‘Serving my community’

Valley native Hirst takes position at UTRGV

Stephen Hirst, the new associate vice president for Strategic Enrollment & Student Affairs, began his position in mid-April and believes the opportunity to work in the Rio Grande Valley is special because he is working close to home.

Hirst is a native of the Rio Grande Valley and graduated from Harlingen High School, where both his parents worked as teachers. 

He attended Texas Tech University and received his bachelor’s in public relations and his master’s in higher education administration. Hirst was unsure of his career plan but was inspired by his passion for the student experience to become a campus life coordinator at his alma mater.

Hirst then moved with his family to North Carolina, where he worked as director of Student Leadership and Organizations at Wake Forest University for 13 years.

After moving back to Texas, he worked at Texas A&M University-Commerce for three years while studying and going to school for his doctorate in higher education administration at the University of Alabama.

At the University of Alabama, Hirst was in an executive format program designed for full-time working professionals. He flew to Alabama and attended classes in person one weekend per month (Thursday through Saturday) for two years and completed his dissertation remotely for the last 1.5 years of the program.

Due to his strong connection to his home in the Valley, Hirst decided to take on the job at UTRGV. 

Asked what made UTRGV different after working in student leadership roles at other universities for the last 21 years, he replied, “I’ve always felt like the work that we do matters and has an opportunity to change someone’s life on a daily basis. 

“This job is extremely special to me because it’s home and it’s always been something that means more when you’re doing that work at home and it’s your community and the people that live there are your people. Wholeheartedly, that’s how I feel. I get to do something that I’m passionate about but it is that much more meaningful because it’s serving my community.”

Since joining UTRGV, Hirst has been meeting with students to get a feel for the campus life and student experience. 

“Y’all know best, so I want to be able to hear from students and kind of observe the landscape,” he said.

Asked what plans he has for UTRGV, Hirst replied, “There is going to be a focus on increasing the vibrancy on campus, so making things and the experience more visible. So, when you walk on campus, I want them to see all the things [that are] happening … because there should be something for everybody in our campus communities and I want those to be showcased.”

When not focusing on his student life work, Hirst loves to spend any chance he gets with his three children and wife. Now that he is back in the Valley, he has been catching up with old friends and volunteering at Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville.

–Daniela Matinez Salazar contributed to this report