big to bold, (gentle piano music) from the first group of young men and women ever to enter the Texas Technological College to those who now enroll at Texas Tech University in the thousands each year, from two black Ts stitched on a pile of scarlet sweaters to an internationally recognized symbol of doing more with less, exceeding all expectations and striving for honor evermore, from the first women athletes of Texas Tech to the best national champions we've ever seen, (triumphant piano music) from the Matadors to the Red Raiders, from an old E-flat tuba to one of the best bands in the country, from a rodeo prank to the most historic football entrance ever imagined, from newspaper clippings in chicken wire to one of the most unique and cherished character mascots of all time, from the 26 degrees awarded in 1927 to the hundreds of thousands that have been earned since, (bright piano music) (piano chimes) from here... (bright piano music crescendos) (bittersweet piano music) (bittersweet piano music continues) (upbeat percussive piano music) (banjo twangs) (upbeat piano music continues) (banjos strum) (upbeat piano music continues) (banjos strum) (upbeat piano music continues) (upbeat piano music continues)