Tyler

By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer

Earline Wynn, class of '52, was tongue-tied Friday night trying to decide what she liked best about Texas College, her alma mater of 56 years.

"Just everything," she gushed.

The daughter of a Tyler farmer, Mrs. Wynn taught high school business classes for 35 years in Mineola and Winona with her degrees from TC and graduate school.

She joined 270 other alumni, faculty, and friends of TC to celebrate the institution's 114th birthday on Friday with good food and praises to the Lord.

TC is one of the oldest historically black liberal arts colleges in the nation.

"(In 1894) a group of black ministers saw the need to provide an avenue for education for black people," said Dr. Willie Champion, former TC president and a general secretary of the Christian Methodist Evangelical Church. "Everything we do at Texas College is grounded in the Word of God."

Alumni and supporters hold the keys to TC continuing to teach young people who might not otherwise receive a liberal arts education, Champion said.

He paralleled their duty to Matthew 16:19, when Jesus tells Peter and his disciples, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven."

It's not hard to convince them, he said.

"TC is dear to the hearts of our alumni," he said, because TC gave them the tools to succeed in life.

"Ninety percent of them wouldn't be where they are without Texas College; they might not have had the opportunity, or the family-type atmosphere at TC," he said.

Mrs. Wynn's son and daughter-in-law, Kevin and Nellie Wynn, joined her at the banquet - their church, Starrville CME in Winona, is a supporting arm of the college.

"It has a great history, and means a lot to us, and a lot to my mom," Kevin Wynn said.

Texas College is a residential, coeducational, historically black, baccalaureate degree-granting college that operates under the auspices of the Christian Methodist Evangelical Church.

Its missions says TC seeks to "provide a program of educational study and experiences designed to contribute to the intellectual, social, physical, emotional and spiritual development of each student."

"Give the People Light, and They will find Their Way," reads the TC school motto.

IN HARMONY: Guests stand and sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” at Texas College's 25th Annual Purple and Gold Banquet on Friday in Tyler. The college held the event to celebrate its 114th anniversary.
(— Staff Photo By Mark Roberts)