The El Paso Times

UTEP AT

100SPECIAL SECTION

InsIde Readying for the next 100 years

Q+A with UTEP’s president

Fundraising amps up for birthday

Architecture is source of pride

Distinguished grads leave mark

Academics grow tremendously

Sports legends get start at UTEP

OnLIne >> Check out birthday videos from the community, photo galleries, UTEP selfies and an extended timeline of UTEP’s history. elpasotimes.com/utepcentennial

photo by mark lambie — el paso times

By Ramón Renterí[email protected] @RamonRrenteria on Twitter

Diana Natalicio is of-ten described as the relent-less task master behind the University of Texas at El Pa-so’s gradual transformation into a nationally respected model for public higher ed-ucation.

“The biggest transfor-mation has been our atti-tudes, changes in how we think about ourselves, our self-confidence as an insti-

tution,” she said. “A com-munity that wanted a lit-tle mining school ended up with a research university that has national stature. That’s really powerful.”

At 75, Natalicio — the lon-gest-serving president of a four-year Texas public uni-versity — has been presi-dent of UTEP since 1988. In that quarter century, UTEP has grown from 14,971 to 23,000 students.

Natalicio looked back recently at the new direc-tions that UTEP has taken

since its origins in 1914 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy with 27 students. She and others predicted that UTEP will continue to impact El Pa-so’s and the region’s econ-omy well into the second 100 years.

UTEP, the city’s fifth largest employer with an annual $400 million bud-get, contributes $1.3 billion a year to El Paso County’s economy, according to a report compiled by UTEP’s Center for Institutional

Evaluation, Research and Planning. Overall, the uni-versity has created 6,577 jobs in the region.

“The 100-year history is extraordinary and very powerful. But you don’t do anything alone,” Natalicio said. “We are who we are because of all those contri-butions that people and or-ganizations have made.”

On Sept. 30, Natalicio and UTEP will honor var-ious individuals and orga-nizations that have helped shape or change the uni-

versity in the past 100 years. The tribute is part of UTEP’s yearlong centennial celebration.

Natalicio was referring to countless organizations such as the El Paso Chap-ter of the NAACP that took the lead in suing what was then known as Texas West-ern College. The desegre-gation case not only influ-enced UTEP’s mission of ed-ucating the region’s diverse student population but also had a rippling effect across Texas.

UTEP also has made na-tional headlines over the years with other historic events, most notably Texas Western College’s 1966 NCAA basketball cham-pionship win with an all-black starting line-up.

One of those lifelong partners is the Greater El Paso Chamber of Com-merce, which donated $50,000 to start what even-tually became UTEP.

Richard Dayoub, the chamber’s president and

the next centuRy

Attitude adjustmentChanges big and small were needed to take 100 years of progress and pivot UTEP into a nationally recognized campus

Rudy GutieRRez — el Paso times

the uteP campus has spent the past few years under renovation — both internally and externally — to become a nationally recognized university.

Adjustment » PAge 12

| UTEP at 100 |2 t sePtembeR 26 - octobeR 2, 2014 el Paso times


Diana Natalicio is of-ten described as the relent-less task master behind the University of Texas at El Pa-so’s gradual transformation into a nationally respected model for public higher ed-ucation.

“The biggest transfor-mation has been our atti-tudes, changes in how we think about ourselves, our self-confidence as an insti-

tution,” she said. “A com-munity that wanted a lit-tle mining school ended up with a research university that has national stature. That’s really powerful.”

At 75, Natalicio — the lon-gest-serving president of a four-year Texas public uni-versity — has been presi-dent of UTEP since 1988. In that quarter century, UTEP has grown from 14,971 to 23,000 students.

Natalicio looked back recently at the new direc-tions that UTEP has taken

since its origins in 1914 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy with 27 students. She and others predicted that UTEP will continue to impact El Pa-so’s and the region’s econ-omy well into the second 100 years.

UTEP, the city’s fifth largest employer with an annual $400 million bud-get, contributes $1.3 billion a year to El Paso County’s economy, according to a report compiled by UTEP’s Center for Institutional

Evaluation, Research and Planning. Overall, the uni-versity has created 6,577 jobs in the region.

“The 100-year history is extraordinary and very powerful. But you don’t do anything alone,” Natalicio said. “We are who we are because of all those contri-butions that people and or-ganizations have made.”

On Sept. 30, Natalicio and UTEP will honor var-ious individuals and orga-nizations that have helped shape or change the uni-

versity in the past 100 years. The tribute is part of UTEP’s yearlong centennial celebration.

Natalicio was referring to countless organizations such as the El Paso Chap-ter of the NAACP that took the lead in suing what was then known as Texas West-ern College. The desegre-gation case not only influ-enced UTEP’s mission of ed-ucating the region’s diverse student population but also had a rippling effect across Texas.

UTEP also has made na-tional headlines over the years with other historic events, most notably Texas Western College’s 1966 NCAA basketball cham-pionship win with an all-black starting line-up.

One of those lifelong partners is the Greater El Paso Chamber of Com-merce, which donated $50,000 to start what even-tually became UTEP.

Richard Dayoub, the chamber’s president and

the next centuRy

Attitude adjustmentChanges big and small were needed to take 100 years of progress and pivot UTEP into a nationally recognized campus


the uteP campus has spent the past few years under renovation — both internally and externally — to become a nationally recognized university.

