July 23-, 2024 – Current TAMU-C President, Dr. Mark Rudin, recently asked the Texas A&M System Board of Regents to hold off on making any name change at the Commerce location as the Board has an upcoming meeting July 31-August 2. There has been much discussion over the rumor from June that the A&M System Board of Regents has considered changing the name to include “Dallas” in the name as the East Texas University location in Commerce also controls a small satellite campus in the Dallas area. The reasoning behind the name change remains unclear to most, especially to alumni. Proponents of the name change suggest that “Commerce” as a city is not well known outside the metroplex, and the word “commerce” is confusing to some outsiders. With those that don’t know that “Commerce” is a city in East Texas, they may think that the “Commerce” in the name of the university is descriptive to what the university focuses on as some colleges may have “Technical”.
The recent confusion probaly stems from the last name change in 1996 when East Texas State University joined the A&M system becoming Texas A&M University – Commerce. For the previous more than 100 years, the name has contained “East Texas” as the College was first established in Cooper in 1889 as East Texas Normal College. A fire destroyed the original campus in 1894 and the college moved to Commerce where it has remained and expanded ever since. The following list shows the various names of the University over the years, always including “East Texas”.
Former Names
East Texas Normal College (1889–1917)
East Texas State Normal College (1917–1923)
East Texas State Teachers College (1923–1957)
East Texas State College (1957–1965)
East Texas State University (1965–1996)
Texas A&M University – Commerce (1996-present)
The Texas A&M University System was established in 1948. The Texas A&M System Board of Regents are scheduled for “Board Committee Meetings and Regular Board Meeting” July 31, August 1, & August 2, 2024 in College Station.
