Painting the Town Maroon - McMurry University

Something in
the Water
On any given day, television stations across the
country carry brief announcements targeted
to small town residents in their viewing areas
to boil drinking water. In most cases, aging
infrastructure is the culprit, and such is the case
when a recent announcement on a local station
informed local residents of Merkel, Texas of
the need to take added precaution. Now…we
don’t know what’s in the water that needs to
be taken out, but at McMurry, we think there
must be something else in the water in Merkel,
Texas that we would like to bottle and distribute
en masse. It is our theory that the unknown
ingredient adds a slight maroon tinge to the
water. And for those who ingest the refreshing
liquid, an intense craving develops to fully
immerse oneself in our academic “fountain of
truth,” if you will, and to experience all things
“McMurry.”
The aforementioned theory is based on
the fact that 35 graduates of Merkel High
School currently attend McMurry University.
That may not seem noteworthy; however,
when you consider that the total enrollment
of Merkel High School is 325, the number
of graduates who have found their way to
McMurry is significant. In fact, over 10% of last
year’s graduating class are currently full-time
freshmen at McMurry. In addition, during the
past five years, we’ve added 42 to our alumni
rolls who once wore the Merkel purple and gold.
Located just fifteen miles west of Abilene, you
might logically assume that our close proximity
has enhanced our ability to attract Merkel
graduates; and while there is validity to that
14 M c M u r r y U n i v e r s i t y