 Mr. Sweatt was refused admission to the University of Texas School of Law because he was black.In order to pre-empt the possibility of Mr. Sweatt obtaining a successful court order, the legislature passed Texas State Senate Bill 140, which established a university to offer courses of higher learning in law, pharmacy, dentistry, journalism, education, arts and sciences, literature, medicine, and other professional courses.It opened in 1946 as the "Texas State University for Negroes," and later changed its name in Texas Southern University in 1951.