SAN MARCOS, Texas — Texas State University has renamed two residence halls on its San Marcos campus in honor of pioneering women of color from the school's history.
Angelina Hall is now First Five Freedom Hall in honor of the five Black women who integrated Texas State in 1963. San Gabriel Hall is now Elena Zamora O'Shea Hall, named for the first known Latina to attend the university in 1906.
The residence halls are located at 951 Moore St. Texas State will hold a renaming ceremony on Friday, Nov. 12, at 10 a.m. Surviving members of the First Five and representatives of the honorees' families will attend.
These latest renamings are part of an ongoing effort at Texas State to recognize diversity throughout the school's history.
Texas State previously named two streets on its Round Rock campus Adolfo Barrera Drive and Elvin Holt Drive to honor Adolfo “Sonny” Barrera, a former administrator, for his work in multicultural programming, and Elvin Holt, the first Black professor in the Department of English, for his work in multicultural curriculum development.
Texas State established its Naming Task Force in September 2020 to "recognize the contributions of distinguished individuals from the Hispanic/Latinx and Black communities to the university."
The task force solicited more than 40 naming suggestions from Texas State students, faculty, staff and alumni, then forwarded those recommendations to the Council for Inclusive Excellence for review and feedback. A final list of names was presented to Texas State President Denise M. Trauth and the presidential cabinet for final selection.
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