Adjustment » PAge 12

| UTEP at 100 |2 t sePtembeR 26 - octobeR 2, 2014 el Paso times EL PASO TIMESSEPTEMbEr 26 - OcTObEr 2, 2014 3 T | UTEP at 100 |


Since becoming pres-ident in 1988, Diana Na-talicio has helped the Uni-versity of Texas at El Paso achieve national recogni-tion for its academic and research programs.

Natalicio, 75, is close to winding down the yearlong commemoration of UTEP’s 100th anniversary.

Established in 1914 as a small mining school, UTEP has grown over the years into a public university serving 23,000 students, a majority of them from the El Paso region.

During Natalico’s tenure, UTEP’s annual budget has grown from $65 million to more than $400 million.

To accommodate a steady enrollment growth, UTEP has spent almost $300 million in the past five years to expand or renovate buildings in science, engi-neering, health sciences and other infrastructure. The university is involved in a major $25 million proj-ect that will renovate the in-ner campus and make the campus more pedestrian friendly.

Natalicio recently spoke about various topics dur-ing an interview in UTEP’s Centennial Museum, sur-rounded by memorabilia and photographs of the uni-versity’s 100-year history.

Q What has been one of the more significant

accomplishments in recent history?

A Becoming an authen-tic UTEP has been

the most exciting thing for me. To see us grab a hold of ourselves as an insti-tution and say this is our mission: It is to serve the people of this region. That means all people in this region because talent is everywhere. It crosses gen-der and ethnic and socio-economic boundaries. And our responsibility is to en-sure that that talent is de-veloped. And so that’s led to the El Paso Collabora-tive for Academic Excel-lence, which I consider

to be a huge accomplish-ment. The trust that we enjoy with the school dis-tricts, community college, the business community, all of us working together on a common set of goals: to raise aspirations and at-tain them. That really has changed the way we think about the human poten-tial of this community. The buildings, the infra-structure that we’ve built is largely as a result of thinking differently about what kind of university we could be.

Q How is UTEP impact-ing the region’s over-

all economic development:

A Our origins were based on economic

imperative. The business leadership in this commu-nity in 1913 decided we needed a mining school here because of the mining industry in the region. At our very root we started as an engine for economic de-velopment. We’ve diversi-fied greatly over the years. Now, we have cohorts of graduates who are increas-ingly professionally adept

in health science, educa-tion and business and en-gineering and all the dif-ferent fields.

Q What does it mean to the community for

UTEP to continually re-ceive national recognition?

A That’s very, very excit-ing and extremely im-

portant to us. We haven’t been ranked in those kinds of highly visible pub-lications historically. Be-ing recognized in the top 10 in Washington Monthly is very satisfying. Makes

us proud. It also creates a lot of notice around the country. We’ve been do-ing something very im-portant but it hadn’t been recognized because U.S. News & World Report had a very monolithic control over university rankings. Their criteria were com-pletely divergent from who we are and what we’re try-ing to be. We chose to ig-

Q + A >> DiAnA nAtAlicio

Legacy of LeadershipUTEP president reflects on 26 years of service


uteP President diana Natalicio has been at the helm of the university for 26 years.

Online: Watch a video interview with uteP

President diana Natalicio. elpasOtimes.cOm

legAcy » PAge 12

| UTEP at 100 |4 t sePtembeR 26 - octobeR 2, 2014 el Paso times

By Cindy [email protected] @eptcindyramirez on Twitter

UTEP’s most ambitious fundraising campaign in its 100-year history is coming to a close, and university of-ficials said they’re eager to share some good news with the community.

But not just yet.The University of Texas

at El Paso’s Centennial Campaign, which began in 2007 with a silent kickoff, has a goal of raising $200 million by year’s end.

“We think we’re going to surpass it,” said Audrey Price, the university’s assis-tant vice president for in-stitutional advancement. “We’re very excited about where we are and very ap-preciative of everyone who has given so far.”

University officials would not disclose how much they’ve raised to date, but said they’re planning a major announcement be-fore the campaign officially ends.

Price said at least $64 million has been raised for endowments alone, which allow the donations to have an impact over a long pe-riod of time. That has in-creased UTEP’s endow-ments to about $196 mil-lion, she said.

And despite some big gifts from alumni and com-munity supporters, Price said many of the donations

have been of about $100 or less.

“It just goes to show that any gift regardless of size has an impact,” she said.

Overall, 58 percent of donations have come from alumni, Price said.

“The stories we hear is that they want to give back, pay it forward,” she added.

The university’s previous fundraising effort, the Leg-acy Campaign that ended

in 2000, raised $66 million--surpassing its $50 million goal.

“We raised the bar for the Centennial Cam-paign,” Price said. “UTEP has been fortunate to have had friends who have sup-ported us throughout the years and continue to do so.”

Cindy Ramirez may be reached at 546-6151.

Centennial Campaign

Paying it forward The most ambitious fundraiser in UTEP’s history is likely to surpass its original goal of $200 million in donations

The University of Texas at El Paso’s most ambitious fund-raising initiative — the Centennial Campaign — has a goal of $200 million by Dec, 31, 2014.• For information or to make a donation, visit givingtoutep.edu or call 747-8533.• To make a donation via mail, send your check to UTEP Of-fice of Institutional Advancement, Kelly Hall, 7th Floor, 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968.

