How TSC Killed UTB — Going Full Circle Back to the UTPA Days
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
When I attended the University of Texas at Brownsville, it was officially known as the University of Texas at Brownsville in partnership with Texas Southmost College. The logo had both UTB and TSC, the mascot was the scorpion, and the school colors were UT System orange and navy blue.
The powers-that-be marketed the school as a unique partnership. Presumably the idea was to circumvent UT System admissions requirements by allowing students to complete their first two years under TSC's umbrella then "transferring" over to UTB for their junior and senior years.
Once upon a time, before there was a UT Brownsville, students who attended school in Brownsville graduated from the University of Texas Pan-American. The main campus was in Edinburg. Eventually, UTPA would be its own stand-alone campus as a new UT Brownsville was created in the early 1990's and joined forces with Texas Southmost College which had existed since the 1920's.
Eventually, a nasty divorce would ensue causing UT Brownsville and TSC to break away. UT Brownsville kept its colors but gave up the scorpion mascot in favor for the endangered ocelot, while TSC kept the scorpion but gave up the school colors in favor of a light blue and yellow combination. Classroom and office space fights also happened as UTB professors were kicked out of buildings owned by TSC. TSC would maintain the bulk of the historical parts of the campus including Gorgas Hall and the Old Morgue, while UTB would occupy the northern part of the campus.
UTB would eventually merge with UTPA in Edinburg to form a new school — the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The ocelot was once again extinct, and UTPA traded in the bronc for the Vaquero. The school colors were also combined to include both the dark blue of Brownsville and the dark green of Edinburg along with the UT System orange.
The merger was met with positive reviews. The Rio Grande Valley school would now have access to the Permanent University Fund and grumblings of a law school and a medical school coming to the Valley suddenly started to look like a reality. However, the merger of the universities hasn't gone too well for Brownsville so far.
When I attended UTB/TSC, there was no difference between my sophomore year, technically at TSC, and my entry into UTB my junior year. The classes were the same, the professors were the same, and the campus was the same. In short, there was no real reason for TSC to exist. I often times wondered why TSC was still something that operated in conjunction with UTB.
If anything, it always made sense for TSC to have broken off and operated as a separate, stand-alone institution altogether. TSC has excellent programs, and the best thing for TSC would have been to sell their property to the UT System and relocate to their ITECC Campus at the old Amigoland Mall.
Instead, UTRGV and the UT System have used the lack of space in Brownsville as an excuse to shift many of its programs to Edinburg, including the volleyball program. I guess moving the volleyball team does make sense, since the only thing the volleyball team had ever done in Brownsville is win two national championships in the span of three years. The chess team was also relocated to Edinburg. A chess team whose successes helped Brownsville receive recognition as the "2014 Chess City of the Year."
Many postgraduate programs have also been moved to Edinburg. Many people trying to get their master's degree in an education field have opted to go through online programs offered by other universities because commuting to Edinburg when there's a campus in Brownsville is unbelievably inconvenient.
For years, the UT System dangled the prospect of a medical school as a carrot for the Brownsville campus. In preparation, the Brownsville campus put up the Regional Academic Health Center. Then the decision was handed down — Harlingen would get the lion's share of the medical school program, not Brownsville.
I fear the day will soon come when UTRGV decides to close up shop in Brownsville for good and run everything out of Edinburg. As things stand now, it appears as if we have gone back to the days when UTPA ran things and Brownsville was merely a satellite campus.
Instead of Brownsville having a stand-alone, independent state university that could have been used to promote the higher education of local talented students, we have a university that is a shell of its former self. Instead of tapping the local community for talented athletes like the ones who helped several of the local high schools win state championships in soccer, or instead of offering students who consistently win championships in chess tournaments opportunities to continue their success on a chess team in Brownsville, we end up shipping these students to Edinburg.
I understand some students don't want to go to school in the Valley, and that's fine. However, there are plenty of intelligent students who can't leave home for whatever reason and having a local university is their only shot at a post-secondary degree. Our local school districts vigorously promote college being for all.
It would be a real pity if the path to a better life and a higher education was blocked because of the poor decisions made by UTRGV and the UT System.
