Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HR271 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.R. No. 271
2	2
3	3
4	4	R E S O L U T I O N
5	5	WHEREAS, An esteemed educator and civil rights activist, Dr.
6	6	Blandina Cardenas has rendered exceptional service to The
7	7	University of Texas-Pan American; and
8	8	WHEREAS, Born and raised in the border community of Del Rio,
9	9	Blandina Cardenas earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from The
10	10	University of Texas at Austin; she returned to her hometown to teach
11	11	preschool children from the migrant community and garnered national
12	12	praise for the educational models she developed as a public school
13	13	teacher; in 1977, she accepted a presidential appointment to serve
14	14	as commissioner for children, youth, and families in the Department
15	15	of Health, Education, and Welfare; she also completed her doctoral
16	16	studies in education administration at the University of
17	17	Massachusetts at Amherst; and
18	18	WHEREAS, In 1980, Dr. Cardenas was appointed to the U.S.
19	19	Commission on Civil Rights, where she served for more than a decade;
20	20	she went on to work closely with various advocacy groups, including
21	21	the Inter-American Children's Institute, and she directed the
22	22	Southwest Center on Values, Achievement and Community in Education
23	23	at the LBJ Institute at Southwest Texas State University; she later
24	24	joined The University of Texas at San Antonio as a professor before
25	25	being named dean of its College of Education; she made further
26	26	contributions to the field of education through her affiliation
27	27	with the American Council on Education and through her work with
28	28	Mexican universities, for which she received the highest honor
29	29	bestowed on a noncitizen by the government of Mexico; and
30	30	WHEREAS, The first woman to lead The University of Texas-Pan
31	31	American, Dr. Cardenas became its seventh president in 2004; in
32	32	that role, she launched several initiatives aimed at establishing
33	33	the university as a model of higher education for a diverse student
34	34	population; she also worked to modernize the institution and raise
35	35	its academic standards; continuing her efforts to encourage
36	36	underrepresented groups to pursue higher education, she oversaw an
37	37	increase in financial aid from $84 million to $111 million and
38	38	provided much needed relief to many of the families from the
39	39	neighboring communities who struggled to pay for college; and
40	40	WHEREAS, In nearly five years as president of UTPA, Dr.
41	41	Cardenas helped raise the number of students receiving degrees,
42	42	including significant increases in nursing and graduate degrees, as
43	43	well as the number of internships and study abroad programs being
44	44	offered to students; in addition, she supported the creation of
45	45	collaborative partnerships with South Texas College and the
46	46	addition of a doctoral program in rehabilitation counseling; she
47	47	also ushered in a new era of research in such fields as economics,
48	48	border life, medicine, and engineering; moreover, under her skilled
49	49	leadership, UTPA saw increased faculty and student scholarly
50	50	productivity, with more undergraduate students publishing or
51	51	presenting their academic research and more students in master's
52	52	programs writing theses; and
53	53	WHEREAS, Dr. Blandina Cardenas has demonstrated an
54	54	unwavering commitment to making higher education more accessible to
55	55	the residents of South Texas, and her work has benefited both UTPA
56	56	and the surrounding community in myriad ways; now, therefore, be it
57	57	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
58	58	Legislature hereby commend Dr. Blandina Cardenas for her notable
59	59	contributions to The University of Texas-Pan American and extend to
60	60	her sincere best wishes for the future; and, be it further
61	61	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
62	62	prepared for Dr. Cardenas as an expression of high regard by the
63	63	Texas House of Representatives.
64	64	Pena
65	65	Gonzales
66	66	Guillen
67	67	Martinez
68	68	______________________________
69	69	Speaker of the House
70	70	I certify that H.R. No. 271 was adopted by the House on
71	71	February 9, 2009, by a non-record vote.
72	72	______________________________
73	73	Chief Clerk of the House