Centennial Campaign

TImEs FIlE PHOTO

UTEP alumni dance on the lawn outside the Centennial Museum on Sept. 23 as the university begins the 100-day countdown to its centennial year.

El PAsO TImEssEPTEmbEr 26 - OcTObEr 2, 2014 5 t | UTEP at 100 |

By María Cortés Gonzá[email protected] @EPTMaria on Twitter

When Bhutanese ar-chitect Karma Wangchuk was visiting the University of Texas at El Paso a few weeks ago, he felt at home.

“UTEP is famous in Bhu-tan, especially that this is its 100th year,” he said. “And I think surprisingly the land-scape kind of looks similar, maybe a little bare but we’re happy to stay inside and be cool. We’re not used to the climate because we’re in a temperate region.”

It is likely that the moun-tains of the Chihuahuan Desert — aside from an 88-page photo essay on Bhutan in a National Geo-graphic Magazine in 1914 — inspired Kathleen Wor-rell, wife of the school’s first dean, to suggest the dzong architecture for the univer-sity. The first campus build-ing, Old Main, was con-structed in the Bhutanese style at what was then the State School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1917.

“The mountains in Bhu-tan are much higher and steeper and have more pine trees but in some ways, es-pecially where some build-ings of UTEP are tucked into the mountains, you can see places where it would seem the same,” said Ann B. Horak, the director of Re-ligious Studies program at UTEP who has given tours of the campus.

“People don’t ever talk about it but I think (Wor-rell) must have been struck by the similarities of the ha-cienda-style stucco build-ings,” Horak added. “In Bhutan, there are thick walls with plaster over them and smaller windows

up high that are similar as well. And they grow chiles and have a national chile and cheese dish over rice that kind of tastes like chile rellenos.”

Most of the buildings in the university exhibit ar-chitectural features inherit to the ancient Himalayan kingdom, including over-hanging roofs, dark bands of brick with mosaic-tiled mandala symbols and high inset windows.

The same brick line that is prominent in many of UTEP’s buildings has a ma-jor significance in Bhutan. It denotes religious institu-tions such as monasteries and chapels.

Much of the architecture of Bhutan is influenced by

the practice of Buddhism. Bhutan is the only country in the world to retain the Tantric form of Mahayana Buddhism as its official re-ligion, according to the Web site www.kingdomofbhu-tan.com/.

“It’s pretty isolated in the Himalayas and they have never been colonized or had another country like Britain

and Belgium come and in and change their indige-nous religion so they have stayed pretty true to their original roots,” Horak said.

Horak said Bhuta-nese people don’t believe in a higher power like in mainstream religions. But throughout their country, they display prayer flags

CaMpus aesthetiC

Uncanny resemblanceUTEP is unique in its Bhutanese-inspired architecture, a source of deep pride

• The UTEP Heritage Commission is the university’s keeper of tradition, and works to collect and preserve countless items and exhibits. The Heritage House, built in 1920, serves as UTEP’s campus historical repository. Volunteers are available for tours, video or DVD viewings, archive searches and discussions of the collections maintained.• If you have memorabilia that you would like to share or dedicate to the university, email [email protected] or call 915-747-5700.

Heritage commission

it is likely that the mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert ... inspired Kathleen Worrell, wife of the school’s first dean, to suggest the dzong architecture for the university.

RUDy GUTIERREz — El Paso TImEs

Colorful Bhutanese flags adorn the lawn of the Centennial museum at UTEP.

utep trivia >> Mascot

RUDy GUTIERREz — El Paso TImEs

Jovana Hernandez, a biomedical student at UTEP, looks at a display of Paydirt Pete costumes at the Centennial museum at UTEP.

The first mascot at UTEP was a student dressed as a prospector leading a burro named Clyde. In 1974, the university had a student contest and Paydirt Pete was selected as the mascot. The miner was nick-named “Sweet Pete.” The well-known pickax-wielding mascot has undergone six incarnations over the years. In 1980, he was a Disney-like character. In 1983, he became a much leaner and meaner version, sport-ing large muscles and smoking a cigar, which he got rid of three years later. In 1999, Paydirt Pete dropped the mining helmet for a cowboy hat and donned a handlebar mustache. The following year, he became a scraggly Pete, with chubby cheeks and a thick, long beard. In 2005, he underwent his latest makeover, the masculine and mustachioed Paydirt Pete of today.

Ever-changing Pete

unCanny » paGe 13

CoURTEsy PHoTo

sweet Pete: the kinder, chubbier Paydirt Pete.

| UTEP at 100 |6 t sEPTEmBER 26 - oCToBER 2, 2014 El Paso TImEs

By Victor R. [email protected] @vrmart on Twitter

The list of distinguished University of Texas at El Paso alumni is as diverse as it is impressive.

There is National Foot-ball League referee Ed Ho-chuli (UTEP, 1972) who is also a partner in Phoe-nix-based law firm Skel-ton & Hochuli; former chief White House corre-spondent Sam Donaldson (Texas Western College, 1955); and Karla Marti-nez (UTEP, 1998), co-host of “Despierta América,” the longest-running week-day morning show on the Spanish-language televi-sion network Univision.

