his tenure as head football coach from 1911 to 1934, he compiled a 119–82–15 record. Administrative career Byrd was appointed to the post of assistant university president in 1918. He became a proponent of unification of the Maryland Agricultural College and the Baltimore professional schools into a single public University of Maryland, and he was instrumental in what became the Consolidation Act of 1920. Byrd named the student newspaper The Diamondback in 1921, and in 1933, he was the lead advocate for the adoption of the diamondback terrapin as the university's official nickname and mascot. In 1932, Byrd was promoted to vice president of the university. In July 1935, he was named the acting president of the university, and was officially appointed to the presidency in February 1936. During his tenure, the budget, facilities, faculty, and enrollment increased significantly. The school budget was increased and the campus expanded largely due to Byrd's deft political maneuvering in Annapolis and Washington. The school also saw a large growth in enrollment, due in part to returning veterans making use of the G.I. Bill after World War II. From 1945 to 1948, the university budget increased from $4.8 million to $9.8 million. Between 1935 and 1954, student enrollment grew from 3,400 to 16,000. Over that same time period, the value of the campus rose from $5 million to $65 million. Byrd, however stood fast on faculty salaries. He reportedly said, "Ph.D.s are a dime a dozen." For years, Byrd refused to release the university's financial records to state legislators, and how exactly he secured funding for many of his projects was largely a mystery. According to booster Jack Heise, Byrd financed a new basketball arena through the out-of-state tuition, paid by the federal government, for Maryland high school graduates who attended the university on the G.I. Bill. The General Accounting Office calculated that the extra fees totaled more than $2 million, but determined that they were within the bounds of legality. Byrd was a staunch supporter of a "separate but equal" state university system. The Princess Anne campus provided agricultural education and Morgan State College provided liberal arts education for the state's black students, while the University of Maryland remained open only to white students. In 1951, Governor Theodore McKeldin criticized the University of Maryland as an example of wasteful state spending, and was especially critical of expansions to the Princess Anne campus, which