It was with great emotion and memories that I read the recent article in the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service about Dr. Miguel Nevárez’s recollections on how and why UT-Rio Grande Valley came about.
Dr. Nevárez, president of Pan American University and later UT-Pan American, was the greatest friend a student had. He always had the interest of the student body at hand. He was vice president of student affairs when the UT System wanted to merger with Pan American.
In 1975, UT was under investigation by the US Department of Justice for not meeting the quota of minority students. At risk for UT was the federal funding that Equal Opportunity was providing.
UT had a minority student population of under ten percent system-wide and less than that at UT’s main campus in Austin.
When UT reached out to Pan American University, as it did to other minority schools to merge, Dr. Nevárez carried the message to the Pan American Board of Regents that the Pan Am Student Body wanted a seat at the bargaining table on the merger issue.
The Board of Regents rejected that idea. The response from the Student Body was that no merger would occur without that concession.
At that time Hollis Rutledge was president of the Student Body and had been an outspoken critic of Dr. Ralph Schilling, having demanded Dr. Schillings’ resignation as part of his inaugural speech as Student Body president.
Hollis expounded on his demand stating that Pan American was one of poorest colleges in Texas having only one Master’s program (Education). He vowed that unless UT agreed to the funding of additional Masters and Doctorate Programs, along with a substantial increase in funding for the construction and operations of these facilities, ‘NO Merger Will Occur.’
The topic was hot. Professors were promised higher pay, students were lured with the idea of having a diploma with the name of the University of Texas on it. A local television station held a televised 30-minute debate between the Mr. Rutledge and yours truly on the negative side of merger with two debate students speaking for the positive side of the merger.
The merger bill sailed through the different legislative committees in Austin and was slated to be heard in the House Committee on Higher Education. State Rep. Senfronia Thompson was the chairperson of the committee and was a sponsor of the merger bill.
Unbeknownst to her, a group of students piled into the committee room and signed up to testify on the merger bill. How 50-plus Pan American students got to the Capitol that early morning was surprising.
The bill was the last order of business on the committee’s agenda. The bill needed to get passed by the committee and sent to the floor for the final vote prior to noon of that day.
After several lobbyists spoke, Rep. Thompson noticed the list of students that had signed up to testify and realized that, if she allowed all the students to speak, as she had to, time would run out and the bill would die in committee. With a disgruntled face, she ended the meeting with a bang of the gavel. The bill died in committee.
Dr. Nevárez knew what the students wanted and needed, and during the rest of his tenure as president of Pan American University and later, UTPA, he served the students well.
Thank you, Dr. Nevárez!
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by former Pan American University student Anthony Covacevich. It appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the permission of the author. Covacevich can be reached by email via: covacevich@aol.com.
