There’s no debating it — he’s had a stellar career
Thomas F. Freeman, right, who coached the internationally acclaimed debate team at Texas Southern University for more than six decades, was honored Friday at the school’s Founders Day celebration. TSU President John Rudley, left, announced that Freeman, 94, is now a distinguished professor emeritus and that a $10,000 scholarship in his name will be awarded.
As Texas Southern University reflected on its history on Friday, it celebrated a man who strengthened the institution and coached its debate students to international acclaim.
Thomas F. Freeman was honored for six de- cades of teaching, coaching and mentoring students at the historically black university founded 86 years ago. Freeman, 94, joined the institution in 1949, two years after it became Texas State University for Negroes. He retired on Aug. 31.
The annual Founders Day event highlighted Freeman’s storied legacy on campus. TSU President John Rudley announced that Freeman is
now a distinguished professor emeritus and that a $ 10,000 scholarship in his name will be awarded to a debate student next semester.
Last year, the university paid tribute to Freeman by placing his name on the new Honors College building.
Many students and alumni described Freeman as a legendary figure who built a firm foundation for the debate team. TSU professor and alumnus Gloria Roberts recalled the influence Freeman had on her life after she joined the debate team in 1968.
“He always encouraged us to aim high,” Roberts said.
Roberts later returned to the university to work with Freeman and the debate team. She said she once told Freeman she didn’t want to work with students who could barely say their name. He told her she must work with them. ‘Learn by doing’
“Students learn by doing,” she remembered him saying.
U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, a TSU alumnus, said Freeman always preached that “there’s only one standard, and that’s excellence.”
His insistence on high standards led the debate team to numerous victories, including four international championships in the last 15 years. The latest win was in April, when it brought home the top trophy at the 24th annual International Forensic Association Tournament in Antwerp, Belgium.
His students have included Barbara Jordan, who later became the first black person elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern black female elected to the U.S. House of Representatives; and George Thomas “Mickey” Leland, later a U.S. congressman and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
He also coached actor Denzel Washington, who sought Freeman’s assistance for his role in the movie “The Great Debaters.”
Freeman displayed his oratory skill Monday, raising and lowering his voice to stir emotion. He spoke of the historical Sweatt v. Painter lawsuit, calling it the greatest civil rights case of modern times because it began the process of desegregation in schools. Lawsuit clears the way
Heman Sweatt filed the lawsuit after being denied admission to the University of Texas Law School because he was black. He was admitted after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1950 that separate professional schools were inherently unequal.
In 1946, before Sweatt filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, a lower court ordered the state to create a law school for blacks that was equal to the UT Law School. The following year, the state purchased Houston College for Negroes, which became Texas State University for Negroes, and then Texas Southern University in 1951.
The institution has grown from 2,300 students to 9,700 students from diverse backgrounds.
“We’ve come a long way,” Freeman said.
After his speech, Freeman, who shuns his “legendary” title, said he feels grateful for the opportunity he’s had to touch so many lives during his career.