The University of Plano was an American private

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...

located in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Hist ...

that was in operation from 1964 until 1977. The University of Plano received its charter from the State of Texas on May 8, 1964 as a private, coeducational, nondenominational institution. The school was originally called the University of Lebanon, changing its name effective September 4, 1964 to reflect the location of its campus. The university's first classes were held in space leased in downtown

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

in the fall of 1965.University of Plano
''

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

''. Accessed November 29, 2008. The school was founded in 1964 by

Robert J. Morris Robert John Morris (September 30, 1914 – December 29, 1996) was an American anti-Communist activist who served as chief counsel to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security from 1951 to 1953 and from 1956 to 1958, was Preside ...

, an attorney and former judge known as an

anti-Communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

.Hays, Constance L
"Robert J. Morris Is Dead at 82; Crusader Against Communists"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 2, 1997. Accessed November 27, 2008. Morris had served as chief counsel the

United States Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security The United States Senate's Special Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, 1951–77, known more commonly as the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) and sometimes the M ...

. Morris had been the president of the

University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises four academi ...

from 1960 to 1962. Building on the difficulties faced by one of his children, Morris founded the school in 1964. He remained at the school until 1977 and it closed its doors shortly thereafter.Merwin, John
"The Strange Case of Plano University"
''

D Magazine ''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas. ''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first iss ...

'', January 1975. Accessed November 29, 2008. Morris decided to build a school focusing on the Doman-Delacato Method. Using $250,000 borrowed from Republic National Life of Dallas, he put a down payment on of land in northwest Plano. With $600,000 raised from a bond issue, he persuaded the government of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

to donate to the school the nation's pavilion from the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

, with the pagoda becoming the main building of the university. The school had no endowment to speak of, other than the land where its campus was located on Custer Road. The school's finances depended on rising values for the land it had purchased, based on the assumption that the growth of the Dallas area would push residential development towards Plano and hopes that portions of the land could be rezoned for commercial use, both of which would drive up the value of the land. Property purchased by Morris for the University in 1964 for $1,800 an acre, sold in 1969 for $3,000 an acre, and could obtain as much as $6,300 an acre by 1971. of the school's land was rezoned for a shopping center and an additional was rezoned for small retail. Despite warnings offered as far back as 1967, the school developed a heavy reliance on land speculation to meet its expenses. With the end of the land boom in 1975, the school was unable to use land sales to fund its activities. The school ran short of funds in 1976, and despite ownership of and twenty buildings, was forced to close in July 1976. Records from the former University are not complete and many are not available as they were privately held by Dr. Robert Morris for some time. The chain of custody is unclear and many graduates have been unable to recover records. An alumni site was available at Universityofplano.org. Though still registered as of June 2017, the site only has a parking redirect link from

GoDaddy.com GoDaddy Inc. is an American publicly traded Internet domain registrar and web hosting company headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and incorporated in Delaware. , GoDaddy has more than 21 million customers and over 6,600 employees worldwide. The co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plano, University of Educational institutions established in 1964 University of Plano Education in Plano, Texas University of Plano 1964 establishments in Texas