UTEP can also claim Olympic champion Bob Beamon, who smashed the Olympic record in the long jump with a leap of 29 feet, 2 1/2 inches at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and former NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway, who played un-der Hall of Fame Coach Don Haskins. Hardaway helped the Miners reach four NCAA tournaments and was named All-WAC three times.

And then there is Danny Olivas, the former NASA astronaut who flew two space shuttle missions — the STS-117 Atlantis in 2007 and the STS-128 Discovery in 2009.

“UTEP is uniquely El Paso,” said Olivas, who graduated from UTEP in 1989 with a mechanical engineering degree and

now serves as the univer-sity’s director of space ini-tiatives. “The university identifies with the city and the city identifies with the university. It doesn’t mat-ter if it’s a football game or a basketball game or it’s a student going to college or the outreach the university does at the pubic schools in the area. UTEP is very much about being an El Pa-soan. That’s a big part of what makes UTEP so spe-

cial.”Olivas, who left NASA

in 2010, has an engineer-ing consulting company in Los Angeles called Olivas and Associates.

He said it’s important to promote UTEP and all the positive things it offers.

“It goes back to giving back,” said Olivas, who graduated from Burges High School in 1984. “Hav-ing been down my personal journey and knowing what

I’m passionate about, part of what I want to do is give back to the El Paso commu-nity as well as to the stu-dents. I hope to serve as a flame to ignite inspiration for those who do want to pursue careers and oppor-tunities in space or just even motivated by engi-neering to get excited and really blossom into the peo-ple they can become.”

Olivas wants to provide

MineR achieVeMents

Leaving their mark

• The UTEP Alumni Association has several chapters across the United States and in Mexico, as well as aca-demic chapters and special interest groups.• The UTEP Parents Association works to unite Miner parents and guardians, connect them to the university, and engage them as future parent leaders.• The UTEP Student Alumni Association promotes and nurtures UTEP Miner pride throughout the community, on- and off-campus, and participate in key university events year round.• To learn more or join any of the association groups, visit alumni.utep.edu or call 915-747-8600 or 866-GO-MINERS.

Alumni groups

NASA fIlE PhOTO

Astronaut John “Danny” Olivas participates in a planned session of extravehicular activity, as construction resumes on the International Space Station in 2007. Olivas is one of the many UTEP graduates to have a distinguished career after leaving the university.

UTEP’s many distinguished alumni diverse, impressive

MaRk » Page 13

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More than a university

1950: KVOF-FM radio tower behind Vowell Hall.

1984: The UTEP library cost $22.8 million to construct.

For 100 years, UTEP has been a source of education, culture and entertainment in El Paso

2013: UTEP student Melanie Lopez cheers on the Miners in the first quarter of their season-opener against UNM.

1987: Construction on Sun Bowl drive.

2013: Centennial Plaza project.

1995: UTEP students in class.

1952: Bell Hall “panty” raid.

UTEP aNd EL PaSO TiMES FiLE PHOTOS

2010: Battle of i-10 in Sun Bowl Stadium.

1971: Members of Chicano organizations gather under a Brown Power banner demanding better faculty representation and the resignation of dr. Gary Brooks.

1981: a police officer on top of a mountain near Sun Bowl Stadium.

1952: a driver education program at Texas Western College.

2000: anna Onipko appears in the UTEP ballet production of “don Quixote & Peter and the Wolf.”

2014: UTEP dinner Theatre production of “Les Misérables.”

2013: Kevin Campos rests on a lawn during the first day of classes at UTEP.

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UTEP Timeline >> 1903-19141903• International Miners Associa-tion calls for the establishment of a school of mines in El Paso.

1907• Charter filed for establish-ment of the El Paso Military Institute. El Pasoans donate 18 acres of land for the school.

1908• El Paso Military Institute opens with 38 students.

1913• UT Board of Regents rec-ommends, state Legislature approves establishing a school of mining and metallurgy in El Paso. Military institute closes.

1914•Businesses guarantee funding note toward school of mines.•UT Board of Regents formally establish the State School of Mines and Metallurgy.•School holds first day of classes on Sept. 28 on a site that is now part of Fort Bliss in Northeast El Paso.

The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy administration building, prior to the fire of October 1916. The school was located in area of Fort Bliss Motor Pool from 1914-1917.

TIMES FILE PhOTO

EL PASO TIMES FILE PhOTOS

The university has long been a campus of research and innovation, officials said, but the past 30 years have seen an explosion in funding and grants given to the campus.

By Aaron [email protected] @AMartinez31 on Twitter

Long known for its roots in engineering, the Uni-versity of Texas at El Paso has seen a rapid rise in the number of programs, re-search opportunities and degrees offered to students in the past three decades.

And there’s no slowing down, university officials said.

The university, which started as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, focused mainly on one field of study, geology, when it opened 100 years ago. To-day, UTEP offers more than

70 undergraduate degrees and well over 90 post-grad-uate degrees.

The cornerstone of the university’s continuing growth is the rapidly ex-panding doctoral program and with that, the growing number of research oppor-tunities available for stu-dents.

