TACAC's Founding

The National Association of College Admission Counselors granted a Charter of Affiliation to the Texas Association of College Admission Counselors on October 10, 1979. The National Association of College Admission Counselors changed its name to the National Association for College Admission Counseling in September 1995. The Texas Association of Admission Counselors followed suit in April 1996. TACAC is now know as the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling.

At the time of the new affiliate's chartering, the 64 Texas members of the Great Plains Association of College Admission Counselors became the Founding Members of the new Texas Affiliate.

Why Did TACAC Come Into Existence and Decide to Break Away from Great Plains?

by Walter Bowen, University of North Texas (Revised May 1, 2001)

TACAC was chartered by NACAC in October, 1979, but I believe the spirit of TACAC had already existed for quite awhile. When I entered the admissions field in the summer of 1973, Texas had already achieved a healthy presence in Great Plains ACAC. Less than a year before, San Antonio had played host to the 1972 NACAC annual meeting.

As a fledgling in the early 70s, I witnessed more than a few (sometimes even heated) conversations about the notion of Texas "seceding" from Great Plains ACAC—both pro and con and I'm sure I eventually participated in some of conversations myself. It was a very "hot topic" in those days among GPACAC Texans (some of whom, incidentally, you see before you today) articulating their views whenever they gathered on how to best strengthen the Texas voice at "National" and emerge a more viable advocate for access to higher education opportunity for all Texas students. It was an important time for me professionally because I learned in a very tangible way how sometimes divergent opinions amongst a dedicated core of forward-thinking people—all of whom I respected greatly—could eventually bring all of us closer together in our understanding of what ultimately we needed to do to move forward as an association.

A quick glance through our TACAC member directory will put names tosome of those early voices. You'll find many of them amongst the names prominently honored there as our current TACAC Leadership, Past Presidents, Lifetime Members and the various recipients of TACAC Founders' Awards, William W. Fleming Awards for Counseling Excellence and Rising Star Awards, tracing our lineage from the earliest years right up to the present day.

I have always felt that among the great hallmarks of TACAC's effectiveness and important contributors to its extraordinary growth have been its enthusiastic leadership, its commitment to service, its ability to bridge the generations of its own membership and its desire to embrace diversity in its constituencies through the annual conference, regional programs and workshops, human relations committee sponsorships, many outstanding projects, publications and interassociation activities, including an increasingly strong presence and voice at National. I think it is fair to say that TACAC has played a significant role in the level of connectivity all of us enjoy in Texas today as professionals in college admission and college counseling.

Take a moment to look around you in this room today and I'm sure you will see every generation of TACAC represented, from founding members to conference first-timers. We are an immense, diverse talent pool, my friends. We come together again today from every corner of the State of Texas, from across the United States and beyond. Just look at how this organization has grown over the past 21 years, from 64 founding members to nearly 1,500 strong today!

I think one of the most awesome compliments any of us can ever receive from a student, parent, colleague or employee is "I wish I'd had someone like you to help me back then." Think about that for a moment! How many times has someone said that to you? I'm sure everyone in this room can identify with the experience. Each of us IS that person to many hundreds, if not thousands of people with whom we professionally interact every year.

We all share such a precious responsibility as guides to students as they approach the gateway to their future through higher education. TACAC members have gathered here today just as we have at every annual conference for the past 21 years—to renew and rededicate ourselves to honoring that responsibility to the students we serve.

Their future, our commitment. That says it all, in my view. It's truly what TACAC is all about.