Bill Text: TX HR307 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Honoring The University of Texas at El Paso on the 100th anniversary of its founding.
Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2013-02-21 - Reported enrolled [HR307 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR307-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 307 | ||
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| 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 | ||
