In November of 1923, SFA's first fall semester, fourteen charter members (men) founded the Thomas J. Rusk Literary Society, in honor of General Thomas J. Rusk, a hero of the Texas Revolution on whose old homestead the College was located. The object of the society was to train the College men in public speaking, declaiming, and debating, in general, "to make the young men of the College more fit for leadership in literary affairs." They undertook drills in Parliamentary Law, among other things.

In 1924-25, the group's enrollment went up to twenty-nine members and then in 1925-26 rose to forty members. W. F. Garner, Head of the History Department, the first sponsor and resident critic, subsequently turned the guidance of the group over to Dean T. E. Ferguson. The Society sponsored the colleges first debating teams which competed with speeches in Louisiana and Texas. The Society's interest in debate led in 1927 to a dropping of the literary label for a new one, the "Intercollegiate Debaters."

The name Thomas J. Rusk Literary Society disappeared from SFA's traditions; their motto, however, should not: "Stand Up, Speak Up; Shut Up." (JLJ)