This spring, UTRGV reached a special achievement with the first cohort class to graduate since the university’s inception in the fall of 2015.
This class came in as freshmen with the start of UTRGV and graduated on a four-year plan in 2019.
Andrea Juarez, a first-class graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, said the rebranding of the university has people coming together because of the merging of two schools.
“We’re more united across the Upper Valley and Lower Valley considering we were kind of separated before,” Juarez said.
UTRGV President Guy Bailey is proud of the first graduating class.
“It’s kind of like seeing your own kids graduate,” Bailey said.
University officials said things didn’t go as smoothly as expected at the beginning of the merger.
Nancy Gomez, an academic adviser who is celebrating 16 years of working at the university in October, said, “There was a lot of changes because we got new majors that we weren’t fully familiar with but we ended up becoming familiar with them to prepare and better inform the students.”
Gomez said the change is beneficial for students and staff.
“We’re still learning and we learn every day,” she said. “I learn from students and students learn from me.”
President Bailey also addressed the issues that came from merging the University of Texas Pan-American and University of Texas at Brownsville.
“There’s just so many technical issues that have to be dealt with,” Bailey said.
An example that he used was having the same positions at the two universities but one having a different salary than the other.
“Yes, there was some bumpy steps in the road, many of which people didn’t notice unless they were affected, but there was nothing that really happened that I didn’t anticipate,” he said.
One of the major accomplishments is the opening of the UTRGV School of Medicine. This gives the university another variety of programs to offer in the medical field.
“All of these programs are very high-quality professional programs. You have to go to Houston, San Antonio, or Austin to get, so that’s what this university is about,” Bailey said. “Providing opportunity for students and providing that opportunity at a very reasonable cost.”
This July, the UTRGV School of Medicine welcomed the class of 2023 with 55 new students. The class of 2023 has 24 Valley natives, 15 of whom are UTRGV graduates.
UTRGV has also been recognized many times in its first four years, including being ranked No.4 on a list of Best Colleges in Texas for 2018 by BestColleges.com with the ranks of UT Austin and Texas A&M, as well as being on the list of 2019 Best Online Colleges for Hispanic & Latino Students by guidetoonlineschools.com.
“It speaks to the quality of education you get here and that’s the result of our faculty, our staff and the fact that we have really good students,” he said.
Since UTRGV is a Hispanic-serving institution with 91% of the student population being Hispanic and Latino, many are first-generation students, according to guidetoonlineschools.com.
Juarez recalls how it was being one of those first-generation students.
“It hasn’t been easy considering I’m the first to graduate and not a lot of people could help me,” she said. “So, I did have some trouble.”
Bailey was a first-generation student as well.
“I was a first-generation student, my mother went to the eight grade, and it’s very important for me, for first-generation students to perform,” he said.
With UTRGV going into its fifth year as a university, President Bailey said the university’s best years are to come.
“We have to be better the next four years,” he said. “If we do things right, and we put in our new programs we’re trying to put in, and continue to focus on the success of our students, this will be the best four years of our lives. We can make this a great time to be here. I’m very optimistic.”
