H.R. No. 307
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) will
celebrate its past accomplishments, showcase its present
strengths, and look forward to its future development throughout
2014 as it observes its centennial; and
WHEREAS, Established in 1914 with the support of local
residents and business owners, UTEP began as the Texas State School
of Mines and Metallurgy, a small mining school on the site of the
former El Paso Military Institute; in 1916, a fire destroyed the Old
Main building, and the school moved to its current location; at the
request of the wife of Dean S. H. Worrell, the new campus was
constructed to resemble fortresses in the Himalayan kingdom of
Bhutan, and it retains this distinctive style of architecture to
this day; and
WHEREAS, The university became the first branch in The
University of Texas System in 1919 and gradually began to encompass
additional areas of study; to better identify its status as a
regional university with an increasing number of liberal arts
programs, it was renamed Texas Western College in 1949; six years
later, it became the first public university in the state to
desegregate its undergraduate program; and
WHEREAS, A strong focus on athletics in the 1960s led to the
construction of the Sun Bowl stadium, home to the UTEP Miners
football team as well as the annual Sun Bowl game, and numerous
national championship wins in the decades that followed; perhaps
the most famous of these came in 1966, when the men's basketball
team faced the heavily favored Kentucky Wildcats; Coach Don Haskins
started an all-African American lineup, the first time any school
had done so in the finals, and the Miners went on to an upset 72-65
win; and
WHEREAS, Now looking to its 100th year, UTEP has seven
academic colleges and an enrollment of more than 22,600 students;
it is a nationally recognized research institution with
expenditures of nearly $70 million annually to support a broad
array of studies in such areas as drug development, Hispanic health
disparities, nanotechnology, and space exploration; the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board has named it one of the state's
emerging Tier One universities, and it was designated as a minority
research center of excellence by the National Science Foundation
and as a doctoral/research intensive institution by the Carnegie
Foundation; and
WHEREAS, In addition, UTEP boasts a number of acclaimed
programs designed to equip students with the tools necessary to
succeed professionally; 90 percent of the graduates of its Law
School Preparation Institute are accepted to law school, a figure
well above the national average, and its Medical Professions
Institute has helped make it one of the top universities for Mexican
American graduates accepted to medical school; moreover, its
Executive MBA program attracts professionals from both sides of the
U.S.-Mexico border; and
WHEREAS, Over the course of an eventful century, The
University of Texas at El Paso has enriched the lives of countless
students while making impressive strides in research and academic
innovation, and in so doing, it has made a positive impact on the
Lone Star State and the world beyond; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas
Legislature hereby honor The University of Texas at El Paso for its
10 decades of outstanding service and extend to the university's
administration, faculty, staff, students, and alumni sincere best
wishes for a successful and memorable centennial celebration; and,
be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for The University of Texas at El Paso as an expression of
high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.
Marquez
Perry
Frullo
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 307 was adopted by the House on
February 18, 2013, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House