The Victoria College, 1925-2000: A Tradition of Excellence

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Coach Eddie Shinn, builder of
champions.
performed superbly and took the Pioneer
Conference titles in both sports. The thin clads
at the conference track meet won nine first
places. Meanwhile, the tennis squad won six out
of seven matches on the first day of play. They
were so successful that the girl’s singles final was
an all Victoria College affair. Although the golf
team did not duplicate the feat of the track and
tennis athletes, Bill Power won laurels for himself
and the college by winning the conference
golf title. 104
The National Junior College Track and Field
Meet at Big Spring in May 1961 proved to be
Eddie Shinn’s finale as a coach. Although the
local contingent experienced moments of joy,
the Pirate competitors overall did not fare well.
A rather inauspicious ending for a man whose
teams dominated junior college track and field
during the 1950s. 105
Hurricane Carla, the largest in Texas history
with estimated wind gusts of 175 miles per
hour at Port Lavaca, savagely roared into the
Coastal Bend area on September 11, 1961.
Property damage along the Texas coast exceeded
$300 million. Because of advanced warning,
people on the coast fled inland. The college
gym was turned into a refuge for individuals
and families seeking shelter from the torrential
rains, and the flying debris that carried a
wallop strong enough to kill a human or a
beast. Out of concern for the safety of students
and college personnel, classes were postponed
until the danger from the wind and flooded
roads was irrelevant. The college suffered
about $5,000 in damage from the hurricane, a
minor figure compared to losses elsewhere in
the region. 106
Moore became actively involved in the local
campaign promoted by the Victoria Chamber
of Commerce to build a new civic center on a
twenty acre tract of land east of the Science
Building. He maintained the new complex
would satisfy the college’s most immediate
need, an air conditioned auditorium. As envisioned
by the backers of the civic center, the
college would cede the twenty acres in
exchange for Brownson Home property that
adjoined the northeast section of the campus,
which presumably was going to be purchased
from bond funds. The president called upon
the student body, as well as the faculty, to take
a role in getting the electorate to the polls on
the bond election day. Moore’s efforts were in
vain, the Victoria County voters rejected the
bond issue. The setback, however, was temporary.
Before the decade ended, the college had
an auditorium. 107
Ever since the Library and Science buildings
were opened in 1958, “there had been some
consideration given to installing a campus
marker.” This goal was accomplished when the
1962 sophomore class, as a departing gift, voted
to install a sign. The college accepted the offer
and agreed to subsidize it. The marker was 28
feet long, 5 feet high, made of hollow tile faced
100 ✦ THE VICTORIA COLLEGE, 1925-2000