“About 25 years ago, all we had was one doc-toral program in geology, which is obviously a tes-

tament to our history as a mining school,” said Gary Edens, UTEP vice presi-dent for student affairs. “As we have grown, our doc-toral programs and the level of research at the uni-versity has been outstand-ing. As we grow those re-search programs, we bring in not only students for our region but outside of our re-gion, which enhances cam-pus life and the quality of life for our students.”

In the 1990s, UTEP grad-uated about 20 doctoral students and now the uni-versity averages about 100 doctoral graduates each year, said Charles Ambler, dean of the UTEP Gradu-ate School. The university offers about 20 doctoral degrees.

“It’s quite an impressive change, but it also stands for something a lot wider and deeper,” Ambler said. “We started with degree

programs that really fo-cused very much in engi-neering and then science, but now we have doctoral programs in every part of the university from geology to computer science to bio-medical engineering to his-tory to English to psychol-ogy to nursing. It’s a univer-sity-wide phenomenon.”

Alongside the number of degrees offered, research at UTEP is also growing.

Most of the funding for

research projects done at UTEP comes from faculty competing on a national level for research grants, said Roberto Osegueda, UTEP vice president of re-search.

“What is important to know is that most of the funding for research come externally as a result of competitive submission proposals,” Osegueda said. “So we promote the culture of the faculty to become na-tionally competitive to in-crease their research port-folio, which in turn brings in money to the faculty and the university, and most of the time it’s the students

REsEARch And AcAdEMics

The march to Tier One continuesUTEP has seen tremendous growth in research, degrees offered in past three decades and isn’t slowing down

“As we grow (UTEP’s) research programs, we bring in not only students for our region but outside of our region, which enhances campus life and the quality of life for our students.”— Gary Edens, UTEP vice president for student affairs

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UTEP Timeline >> 1916-1931

By Bill [email protected] @BillKnightept on Twitter

It began quietly enough, almost in a whimper — just some boys wanting some competition.

In 1914, with rumblings of World War 1 in Europe and Woodrow Wilson set-tling into the White House, the school that is now the University of Texas at El Paso quietly began its ath-letics program.

Tommy Dwyer was the coach — for football and basketball at what was then the state school of Mines and Metallurgy. The foot-ball team won its first game, edging the YMCA team 7-6. Basketball that first year was not nearly so successful: The YMCA boys whipped the mining school 54-12.

Now, 100 years later, life has changed dramatically for college athletes and the thousands of fans who fol-low and support them.

The boys didn’t play in the 1916-1917 seasons dur-ing World War 1, and again

in 1943 and 1944 during World War II. Except for those interruptions, Miner athletic teams have been around for a century now ... at times reaching the high-

est of heights.Football got its first taste

of post-season and success when the Miners defeated Georgetown 33-20 in the 1950 Sun Bowl. A trio of

good Sun Bowl years fol-lowed: Texas Western de-feating Southern Miss 37-14 in 1954; defeating Flor-ida State 47-20 in 1955; and losing to George Washing-

ton 13-0 in 1957. Great play-ers like Jesse Whittenton and Don Maynard led the Miners during that era.

The real glory years came in the 1960s.

The football program de-feated TCU 13-12 in the 1965 Sun Bowl and Mississippi 14-7 in the 1967 Sun Bowl. Billy Stevens won the C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player Award in both bowl triumphs.

When he was inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003, Stevens said, “Those were some fun years, both for the fans and for us fat old jocks who used to play.”

Of course, the 1960s were when basketball, under young coach Don Haskins, put the school on the athletic map. NCAA Tournament ap-pearances became the norm and the 1966 Miners —then as Texas Western College — defeated Kentucky 72-65 for the NCAA championship. It was one of the most famous national titles of all time ... the first time five African-American players (TWC) had ever started against five white players (Kentucky) in the NCAA title game.

The Miners defeated Utah in the semifinals, Ken-tucky beat Duke.

“I couldn’t wait to get back on the court,” said Da-vid Lattin, the team’s post player/intimidator who still lives in his home city of Houston. “Then, after the pre-game meal the next day, Coach Haskins told us that

AThlETics

Where legends are born

Courtesy photo

Members of the 1966 NCAA Championship team walk off the court with the NCAA trophy.

UTEP athletes have history of breaking barriers

lEgEnds » PAgE 15

1916• A devastating early morning fire destroys the Main Building.

1918• Newly constructed buildings host their first classes.• Board of Regents, State Legislature designate TSM the Department of Mines and

Metallurgy of the University of Texas, and is to be considered a part of the University of Texas.

1919 • Ruth Monro Augur, the schools’ registrar, designs TSM’s first seal (seen right). It features the head of a spade with a burro set against it.

1920• The Board of Regents change the name of the Department of Mines, designating it the “Col-lege of Mines and Metallurgy.” Students, however, continue to refer to the school as “the School of Mines” or “TSM”

1925• The College of Mines football team wins the southwestern Championship.

1931• Bachelor of Arts degrees are offered in addition to the Bach-elor of Science degree.

utep’s first seal featured a burro against a spade.

Courtesy

utep.eDu

EL PASO TIMESSEPTEMBER 26 - OCTOBER 2, 2014 11 T | UTEP at 100 |


nore them. Washington Monthly thought hard about how should uni-versities be ranked. They settled more on the im-pact of an institution. U.S. News focuses more on prestige and money, resources. It’s the size of your endowment. How much you spend per stu-dent, how many students you reject for admission.

