With the green light on starting the UTRGV Football and Swimming and Diving programs, university officials today discussed the next steps in the process, a timeline and future plans for UTRGV Intercollegiate Athletics and campus life.
In a news conference this morning at the UTRGV Visitors Center on the Edinburg campus, UTRGV President Guy Bailey, Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque and Senior Vice President for Strategic Enrollment and Student Affairs Maggie Hinjosa outlined the future of campus life at UTRGV.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents voted Thursday to authorize an increase in the Intercollegiate Athletics Fee to create a football program and expand spirit programs at UTRGV.
“Who’s ready for some college football!” Conque said with a round of applause at the news conference filled with community leaders, UTRGV staff and students.
Last November, the student body passed the Athletics Fee Referendum by a vote of 3,497 to 2,287, the largest turnout for a UTRGV election. The increase will fund the addition of a football program, women’s swimming and diving teams, two marching bands and two spirit programs.
“It’s already been a year,” Conque said. “We stood in this very room and celebrated over 5,700 students that participated in that election, that referendum, [with] 61% saying yes to enhancing our Student Life. Saying yes to 500 new student opportunities here on our campus, and that should be commended.”
Students enrolling at UTRGV in Fall 2023 will pay the fee increase of $11.25, bringing the total to $26.25 per credit hour, capped at 12 hours. The maximum charge per semester will be $315. The fee is currently $15 per credit hour.
As previously reported by The Rider, the increase will affect only new incoming students and students outside of UTRGV’s Guaranteed Tuition and Fees program. Current students who remain within the program will not have to pay the increase.
“Earlier this week, we announced $2.5 million raised to support these initiatives,” Conque said. “… That was our promise to our students last fall, that this was going to be not just their buy in and part of what we asked them to help with, but that we were going to go to the community and the community was going to support their decision on where they wanted to take this institution.”
He said the timeline for the football program to start in Fall 2025 is still on track and Fall 2024 will be a practice year.
Conque also said UTRGV is expected to hire a head football coach in the coming months.
“They’re going to be able to … sign in two signing classes, recruit their student athletes, build their staff and, then, have that practice year in 2024,” he said.
Promising at least one football game in Cameron County and the rest of the home games in Hidalgo County, Conque said with the regents’ vote, the next step is for the university to deepen discussion with H-E-B Park in Edinburg and Brownsville Independent School District for use of Sams Stadium.
Asked how talks with H-E-B Park are going and if there are any backup plans, Conque replied he is confident UTRGV has “made good progress with H-E-B Park.”
“But that’s one thing last fall that we were able to be very confident with our students about, is that we didn’t have to finance a new football stadium,” he said. “… But we also know that we’ve got great facilities that we’ll be able to utilize. And also, we can play spring games there. You know, we can take our show on the road with our football program and bring it to Harlingen, McAllen, Weslaco, and that’s all very exciting for us.”
The third-year athletic director also discussed creating a practice facility for football and other athletic programs at UTRGV.
The creation of the women’s swimming and diving programs is also on the horizon. A coach for that program is likely to be hired in the Summer of 2023 according to Conque, and the program starting in Fall 2024.
With the City of Pharr Natatorium being the home for the program, the location will host the 2023 Western Athletic Conference [WAC].
“It’s important to remember that what we’re setting out to do is a comprehensive student life initiative,” Bailey said. “As stated in our strategic plan, we’re committed to expanding and enhancing campus life.”
Bailey said the marching bands for both campuses and spirit programs will bring students together for a common purpose.
“We’re in the process of creating a committee of students, faculty and staff to propose a design for the marching band uniform,” he said. “… Most importantly, we’re working with our Division of Strategic Enrollment and Student Affairs to develop a competitive scholarship and stipend program to ensure that UTRGV can successfully recruit the [Rio Grande] Valley’s best musicians.”
Hinojosa said during the news conference that the campus life initiatives are designed to engage students so they feel a sense of belonging and pride. She also added the university is looking to expand on-campus housing for both UTRGV campuses.
Asked about details for those on-campus housing expansions and timeline, Hinojosa told The Rider, the university is “in the early stages.”
“I don’t have any dates yet,” she said. “… With this last Board of Regents [meeting], land has been secured here in Edinburg. And so, now, we can start the process to see about expanding the housing. And then, in Brownsville, we have been looking at what it is that we can do.
“There is, definitely, there’s some work that we need to do in our existing facilities. And so, we are working on all of that. … It’s just an exciting time to be thinking about what this institution, what our campuses can look like as we expand our strategic initiatives as they relate to student life and housing.”
Regarding the existing facilities on the Brownsville campus, one that comes to mind is Rusteberg Hall, which the university leases from Texas Southmost College to house art classes.
Asked what plans UTRGV has for the art building and art students on the Brownsville campus, Bailey replied, “There’s some critical issues there.”
“And so, we have set aside a pot of money to begin doing some deferred maintenance, which will help some, but the bigger issue is just getting new facilities,” he said. “We’re negotiating right now with the City of Brownsville and private developers on some things that would be relatively quick fixes [in] downtown [Brownsville]. … We are looking hard for additional funding sources. The ultimate goal is to build a new building there, and we have plans for what we call a STEAM [science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics] building that will provide space for art and everybody else.”
