officials of the college and a number of Arlington citizens to enlist the support of Governor John Connally and key members of the Texas Legislature to separate Arlington State College from the Texas A&M University System and to join The University of Texas System. As part of a plan that reorganized several university systems in Texas, Arlington State College officially became a part of The University of Texas System on September 1, 1965. To reflect its new membership within the UT System, the university adopted its current name in 1967. Joining the UT System was of immediate consequence. In 1966 the Graduate School was established with an initial slate of six master's degrees and new construction projects started. Controversy erupted in the late 1960s over the use of a rebel theme that was started in 1951, including Confederate symbols and mock-slave auctions as campus traditions. After several years of efforts by President Frank Harrison to give students an opportunity to pick another theme, the UT System abolished rebels. The Maverick theme was adopted after a student vote in 1971. Wendell Nedderman served as acting president from 1972 to 1974 and president from 1974 to 1992. His tenure was characterized by increased growth and aspirations. In these years, the graduate student population increased from 936 to 4,200 and the overall university enrollment reached 25,135 students. Faculty research and publishing was emphasized along with the addition of doctoral programs in science, engineering, business, social work, and public and urban administration. The Texas Select Committee on Higher Education recognized UT Arlington as an emerging research institution in 1987. Campuses Main Campus surroundings The 420 acre main campus is at the southern edge of downtown Arlington, which also includes the largest branch of the public library, City Hall, Theatre Arlington, Levitt Pavilion, Arlington Museum of Art, churches, and numerous types of businesses just south of the Texas and Pacific Railway line, around which the city was established. The Barnett Shale formation sits below the campus and has earned the university millions of dollars from natural gas production since 2008. These funds are used for scholarships, faculty recruitment, and campus infrastructure upgrades. Trading House Creek, a tributary of the Trinity River, runs along the southern portion of the campus. Cooper Street (which forms a part of Farm to Market Road 157) runs through the campus and provides access to Interstate 20 and Interstate 30. AT&T