has undergone several name changes:
1879 (April 21): founded as Sam Houston Normal Institute
1923: Sam Houston State Teachers College
1965: Sam Houston State College
1969: Sam Houston State University
In April 2007, Texas House Bill 1418 passed without objection in the Texas Legislature, preventing The Texas State University System's Board of Regents from changing the university's name to Texas State – Huntsville.
Contrary to a popular joke—repeated by alumnus Dan Rather in his 1978 autobiography, The Camera Never Blinks—the school was never known as "Sam Houston Institute of Teaching" or "Sam Houston Institute of Technology." This joke was expanded in 2006 into an entire feature film, Accepted, which takes place on the campus of the fictional South Harmon Institute of Technology.
== Main campus ==
The oak-studded rural main campus sits on 316 acres (128 hectares) in central Huntsville. Two large agricultural complexes feature a 1,600-acre (650 ha) teaching and research farm and a rodeo arena. The campus …
