Gregory Gymnasium

Gregory Gymnasium
Greg
	The front of Gregory Gymnasium
Address	2101 Speedway; Austin, Texas 78712
Coordinates	30°17′03″N 97°44′11″W / 30.284184°N 97.736485°W
Owner	University of Texas at Austin
Operator	University of Texas at Austin
Capacity	4,000 (volleyball)
Record attendance	5,344
Construction
Broke ground	May 10, 1929
Built	April 12, 1930
Opened	1930
Construction cost	$500,000; ($9.12 million in 2023 dollars)
Tenants
	Texas Longhorns (NCAA); Women's Volleyball (1974–1989, 1998–2019, 2021–present); Men's basketball (1930–1977); Women's basketball (1972–1977); ; Austin Aces (WTT) (2014–2015)

Gregory Gymnasium is the 4,000-seat current home of the University of Texas Longhorn women's volleyball team, and former home of the Longhorn basketball and swimming teams. The basketball teams moved out in 1977 to the Erwin Center.^[1]^[2] It also served as the home court for the Austin Aces of World Team Tennis from 2014 to 2015.^[3]

The gymnasium has undergone several renovations, and now consists of the original gym and a four-story annex that serves as a gymnasium with an indoor jogging track, basketball courts, racquetball and squash courts, an indoor rock-climbing wall, a moderately-sized weight room, and a cardiovascular exercise facility.^[2] All University students can use the gymnasium for free. The gymnasium is available at a low cost to university alumni and their spouses.

History

Following the destruction of Texas' first basketball gymnasium in a fire in 1928, former U.S. Attorney General T.W. Gregory seized the opportunity to spearhead a fundraising initiative for a new facility, later becoming Gregory Gymnasium.^[4]

Originally built in 1930 with an estimated cost of $500,000,^[4] the gym was named after its main advocate and planner, Thomas Watt Gregory. Gregory, an alumnus of the University, served on the University's Board of Regents and as United States Attorney General before the gym was built.^[5]^[2] On December 5, 1930, Texas celebrated its inaugural men's basketball game at Gregory Gym.^[4]

By the late 1920s, plans expanded to include a women’s gym and student union building, known as the "Union Project." Despite economic hardships during the Great Depression, the Texas Exes contributed over $600,000 to realize this ambitious project, leading to the construction of Gregory Gym and other essential campus facilities.^[6] A process that became synonymous with the gymnasium was course registration each semester, where students endured long waits in hot weather to secure their class schedules.^[7]

From 1930 to 1951, Gregory Gym hosted Fight Night, an annual boxing event that drew crowds from both the university and the wider community. Sporting events, including varsity basketball games and intramural competitions, added to the gym's reputation as a center for athletic excellence and spectatorship.^[7]

By the 1950s and '60s, Gregory Gymnasium emerged as a prominent cultural venue and entertainment center on campus. It hosted renowned speakers, authors, and performers, attracting large audiences for literary readings, jazz concerts, and theatrical productions. Notable events included poetry readings by T.S. Eliot^[8] and performances by jazz legends like Louis Armstrong^[9] and the Count Basie group.^[7]^[10]

In 1977, after 46 years as the home of men's basketball, the gym hosted its final Southwest Conference tournament play-in game, marking the end of an era in collegiate sports. The subsequent move of basketball games to the Frank Erwin Center distanced the team from its student fanbase, altering the dynamic of campus athletics.^[11]

In November 1997, Gregory Gym underwent a substantial renovation, closing for 22 months to modernize its facilities. The renovation aimed to enhance the building's functionality and aesthetics, incorporating features such as natural lighting, open lounge areas, and central air-conditioning, reflecting a commitment to meeting the evolving needs of the campus community.^[12]

In 2016, Amazon announced an agreement with The University of Texas at Austin to open Amazon@UT Austin, a staffed pickup location in Gregory Gymnasium on the UT Austin campus. This marked the first Amazon pickup location in the state of Texas.^[13]

