Texas Wesleyan University - Community Outreach

Community Outreach

Texas Wesleyan University's outreach efforts have been focused on the immediate area surrounding the main campus. An appropriation request proposal was submitted by the university for the 2009 fiscal year to the U.S. representative Michael C. Burgess of the 26th District for a project entitled “Rosedale Avenue Redevelopment Initiative”. In this proposal the university requests funding for a “…comprehensive revitalization plan that includes commercial and residential development, with park-like open spaces.”

The university donated land and help arrange for the construction of a new Boys and Girls Club on Rosedale Street, directly across from the campus. Opened in March 2002, this facility provides activities for area youth, and offers opportunities for Wesleyan students to mentor and tutor local youngsters. The University also offers a Speak Up Scholarship, which is designed for area students with a B or better average who graduate from both the William James Middle School and Poly High School, both located in the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood. Students are given financial assistance in the form of scholarships or loans to attend Texas Wesleyan. Critics have pointed out that not enough students and school advisors are aware of the Speak Up Scholarship, however the program has helped five to ten students a year for the last few years, within ten being awarded the scholarship in 2004.

It should be noted, however, that the commitment to the community has faltered during the University’s history. In 1981, concerns mounted in regards to the economic decline in the Polytechnic area. Sociologist Dr. Sarah Horsfall's 2005 research article about the Inner City of Fort Worth explains; “The trustees, urged by the then-President, voted to relocate the campus and purchased land in the northwest of Fort Worth. Community organizers and the Methodist Church opposed the move and worked to keep Texas Wesleyan where it was” . By 1985, the plan was abandoned as impractical. Instead, the University administrators (and a new University president) renewed their dedication and commitment to the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood.