quote:
In 1989, as a State Senator representing Baylor University, Edwards announced that the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee would hold hearings on the then imminent breakup of the Southwest Conference, which would have most likely left Baylor outside of any major conference. Several key legislators then reminded the state’s public university boards that they had a responsibility to all the taxpayers of Texas, who supported their institutions with millions of tax dollars annually.
Within one week of Edwards’ announcement the Chancellors of the University of Texas and Texas A&M contacted Edwards and said they had decided to stay in the Southwest Conference until a more comprehensive plan could be developed for the future of Texas’ universities. The end result 5 years later, with the leadership of Governor Ann Richards and Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, was that the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor stayed together and joined the Big 12 Conference.
Edwards observed, “I have seen first-hand the impact of the Texas Legislature on the issue of our universities’ conferences, because in 1989 several University Board members had already stated that Texas and Texas A&M were going to leave the Southwest Conference, but that quickly changed when the Legislature announced it would hold public hearings on the matter. We had a responsibility to act, we did so and it made a positive difference for the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech by allowing them time to stay together and build the Big 12 as we know it today.
