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DR. JAMES P. CORNETTE - INDUCTEE #80

hall of fame fast fact:

In 1965, WT students wanted to give Dr. James P. Cornette a special way to remember his birthday. So a group staged a protest outside the cafeteria and marched to his house on campus, waving signs and asking for beer in the student union. They said they also wanted Cornette impeached. When Mrs. Cornette opened the door, the students instead sang happy birthday and gave the president a birthday cake.

Dr. James P. Cornette

Dr. James Percival Cornette was WT’s president from 1948 to 1973. Cornette immediately embarked on a program to expand the small teachers college into a state-funded, regionally endowed university.

During his time with WT, the school competed in the NCAA and NIT tournaments in basketball and flourished in Division I football. WT won its only four football bowl games on Cornette’s watch. He hired Joe Kerbel, its most famous football coach. WT went from the defunct Border Conference, to an independent, to the prestigious Missouri Valley Conference during Cornette’s time.

The WT fieldhouse and the football stadium were built during his presidency, as well as the Killgore Research Center and Nance Ranch.

By the time Cornette stepped down in 1973, the university’s enrollment had increased from 1,300 to 8,000. Cornette knew how crucial an athletic program was to a university.

Dr. James P. Cornette died in 1986.