Q What’s the future of UTEP five, 10, or 25

years down the road.

A We’re very much pursuing the same

directions and becoming more proficient and being recognized for the quality of work that we do in re-search and our doctoral programs and all the rest of that. I think we’ll be doing more online kind of hybrid programs, where people can pursue de-grees if they’re traveling or deployed or wherever they might be.

In the foreseeable fu-ture, we would prefer that particularly for first generation students from this community, that they have a college experience, that they come to the campus and develop lead-ership skills. Providing students with the kinds of experience that their more privileged peers in more affluent settings have, study abroad and

civic engagement and in-ternships. All of those things we have to work hard to provide our stu-dents in a custom format so they can actually par-ticipate.

Q What’s the status of all this construction

on campus?

A We started on this as a centennial project.

We started talking about eliminating vehicles from the middle of the cam-pus. With the growth in student population and the number of vehicles, it was just unsustainable. We couldn’t do this until we got all the peripheral roadways. TxDot and the city of El Paso have been wonderful partners.

We started digging holes and found huge utility infrastructure is-sues that had to be ad-dressed. We replaced nearly everything under-ground. All this is going to lay the foundation for success in the second 100 years. We have a wonder-ful plan and great land-scape architects who have been very thought-ful.

At some point, we hope to have a wastewater treatment plant on cam-pus so that we can irri-gate with our own treated wastewater.

By the end of this cal-endar year, we will have a Centennial Plaza.

Ramon Renteria may be reached at 546-6146.

LegacyFrom PAgE 4

CEO, serves on Natalicio’s Collaborative for Academic Excellence, a nationally du-plicated model that has helped strengthen UTEP’s relationship with El Paso Community College and the public school systems.

“Her dedication to elevat-ing the quality of education in our community is not just a statement,” Dayoub said. “It is backed up with years and years of dedication and ac-tion to that end.”

Dayoub describes UTEP as one of the most dynamic uni-versities in the United States, not just for its attractive Bhu-tanese style buildings but for making significant strides in producing top-quality grad-uates in business, engineer-ing, nursing, health care and other disciplines.

“UTEP is so highly re-garded across the nation for its educational attainment, for its performance and for its ability to provide afford-able quality education,” Day-oub said. “When I went to school there, we were jok-ingly referred to as Harvard on the border. I find it en-tertaining that we now are ranked up there with Har-vard among the top univer-sities for social advancement in America.”

Dayoub is convinced the relationships that Natalicio and UTEP have forged with El Paso and the region will persist well into the second 100 years.

“Some of the most tal-

ented people in the coun-try have come out of UTEP. That speaks to Dr. Natalicio’s leadership and recruiting the right educators,” he said.

Natalicio tells audiences that UTEP is well on its way to becoming a tier-one re-search university. UTEP set a goal of $100 million in an-nual research expenditures and now lists $84 million.

“In terms of our own goals, we’re on the two yard line ready to score,” Natalicio said. “We’re trying to be an authen-tic institution that serves the region as a public university. We’re not going to compro-mise our values in order to meet the tier-one goals in the legislation. If we don’t meet those goals, it’s their problem, not ours. We have a mission and we’re achieving it.”

Cindy Ramos-Davidson, chief executive officer of the Hispanic Chamber of Com-merce, described UTEP as “the cornerstone of our com-munity and our key to eco-nomic growth.”

Ramos-Davidson ap-

plauded Natalicio for reach-ing out to various partners within El Paso and beyond.

Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, is optimistic UTEP will continue to build upon the undergraduate and graduate programs that provide oppor-tunities to first-generation college graduates like himself.

“The city and region must continue to support UTEP as well as press for excellence,” Rodríguez said. “UTEP, like other Texas universities, faces challenges keeping tu-ition down. Meanwhile, we as a legislature are not making the kind of investment the state should be making for its future.”

Howard Daudistel, a se-nior executive vice presi-dent, started teaching in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in 1992. He witnessed part of UTEP’s growth and development.

Daudistel recalls that UTEP had to overcome the notion that it could only play a secondary role in higher ed-ucation.

“We also had to resist ac-cepting the low expectation and the condescending atti-tudes expressed by others,” he said. “And we had to push back when decision-makers simply assumed that a school located along the U.S. Mex-ico border serving a growing Latino population could not compete.”

Daudistel saw UTEP evolve into a more confident university that could com-pete with anyone.

“We also discovered that it is possible to provide all stu-dents, including those who are the first in their families to attend college, with access to affordable high quality col-lege programs while also ag-gressively building a robust grant funded research port-folio,” Daudistel said.

Daudistel predicted that UTEP enrollment will con-tinue to grow. As a result, UTEP will have to continu-ously upgrade and refurbish its buildings and infrastruc-ture and look for other ways to replenish dwindling state appropriations.

Natalicio will not be ready to hand over the challenges to someone else after all the hoopla over the 100th anni-versary dies down.

“As long as I’m healthy and as long as I and others feel I’m having an impact I want to do as much as I can to move along UTEP’s agenda,” she said. “Obviously there will come a time when I won’t be able to do that. Whenever that is, OK it’ll happen. But I have no plans.”

