Howard Payne University Howard Payne University is a four - year , private university located in Brownwood , in the U . S . state of Texas . Currently the university enrolls 1 , 400 full - time students . Howard Payne is known for the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom , its Music program and its Christian Studies program . The university is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas . HPU founders named the college after Edward Howard Payne , a Missouri resident . Payne , brother in law to John David Robnett , the college ' s founder , gave the lead monetary gift to start the university . HPU offers more than 50 majors , minors and pre - professional programs within six schools : Science and Math , Business , Christian Studies , Education , Music and Fine Arts , and Humanities . Athletic programs include NCAA Division III football , men ' s and women ' s soccer , women ' s volleyball , men ' s and women ' s basketball , women ' s softball , men ' s baseball , track , and tennis . The HPU mascot is a yellowjacket named " Buzzsaw " . Founding and history . Baptist leaders in Brown County saw a need for a Baptist institution of higher education . At HPU ' s 1889 founding , sister Baptist school Hardin - Simmons University in Abilene , Texas , would not exist until 1891 and many found travel to another sister Baptist school , Baylor University in Waco , Texas unfeasible . Late nineteenth century travelers found travel methods unreliable at best and placed themselves at risk of attack from American Indians of the Comanche tribe native to the area . Texas recorded its last Indian attack in the early twentieth century near Santa Anna , Texas . Daniel Baker College , a Presbyterian institution , began operation near the time local Baptists founded Howard Payne . Ironically , DBC backers began construction on a piece of land directly behind where Howard Payne ' s Old Main Hall would stand and eventually moved the foundation to the NE corner of Austin and Coggin Avenues . DBC and Howard Payne merged in 1953 after DBC fell into financial difficulties , and after extensive renovation , DBC ' s main building became the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom building in 1969 . After initial financial difficulties related to the 1890s financial panic , Howard Payne joined the system of colleges and universities funded by the Baptist General Convention of Texas . The BGCT operated Howard Payne as a junior college from 1900 until 1914 , when it regained four - year status . Dr . Thomas Taylor took office as university president in 1929 shortly before the stock market crash which began the Great Depression . Taylor kept Howard Payne open when other rural , private colleges failed by challenging faculty members to work without pay and house students in their homes without compensation . At the end of the faculty prayer meeting in which Taylor issued the challenge , most faculty members tore up their contracts and agreed to work without pay until the college began operating in the black . Taylor ' s successor , Guy D . Newman , took office in 1955 and before retiring from the post in 1973 , created the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom and built most of the campus buildings still in use today . In 1974 , the BGCT recognized Howard Payne ' s broad academic scope and approved a name change in the school ' s charter , from " Howard Payne College " to " Howard Payne University . " In 1984 , Old Main Hall , the building symbolic of HPU , burned to the ground during finals week . Although the Brownwood Fire Department headquarters sit across the street from the HPU campus , a prank caller phoned in a false alarm in Bangs , a small town 8 miles from the Brownwood city limits , to which the department responded . Before the crews could return to Brownwood , fire completely consumed the 95 - year - old building . Athletics . The school supports an active athletic program for both men ' s and women ' s competition in the NCAA Division III . The school is currently a member of the American Southwest Conference . National Championship teams . Howard Payne University teams achieved national championship status in 1957 and 1964 in NAIA Cross Country , and in 2007 and 2008 with NCAA Division III Women ' s Basketball . Football . Football began at Howard Payne in 1903 . Gwinn Henry was named the first head coach in 1912 and coached for two seasons . Campus life . Student organizations . Honorary organizations . Gamma Beta Phi , Sigma Beta Delta Departmental organizations . Beta Beta Beta , Pi Gamma Mu , SIFE , Social Work Club , Student Speaker Bureau , Athletic Organizations , Cheerleaders , Stingers Drill Team , HPU Yellow Jacket Band , Gold Coats , Student Foundations , Student Ambassadors