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This is the transcript from the second of three interviews that Bruce Roche conducted with Dr. Flowers just prior to his retirement. Dr. Flowers (Class of 1913) was President of Southwest Texas State College from 1942-1964. In this interview, he talks about the development of general education requirements that brought the Humanities (arts and philosophy) back into mainstream course requirements. He discusses his opinions about faculty qualifications and who should supervise student teachers, about the college adopting a team-teaching approach, and the role of a college president. Flowers also talks about funding from the Danforth Foundation and the Hogg Foundation that allowed the school to implement programs it couldn’t otherwise afford. Interviewer Bruce Roche was director of the College News Service. This interview was the source material for his article “Goal: Excellence – Dr. Flowers’ Lifelong Watchword,” published in the Austin American-Statesmanon August 30, 1964.

Charles Clayton talks about his Texas State experiences as both a child growing up on campus and in San Marcos and as a faculty member in the history department. He shares his memories attending the campus's laboratory school and working on the college's maintenance crew. He recalls prominent memories concerning other well-known faculty members, such as President Evans, President and Mrs. Flowers, Dr. Spurgeon Smith, J.R. Buckner, Coach Strahan, Jerome Cates, Prof. Green, James Taylor, Retta Murphy, Leland Derrick, Deacon Wright, and others. Mr. Clayton describes how the New Deal played out on campus, including the construction of certain buildings like Evans and Sayers Hall. He talks about earning his BA and MA degrees and then working as Vice Principal at San Marcos High School. He touches on other topics such as the San Marcus River, Old Main, and the changes he's seen on campus and in town.

Cover story on Vito Talerico