Prairie View A&M Centennial Planning Council (1968)

As the 100th anniversary of the founding of Prairie View A&M College approached, President Alvin I. Thomas began to think about the institution’s future. Upon his request, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents appointed a 79-member Centennial Planning Council to make recommendations for growth. This news segment for Houston’s KPRC-TV captures a council meeting at the Hotel America on December 14, 1968. Portions of the footage appear silent, and would have been voiced over by the anchorperson during a live broadcast. After 16 months of study, the Centennial Planning Council published a document entitled “A Developmental Plan, 1970-1980, Prairie View A&M College of Texas.” The findings resulted in several changes, including the Texas Legislature’s renaming of the school to Prairie View A&M University.