Identifier:
unknown
Title:
[Ferguson Protest]
Description:
Before the impeachment of Governor Ferguson, Texas students paraded from the campus to the Capitol and held a protest rally, complete with the university band, right outside Ferguson’s office while he met with the regents. Ferguson was so enraged by the demonstrators that he got into a yelling match with one of the student protestors and had to be restrained from climbing out of his window to fight them, according to The Impeachment of Jim Ferguson, a 1983 book by Bruce Rutherford. Ferguson was convinced that Vinson was behind the protest. He decided that the university president must resign, and when Vinson refused, Ferguson vetoed the university’s entire budget. Ferguson then went on a tour of Texas, voicing his disdain for the university and what he called the “university crowd” in public speeches. He vilified everything from fraternities to the faculty to the student body. In his eyes, the university was made up of “corruptionists,” “draft dodgers,” “two-bit thieves” and “butterfly chasers,” according to a historical account compiled by what is now the Texas Exes. The account said Ferguson accused the student protesters of committing treason against him. Soon after, the alumni group began taking out ads in newspapers calling for the governor’s impeachment. In the wake of the controversy, issues from Ferguson’s past campaign for governor in 1916 came back into the spotlight. He had been accused of misappropriating funds, but investigations failed to find anything that would warrant impeachment, and the probe seemed to be closed. But in the midst of this personal war he had sparked with the flagship university in Austin, Ferguson appeared before a Travis County grand jury and was indicted on nine charges. Seven related to misapplication of public funds, one to embezzlement and one to the diversion of a special fund. He posted bond and wasted no time in announcing his candidacy for a third term as governor. House Speaker Franklin Fuller called a special session to consider charges of impeachment against the governor. The legality of the speaker calling a session was questionable — the Texas Constitution says only the governor can call a special session — but the point became moot when Ferguson called his own special session to discuss the budget for the University of Texas. Instead, the House immediately turned its attention to 21 articles of impeachment. The Senate, acting as a court of impeachment, spent three weeks considering the charges and convicted the governor of 10 of them. Five concerned the misapplication of public funds, three related to his quarrel with the university, one declared that he had failed properly to respect and enforce the banking laws of the state, and one charged that he had received $156,500 ($2.9 million in today’s dollars) from a source he refused to reveal. The Senate removed Ferguson from office by a vote of 25-3. The vote made him ineligible to hold any office of honor, trust or profit in the state of Texas.
Date Created:
1917-05-28
Date Created Range:
1910s
Creator:
unknown
Collection:
AF
Collection:
U3900 (13)
Collection:
University of Texas-History - Ferguson Controversy
Subject:
University of Texas
Subject:
Protests and demonstrations
Publisher:
Austin History Center, Austin Public Library
Item Type:
Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs
Required citation:
[PICA-08003], Austin History Center, Austin Public Library
Rights:
Public Domain - The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. This item is free to use following copyright law in the United States and may be used without obtaining permission. Please credit the Austin History Center, Austin Public Library using the required credit line as a courtesy.