On May 1, 2017, a fatal stabbing occurred near the gym where Kendrex J. White, a 21-year-old student, attacked multiple passersby. Student Harrison Brown was fatally stabbed and three others were wounded before White was apprehended by police. The incident prompted discussions about campus safety and mental health support, ultimately leading to efforts to enhance security measures at Gregory Gym and across the university campus.^[14]^[15]

On April 24, 2024, the gym's plaza was the initial gathering site of a student protest regarding the Israel-Hamas War. By noon, hundreds of students had gathered, leading to police on horseback forcing the protestors away from the area and subsequent protests by the UT Tower.^[16] The protests occurred amidst the ongoing nationwide demonstrations on college campuses.^[17]

Attendance record

Volleyball Attendance Record^[18]
#	Date	Opponent	Attendance
1	December 10, 2022	Ohio State	5,344
2	December 11, 2021	Nebraska	5,080
3	October 21, 1998	Texas A&M	5,072*
4	August 31, 2022	Minnesota	4,992
5	November 5, 1989	Hawaii	4,955*
6	October 26, 2022	Texas Tech	4,915
7	November 9, 2022	Iowa State	4,888
8	December 2, 2022	Georgia	4,812
9	November 16, 2022	Kansas	4,679
10	November 19, 2022	Baylor	4,648
11	December 8, 2022	Marquette	4,491
12	December 9, 2021	Washington	4,488
13	October 22, 2022	West Virginia	4,475
14	November 12, 2021	Oklahoma	4,422
15	October 12, 2022	Kansas State	4,418
16	October 25, 2014	Oklahoma	4,402
17	November 30, 2013	Baylor	4,392
18	September 7, 2013	Penn State	4,373
19	October 5, 2022	TCU	4,369
20	September 8, 2017	Minnesota	4,353
* Before Reconfiguration

References

^ "Gregory Gymnasium". texassports.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Gregory Gym History". utrecsports.org. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
^ "Austin Aces - Mylan World TeamTennis". www.austinacestennis.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12.
^ ^a ^b ^c Davis, Brian. "Old-school: Texas to face Sam Houston State for first game at Gregory Gym in 44 years". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ "Gregory, Thomas Watt". tshaonline.org. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
^ "The Birth of Gregory Gym". The Alcalde. 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Gym of Dreams". The Alcalde. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ Richard (2017-02-22). "UT's Gregory Gymnasium". Richard Pennington. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ millerm (2012-04-23). "The past and present meet at Texas". UT News. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ "Local Memory: A History of Music in Austin". local-memory.org. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ Boncosky, Matthew. "Looking back at historic Gregory Gym as it hosts men's basketball again". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ Sports, UT Recreational (2022-12-14). "Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the "New" Gregory Gym". Inside RecSports — Fall/Winter 2022. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ Fitzpatrick, Kylie (2016-03-02). "Amazon to Open New Pickup Location at The University of Texas at Austin". UT News. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
^ "UT Austin stabbing: Student killed, 3 others wounded in "unconscionable" attack - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ Girgis, Lauren. "Harrison Brown's mother settles lawsuit over 2017 on-campus stabbing". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ Seipp, Lily Kepner and Skye. "What happened at pro-Palestinian protest at UT-Austin? Here's the timeline of events". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
^ "UT Austin campus protest leads to pro-Palestinian student arrests". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
^ "Texas Volleyball 2019 Fact Book" (PDF). Texas Sports. pp. 38–39. Retrieved December 12, 2019.

External links

This article about a sports venue in Texas is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This University of Texas at Austin-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Gregory Gymnasium". texassports.com. Retrieved April 28, 2015.

[Fact_2-2] "Gregory Gym History". utrecsports.org. Retrieved April 28, 2015.

[3] "Austin Aces - Mylan World TeamTennis". www.austinacestennis.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12.