Ramon Renteria may be reached at 546-6146.

AdjustmentFrom PAgE 2

1936•The College of Mines is ac-cepted into the Southern Asso-ciation of Colleges and Second-ary Schools.

1937•The American Smelting and Refining Company donates 150 acres of land to the college.

• The Museum (now known as the Centennial Museum) opens with William S. Strain as its first curator.

1938•The College of Mines’ footprint expands, doubling in size with 13 buildings spread across 48 acres.

1941• The U.S. Army buys former site of the college following a suit to condemn the land to ac-commodate Fort Bliss.

1946The GI Bill boosts enrollment to 2,250 after World War II.

1949•College of Mines renamed to Texas Western College of the University of Texas (logo seen right).

RUdy GUTIeRRez — el PASo TIMeS

UTeP students walk outside the Undergraduate learning Center. The campus has seen exponential growth under the leadership of President diana Natalicio.

Online: Read more UTeP history at the Tales from

the Morgue blog. elpasOtimes.cOm/blOgs

| UTEP at 100 |12 T SePTeMBeR 26 - oCToBeR 2, 2014 el PASo TIMeS


(called dashi), colorful stringed flags that deco-rate bridges and dot hills in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

“Their prayers are not being sent up to anything, they don’t have a sense of up or Heaven. Their prayers are being sent out into the wind, to bless all people,” she said.

At UTEP, the pedestrian bridge overpass that con-nects the new Health Sci-ences and Nursing Build-ing to a parking lot at Sun Bowl and Schuster streets features these decorative prayer flags but in metal form. UTEP students, fac-ulty and visitors also might notice the vertical prayer flags that hang from posts by the Centennial Museum and Chiuahuan Desert Gardens on campus.

Because of its close-knit relationship with Bhutan, the university also features many Bhutanese artifacts, such as tapestries, intricate wood carvings and prayer wheels, that were a gift from Bhutan.

While they have a reli-gious meaning in Bhutan, Horak stresses that they are simply cultural or dec-orative features at the uni-versity.

Bhutanese people may walk with small handheld prayer wheels and medi-tate or they can spin large prayer wheels as they pass by.

“They have them in all

shapes and sizes. People will grab and spin as you walk by them at a monas-tery and you’ll see people spin it, one after another.”

A prayer wheel and gift from Bhutan sits right at the back entrance of the Chihuahuan Desert Gar-dens behind the Centen-nial Museum.

Mandalas also are rather common in Bhutan and are commonly used by tant-ric Buddhists as an aid to meditation. Horak points out that these geometric patterns and figures can be seen on buildings, made out of sand or seen in walk-

ing paths created in a man-dala form.

At the UTEP Bhutan lounge, people can see a sand mandala that was cre-ated a few years back.

Horak said she hopes the community is proud of the uniqueness of the campus.

“To have a university like this that is so unique it draws attention from all sorts of people, it’s some-thing that makes UTEP special and it’s a unique gift to El Paso,” she said.

María Cortés González may be reached at 546-6150.

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that avenue to help UTEP students succeed.

“I’ve climbed my moun-tain, I’ve been to the sum-mit and it’s a beautiful view,” he said. “I want that same opportunity to oc-cur for every student in El Paso.”

Same goes for Dr. Wil-larda V. Edwards, a manag-ing partner at Drs. Edwards & Stephens, Internal Medi-cine in Baltimore.

“What makes me most proud of the university is its diverse education,” she said. “We’re in medicine, we have people in journalism, people in government those are all opportunities that a UTEP education can prepare you for. It’s something to be very, very excited about not just the centennial year but every year.”

Edwards, who graduated from Bel Air High School in 1969 and earned her bache-lor’s degree in biology from UTEP in 1972, served as the 110th president of the Na-tional Medical Association, the nation’s largest organi-zation representing African-American physicians.

“People need to know that they can get a world-class education right here and compete with anybody in the country,” she said. “It’s really important that people realize that they can do more beyond their years here and they are not region-ally or locally bound. They can go across the world take

what they learned at UTEP and help others as well.”

UTEP’s alumni commu-nity has grown from three mining engineering gradu-ates in 1916 to the thousands of Miners who earn degrees in more than 160 programs each year in the fields of sci-ence, engineering, health-care, politics, business, law, entertainment, arts and ed-ucation.

“When I look back at 100 years of UTEP graduates and the impact that they have made, we’ve had peo-ple who have come from this institution do a lot of great things in a lot of dif-ferent fields,” said Richard

Daniel, executive director for alumni relations. “It’s a very diversified accom-plished alumni.”

Daniel said there are about 7,000 members in the Alumni Association, each with a different beginning and stories.

“People come here with a dream and an aspiration,” he said. “The special part of it is UTEP makes it pos-sible for them. UTEP opens the opportunities and those doors and those avenues so they can begin that path on that journey for success.”

Victor R. Martinez may be reached at 546-6128.

MarkFrom PagE 7

Some other UTEP graduates who went on to leave a mark include basketball icon Nolan Richardson, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and journalist Rubén Salazar. Other graduates include:

Notable utep graduates

Hardaway MartinezDonaldson Edwards

“People need to know that they can get a world-class education right here and compete with anybody the country. It’s really important that people realize that they can do more beyond their years here and they are not regionally or locally bound.”— Dr. Willarda V. Edwards, a managing partner at Drs. Edwards & Stephens, Internal Medicine

1952• Students remove an alligator from San Jacinto Plaza, place it in the office of Howard E. Quinn. It later dies.

