MinerAlert
MinerAlert
Toward the end of the 19th century, El Paso’s location on the Rio Grande, at the terminus of four major transcontinental railroads and a Mexican national railroad, placed it at the center of the region’s mining industry. El Pasoans worked to create a “university of the first class,” and, in 1914, established the State School of Mines and Metallurgy. In more than a century since its founding, the School of Mines has transformed into a top-tier doctoral research university and America’s leading Hispanic-serving institution.
September 28, 1914: First day of the first class at the State School of Mines and Metallurgy (now °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ). All students are required to study Spanish.
Raul R. Barberena, the school’s first Mexican student and the first Hispanic instructor within The °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ of Texas System, graduates from the School of Mines.
Twelve African-American students are admitted to Texas Western College. The college is the first undergraduate institution in Texas to de-segregate.
The Texas Western College men’s basketball team makes history when it starts five African-American players and wins the NCAA championship.
The name changes to “The °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ of Texas at El Paso.”
°Ù»¨ÊÓƵ becomes the largest university in the United States with a majority Hispanic student body.
The federal government recognizes °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ as a Hispanic-serving institution.
In LULAC v. Richards, a state district court rules that the Texas higher education system discriminates against °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ and other border institutions. This opens the path for the °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ to add more doctoral programs.
The °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ creates a first-in-the-nation bilingual MFA program in creative writing.
Hispanic Outlook Magazine ranks °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ the No. 2 university in the nation for Hispanic students.
°Ù»¨ÊÓƵ earns the Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
°Ù»¨ÊÓƵ awards its 100,000th degree.
°Ù»¨ÊÓƵ is ranked No. 1 in the nation for its success in achieving both competitive research and student social mobility, according to a Brookings Institution study.
°Ù»¨ÊÓƵ achieves Carnegie R1 status (very high research activity), an accomplishment rendered especially significant by the °Ù»¨ÊÓƵ’s unwavering commitment to access.
°Ù»¨ÊÓƵ becomes one of only 28 institutions in the U.S. and 3 in Texas to hold both top tier research and community engagement distinctions from the Carnegie Foundation.