[:0-4] Davis, Brian. "Old-school: Texas to face Sam Houston State for first game at Gregory Gym in 44 years". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[5] "Gregory, Thomas Watt". tshaonline.org. Retrieved April 28, 2015.

[6] "The Birth of Gregory Gym". The Alcalde. 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[:1-7] "Gym of Dreams". The Alcalde. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[8] Richard (2017-02-22). "UT's Gregory Gymnasium". Richard Pennington. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[9] rm (2012-04-23). "The past and present meet at Texas". UT News. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[10] "Local Memory: A History of Music in Austin". local-memory.org. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[11] Boncosky, Matthew. "Looking back at historic Gregory Gym as it hosts men's basketball again". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[12] Sports, UT Recreational (2022-12-14). "Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the "New" Gregory Gym". Inside RecSports — Fall/Winter 2022. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[13] Fitzpatrick, Kylie (2016-03-02). "Amazon to Open New Pickup Location at The University of Texas at Austin". UT News. Retrieved 2024-04-03.

[14] "UT Austin stabbing: Student killed, 3 others wounded in "unconscionable" attack - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[15] Girgis, Lauren. "Harrison Brown's mother settles lawsuit over 2017 on-campus stabbing". The Daily Texan. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[16] Seipp, Lily Kepner and Skye. "What happened at pro-Palestinian protest at UT-Austin? Here's the timeline of events". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2024-05-25.

[17] "UT Austin campus protest leads to pro-Palestinian student arrests". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2024-05-25.

[18] "Texas Volleyball 2019 Fact Book" (PDF). Texas Sports. pp. 38–39. Retrieved December 12, 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

v t e The University of Texas at Austin
Academics	School of Architecture Cockrell School of Engineering Dell Medical School College of Education Moody College of Communication (Department of Radio–Television–Film) College of Fine Arts (Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music) College of Liberal Arts Graduate School Hicks School of Social Work Jackson School of Geosciences School of Law Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs McCombs School of Business College of Natural Sciences School of Information Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences
Research	Américo Paredes Center for Cultural Studies Benson Latin American Collection Center for Community College Student Engagement Center for Complex Quantum Systems Dolph Briscoe Center for American History Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Perry–Castañeda Library RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law Texas Advanced Computing Center The William P. Clements Jr. Center for National Security ArchNet
Athletics	Football Baseball Basketball (Men's, Women's) Swimming & Diving Volleyball Softball Women's Soccer Tennis (Men's, Women's) Track & Field (Men's, Women's) Cross Country (Men's, Women's) Golf (Men's, Women's) Women's Rowing Club Sports (Sailing, Rugby) Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Erwin Special Events Center Denton A. Cooley Pavilion Moody Center UFCU Disch–Falk Field Myers Stadium McCombs Field Gregory Gymnasium Jamail Texas Swimming Center Lone Star Showdown
Campus	List of buildings Battle Hall Batts Hall Blanton Museum of Art (Austin by Ellsworth Kelly) Burdine Hall Calhoun Hall Cactus Cafe Flawn Academic Center Garrison Hall Goldsmith Hall Heman Sweatt Campus J. Frank Dobie House Pickle Research Campus J.T. Patterson Labs Building Jackson Geological Sciences Building Jester Center Littlefield Fountain Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Landmarks (public art collection) Los Angeles Center Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum Main Building (The Tower) McDonald Observatory Moody Pedestrian Bridge Music Building and Recital Hall Painter Hall Performing Arts Center Perry–Castañeda Library Physics, Math, and Astronomy Building School of Social Work Building Statue of Barbara Jordan Sutton Hall Texas Memorial Museum Union Building University Teaching Center Waggener Hall Walter Webb Hall Welch Hall
History	History of the University Stephen F. Austin Constitution of 1876 Fisher v. University of Texas (2013) Fisher v. University of Texas (2016) Hopwood v. Texas Sweatt v. Painter Tower shooting Admissions controversy
People	Alumni Faculty Presidents Texas Exes Friar Society Tejas Club
Traditions	Bevo The Eyes of Texas Texas Fight Hex Rally Hook 'em Horns Hook 'Em (mascot) The Showband of the Southwest Texas Cowboys (Smokey the Cannon) Texas Silver Spurs World's Largest Texas Flag
Student life	The Drag Fraternities and sororities Solar Vehicles Team
Media	KUT KUTX Longhorn IMG Sports Network Longhorn Network StarDate Texas Student Media (The Daily Texan, KVRX-FM, Texas Student Television, Texas Travesty)