1953• Segregation by schools is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

1955• TWC admits 10 black students, becoming the first senior public college in Texas to desegregate.

1961• Construction begins on Sun Bowl Stadium. It opened in 1963 and was expanded in 1982 and renovated in 2006.

1965• Computer technology arrives to the campus when an IBM computer is used for the first time to aid with registration.

1966• Texas Western College Min-ers take the NCAA basketball national title.

The 1966 Texas Western College basketball team poses with the NCAA national title trophy with Coach Don Haskins. The team’s endeavors were dramatized in the 2006 film “Glory Road.” TIMES FILE PHOTO

RUDy GUTIERREz — EL PASO TIMES

Some of the newest buildings on campus reflect the Bhutanese style that older buildings showcase.

EL PASO TIMESSepTeMber 26 - OCTOber 2, 2014 13 T | UTEP at 100 |


The gigantic letter M for Miner has been a source of pride for UTEP students and alumni for many years. It was first whitewashed on the Franklin Mountains on Nov. 21, 1923, by the students in the engineering and metallurgy fields. The original location of the 150-square-foot letter was to the east of what is now Mur-chison Park. In the early 1960s, the tradition was moved closer to campus. The M is cur-rently on the mountain off Sun Bowl Drive, near the Larry K. Durham Center. Whitewashing the letter remains one of the university’s strongest traditions and is done on TCM (Texas College of Mines) Day, around March 17, every year.

UTEP Trivia >> ‘M’ on the Mountain

Painting the mountain white

Photos by Rudy GutieRRez—el Paso times

uteP student Ruby Villagrana pours white latex paint on the giant “m” on the mountain along sun bowl drive during tCm day 2014 .

that get hired to work on these projects, which con-tribute to the mission of the university to give stu-dents vital research oppor-tunities.”

One student who has taken advantage of the re-search opportunities is Christian Gerardo Andre-sen, who conducts under-graduate research as he works on his doctoral de-gree. Andresen is research-ing global climate changes in the Arctic tundra wet-lands of Alaska.

Andresen, who gradu-ated with a bachelor’s de-gree from UTEP in 2008, decided to come back to the university for his doc-toral degree for a number of reasons.

“First of all UTEP, faculty is excellent,” said Andre-sen, an environmental sci-ence and engineering PhD student who will graduate this fall. “I had other of-fers from other schools, but UTEP had cutting-edge re-search and this project in Alaska was something I re-ally wanted to do. UTEP is the place to be, the univer-sity is doing awesome re-search and they provide great teaching, training and opportunities for students.”

The growing number of research projects at the university is coming from a huge increase in grants and funding the university fac-ulty has received in the past 10 years. In the 2013 fiscal

year, the university reported about $83.25 million in re-search expenditures, which is up from about $33 mil-lion 10 years ago, Osegueda said.

As the university enters its 101st year of existence, officials said they will focus on adding new degree pro-grams, increasing research opportunities and continu-ing their pursuit of reaching Tier One status, officials said.

“We spent this last year

celebrating our past, but actually also looking at our future,” Edens said. “We are definitely on a path to reach that Tier One sta-tus. We are competing with other universities in the state of Texas to become an emerging research institu-tion, and in every sign and every indictor UTEP is on that path.”

To be considered a Tier One school, universities must have about $100 mil-lion in research spending a year. While UTEP has made great strides, it remains about $16 million short of that goal.

“We want the growth and research to be sustainable,” Osegueda said. “So there are many potential strate-gies you could take like try-ing to secure huge grants, but in reality you need to have the infrastructure to support it. The work and growth we have had has been steady and at the same rate the university has been growing. We are continuing to recruit great faculty and build outstanding facilities, so I predict that we will be crossing that threshold by 2018.”

Aaron Martinez may be reached at 546-6249.

MarchFroM PagE 10

1967• TWC officially becomes the university of texas at el Paso.

1977• The women’s basketball team inaugurates the new Special events Center with a win over Western Texas University.

1988• Diana Natalicio assumes the presidency after serving as the school’s interim leader.

1997• Don Haskins inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball hall of Fame.

1999• UT Board of Regents approve new logos, seals and mascot for uteP.

2005 • The Miners’ softball team wins both games of a doubleheader at the inaugural game at the Helen of Troy softball complex.

2007• UTEP alumnus John “Danny” olivas, seen at right, is part of the Space Shuttle Mission STS-117, which lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Olivas completed a spacewalk during the mission.

research spending

$100MTo be considered a Tier one university, uteP must have about $100 million in research spend-ing every year.

$83.2MIn the 2010 fiscal year, the campus has spent $83.25 million in research, up $33 million from a decade ago.

“We are definitely on a path to reach that Tier one status. We are competing with other universities in the state of Texas to become an emerging research institution, and in every sign and every indictor UTEP is on that path.”— Gary Edens, UTEP vice president for student affairs

| UTEP at 100 |14 T sePtembeR 26 - oCtobeR 2, 2014 el Paso times

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