ÀÇÓÑÊÓƵ

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HISTORY IS A WOVEN FIGURE

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.

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1914

September 28, 1914: First day of the first class at the State School of Mines and Metallurgy (now UTEP). All students are required to study Spanish.

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1917

Raul R. Barberena, the school’s first Mexican student and the first Hispanic instructor within The University of Texas System, graduates from the School of Mines.

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1955

Twelve African-American students are admitted to Texas Western College. The college is the first undergraduate institution in Texas to de-segregate.

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1966

The Texas Western College men’s basketball team makes history when it starts five African-American players and wins the NCAA championship.1966_NCAA

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1967

The name changes to “ÀÇÓÑÊÓƵ.”

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1989

UTEP becomes the largest university in the United States with a majority Hispanic student body.

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1992

The federal government recognizes UTEP as a Hispanic-serving institution.

In LULAC v. Richards, a state district court rules that the Texas higher education system discriminates against UTEP and other border institutions. This opens the path for the University to add more doctoral programs.

The University creates a first-in-the-nation bilingual MFA program in creative writing.

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2002

Hispanic Outlook Magazine ranks UTEP the No. 2 university in the nation for Hispanic students.

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2010

UTEP earns the Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

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2011

UTEP awards its 100,000th degree.

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2017

UTEP 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.

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2019

UTEP achieves Carnegie R1 status (very high research activity), an accomplishment rendered especially significant by the University’s unwavering commitment to access.

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2020

UTEP 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.