San Diego State University

San Diego State University was founded on March 13, 1897 for the training of elementary school teachers. The seven faculty and ninety-one students of the then Normal School's first class met on November 1, 1898 in temporary quarters downtown while the first unit of the main building of the campus was under construction at Park Boulevard where El Cajon Boulevard begins.

The curriculum was limited at first to English, history and mathematics, but it broadened rapidly under the leadership of Samuel T. Black, who left the position of State Superintendent of Public Instruction to become the first President (1898-1910).

Under the vigorous administration of the second president, Edward L. Hardy (1910-1935), the School was reorganized as a four-year State Teachers' College in 1921, and control was transferred from a local board of trustees to the State Board of Education. In the same year, the two-year San Diego Junior College, the antecedent institution to the present Community Colleges, was incorporated as a branch of San Diego State, where it remained through 1946.

It became clear early that the only collegiate institution in San Diego would soon outgrow its 17-acre site, and a campaign was begun in the 1920s to build a new campus. The Legislature agreed, provided the city furnish a new site and buy the old one. In 1928 the present campus, on what was then the far eastern border of the city, was approved by the electorate.

In February 1931, the college moved to the seven mission-style buildings of the present campus, surrounding what is still called the Main Quad. In 1935, the Legislature removed the word "Teachers" from the name of the institution and authorized the expansion of degree programs into areas other than teacher preparation. In the same year, Walter R. Hepner (1935-1952) was appointed president, and the institution entered a period of slow growth and then, with the coming of war, of contraction. At the end of World War II, enrollment had fallen to 1,918.

In the next quarter century, under Dr. Hepner and subsequently under Malcolm A. Love (1952-1971), enrollments increased phenomenally to over 25,000 students. In 1960, the College became a part of the newly created California State College system, under a statewide Board of Trustees and a Chancellor. In 1971, recognizing that the institution had in fact achieved the status of a university, the Legislature renamed the system The California State University and Colleges, and shortly afterward renamed this institution San Diego State University.

The Zeta Xi chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, the National Honorary Band Sorority, is an integral part of the band program here at San Diego State University, and is the local manifestation of a nationwide network of Brothers and Sisters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, dedicated to the promotion and service of band music in the Nation's colleges and universities.

Our primary purpose is to serve the University Bands and to help develop leadership and enthusiasm among the band members. We help students to develop friendships and a deeper bond with other band members, both within SDSU and with other schools across the country. We also function as an honor society, recognizing outstanding band members through the privilege of membership

Throughout the football season, we do a variety of things to help the Marching Aztecs, including: copying music, distributing uniforms, setting up and tearing down the field equipment, and planning fun activities for band members throughout the semester. For the Wind Symphony and Concert bands, we help with moving equipment, and often host receptions for the audience following performances.

Membership in the sorority is open to any band member who is a full-time SDSU student, demonstrates unusually good character, dedication to band, and a willingness to contribute to our cause.