University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley is Name Given to Merged South Texas Higher Education System by UT System Regents

After a month-long outreach campaign by the University of Texas System to solicit proposed names for a new South Texas university system being created by the merger of UT-Pan American with UT-Brownsville, the UT System Board of Regents on Thursday, December 12, unanimously approved the name “The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley”, and with that action, continued a new era for higher education in Texas. With UT System Regent Ernest Aliseda of McAllen making the motion to accept the new name – and with Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and Edinburg Mayor Richard García in the audience – the nine-member governing board wrapped up its latest move in the historic series of events that will also soon lead to the creation of a long sought-after UT medical school in the Valley. Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, whose House District 40 legislative district serves as home to UT-Rio Grande Valley’s largest campus, the former UT-Pan American in Edinburg, said past and future students and graduates are responsible for helping make UT-RGV a reality. “The outstanding reputations of academic excellence, leadership, and achievements of generations of students, faculty, and staff at UT-Pan American and UT-Brownsville were tremendous assets for Valley legislators last spring, when we introduced and passed the law to create this new vision for public higher education for deep South Texas,” said Canales, who served as a House sponsor of that state law, Senate Bill 24. SB 24 authorized the UT System Board of Regents to make the final decision on the name for the regional UT university system, which also has a physical presence in Rio Grande City, McAllen, and South Padre Island. “The names Pan American and UT-Brownsville will always be incredible legacies of UT-Rio Grande Valley, which will further transform deep South Texas into an international leader in economic growth and educational advances,” Canales reflected. “In addition, we made sure to keep ‘The University of Texas’, which as former Rep. Roberto Gutiérrez (D-McAllen) so wisely put, is the gold standard in the world for learning, in the final name.” Featured in this image from a legislative luncheon held earlier this summer are, from left: Jaime Rodríguez, a member of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors; Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg; and Alex Ríos, who serves as Director for Canales’ district office, which is located at 101 North 10th Avenue, Suite B, across from the Hidalgo County Courthouse.