v t e Texas Longhorns men's basketball
Venues	Clark Field (1905–1917) Men's Gym (1917–1928) Gregory Gymnasium (1930–1977) Frank Erwin Center (1977–2022) Moody Center (2022–present)
Rivalries	Texas A&M
Culture and lore	Bevo Hook 'em "Texas Fight"
People	Head coaches NBA draftees NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Premo-Porretta national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Texas Longhorns women's basketball
Venues	Gregory Gymnasium (1974–1977) Frank Erwin Center (1977–2022) Moody Center (2022–present)
Rivalries	Texas A&M
People	WNBA draftees Head coaches
Culture and lore	Bevo Hook 'em "Texas Fight"
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e World TeamTennis (WTT)
Current champions (2021): Orange County Breakers
Seasons	1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Current teams	Chicago Smash New York Empire Orange County Breakers Orlando Storm Philadelphia Freedoms San Diego Aviators Springfield Lasers Vegas Rollers Washington Kastles
Former teams	Austin Aces (2014–2015) Baltimore Banners (1974) Boston Lobsters (1974) Boston Lobsters (1974–1978) Boston Lobsters (2005–2015) California Dream (1993–2015) Chicago Aces (1974) Cleveland Nets (1974–1976) Cleveland-Pittsburgh Nets (1977) Delaware Smash (1987–2008) Denver Racquets (1974) Detroit Loves (1974) Florida Flamingos (1974) Hartford FoxForce (2000–2006) Hawaii Leis (1974–1976) Houston E-Z Riders (1974) Houston Wranglers (2005–2007) Idaho Sneakers (1994–1997) Indiana Loves (1974–1978) Indiana Loves (1983) Kansas City Explorers (1993–2012) Las Vegas Neon (2014) Los Angeles Strings (1974–1978) Los Angeles Strings (1981–1993) Minnesota Buckskins (1974) New Jersey Stars (1987–1995) New Orleans Sun Belt Nets (1974–1978) New York Apples (1974–1978) New York Buzz (1995–2010) New York Hamptons (2000–2002) New York OTBzz (1995–1998) New York Sets (1974–1976) New York Sportimes (2000–2013) Newport Beach Breakers (2003–2011) Philadelphia Freedoms (1974) Phoenix Racquets (1974–1978) Pittsburgh Triangles (1974–1976) Sacramento Capitals (1988–2013) San Diego Buds (1981–1985) San Diego Friars (1975–1978) San Diego Friars (1981–1983) San Francisco Golden Gaters (1974–1978) Schenectady County Electrics (1999–2000) Sea-Port Cascades (1977) Seattle Cascades (1974–1978) St. Louis Aces (1994–2011) Texas Wild (2013–2014) Toronto-Buffalo Royals (1974) Wichita Advantage (1990–1995)
Current stadiums	Credit Union 1 Arena (Chicago) Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning (New York) Breakers Stadium at the Palisades Tennis Club (Orange County) USTA National Campus (Orlando) Michael J. Hagan Arena (Philadelphia) Omni La Costa Resort & Spa (San Diego) Mediacom Stadium at Cooper Tennis Complex (Springfield) Orleans Arena (Vegas) Kastles Stadium at Union Market (Washington)
Other related articles	Team tennis No-line court