LBJ statue removed for installation of new pedestal

Posted by Mark Hendricks

University News Service

Oct. 10, 2007

 SAN MARCOS – Students walking through the Quad at Texas State University-San Marcos are missing what has become a familiar presence over the last year – a statue of the university’s most distinguished alumnus, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

The statue has been removed temporarily for installation of a new and improved granite pedestal, and it will be returned to its prominent central-campus location as soon as that work is complete in three to four weeks.

The sculpture depicts a young LBJ as he may have appeared while a student at Texas State, then known as Southwest Texas State Teachers College. Johnson graduated from Texas State in 1930.

Unveiled Sept, 14, 2006, the statue was commissioned by the Associated Student Government at Texas State. The ASG submitted its proposal for the statue to the university administration during the 2004-05 academic year. After the Student Service Fee Advisory Committee unanimously agreed to allocate funds for the statue, the Texas State University System Board of Regents authorized the project in August 2005.

It is the work of acclaimed sculptor Lawrence Ludtke of Houston. Ludtke, who was a fellow in the National Sculpture Society and a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of British Sculptors, died earlier this year.

Texas State remains the only university in Texas to have graduated a United States president or vice president.