When I attended the University of Texas at Brownsville, it was officially known as the University of Texas at Brownsville in partnership with Texas Southmost College. The logo had both UTB and TSC, the mascot was the scorpion, and the school colors were UT System orange and navy blue.
The powers-that-be marketed the school as a unique partnership. Presumably the idea was to circumvent UT System admissions requirements by allowing students to complete their first two years under TSC's umbrella then "transferring" over to UTB for their junior and senior years.
Once upon a time, before there was a UT Brownsville, students who attended school in Brownsville graduated from the University of Texas Pan-American. The main campus was in Edinburg. Eventually, UTPA would be its own stand-alone campus as a new UT Brownsville was created in the early 1990's and joined forces with Texas Southmost College which had existed since the 1920's.
Eventually, a nasty divorce would ensue causing UT Brownsville and TSC to break away. UT Brownsville kept its colors but gave up the scorpion mascot in favor for the endangered ocelot, while TSC kept the scorpion but gave up the school colors in favor of a light blue and yellow combination. Classroom and office space fights also happened as UTB professors were kicked out of buildings owned by TSC. TSC would maintain the bulk of the historical parts of the campus including Gorgas Hall and the Old Morgue, while UTB would occupy the northern part of the campus.
UTB would eventually merge with UTPA in Edinburg to form a new school — the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The ocelot was once again extinct, and UTPA traded in the bronc for the Vaquero. The school colors were also combined to include both the dark blue of Brownsville and the dark green of Edinburg along with the UT System orange.
The merger was met with positive reviews. The Rio Grande Valley school would now have access to the Permanent University Fund and grumblings of a law school and a medical school coming to the Valley suddenly started to look like a reality. However, the merger of the universities hasn't gone too well for Brownsville so far.
When I attended UTB/TSC, there was no difference between my sophomore year, technically at TSC, and my entry into UTB my junior year. The classes were the same, the professors were the same, and the campus was the same. In short, there was no real reason for TSC to exist. I often times wondered why TSC was still something that operated in conjunction with UTB.
If anything, it always made sense for TSC to have broken off and operated as a separate, stand-alone institution altogether. TSC has excellent programs, and the best thing for TSC would have been to sell their property to the UT System and relocate to their ITECC Campus at the old Amigoland Mall.
Instead, UTRGV and the UT System have used the lack of space in Brownsville as an excuse to shift many of its programs to Edinburg, including the volleyball program. I guess moving the volleyball team does make sense, since the only thing the volleyball team had ever done in Brownsville is win two national championships in the span of three years. The chess team was also relocated to Edinburg. A chess team whose successes helped Brownsville receive recognition as the "2014 Chess City of the Year."
Many postgraduate programs have also been moved to Edinburg. Many people trying to get their master's degree in an education field have opted to go through online programs offered by other universities because commuting to Edinburg when there's a campus in Brownsville is unbelievably inconvenient.
For years, the UT System dangled the prospect of a medical school as a carrot for the Brownsville campus. In preparation, the Brownsville campus put up the Regional Academic Health Center. Then the decision was handed down — Harlingen would get the lion's share of the medical school program, not Brownsville.
I fear the day will soon come when UTRGV decides to close up shop in Brownsville for good and run everything out of Edinburg. As things stand now, it appears as if we have gone back to the days when UTPA ran things and Brownsville was merely a satellite campus.
Instead of Brownsville having a stand-alone, independent state university that could have been used to promote the higher education of local talented students, we have a university that is a shell of its former self. Instead of tapping the local community for talented athletes like the ones who helped several of the local high schools win state championships in soccer, or instead of offering students who consistently win championships in chess tournaments opportunities to continue their success on a chess team in Brownsville, we end up shipping these students to Edinburg.
I understand some students don't want to go to school in the Valley, and that's fine. However, there are plenty of intelligent students who can't leave home for whatever reason and having a local university is their only shot at a post-secondary degree. Our local school districts vigorously promote college being for all.
It would be a real pity if the path to a better life and a higher education was blocked because of the poor decisions made by UTRGV and the UT System.
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