Sec. 87.106. INSTITUTE FOR PRESERVATION OF HISTORY AND CULTURE. (a) The board of regents of The Texas A&M University System shall establish at Prairie View A&M University an institute for the preservation of Texas and American history and culture.

(b) The organization, control, and management of the institute is vested in the board of regents.

(c) The employment of personnel by and the operating budget of the institute are subject to the approval of the board of regents. An employee of the institute is an employee of Prairie View A&M University.

(d) The mission of the institute is to collect, preserve, study, and make available for research information, records, documents, artifacts, and other items relating to Texas history and culture and to the history and culture of the United States and the Americas as that history and culture relates to Texas. The institute shall give special emphasis to collecting, preserving, and studying information and items relating to the role and contributions of African Americans to Texas history and culture, including:

(1) the history of African-American education in Texas;

(2) the contributions of African Americans to military history; and

(3) the role and contributions of African Americans in the settlement, development, and culture of Texas, including in the areas of government, agriculture, science and industry, labor and demography, business, nursing and medicine, public health, architecture and engineering, the professions, sports, and the arts.

(e) Consistent with its mission, the institute may:

(1) establish and operate a museum, archives, automated systems for data access and retrieval, or similar facilities; and

(2) operate educational and awareness programs, particularly for students in public education.

(f) The board of regents or the university may solicit and accept gifts and grants from a public or private source for the benefit of the institute.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 317, Sec. 1, eff. May 29, 1999.