Statement from Chancellor McRaven on visit to South Texas

This week I traveled to Brownsville, Edinburg and Harlingen for a series of very enlightening meetings with administrative, faculty, staff and student leaders of the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, including its medical school.  I was awestruck by the exceptional quality, speed and extraordinary diligence and detail with which the institution is taking shape, as well as the cohesiveness and determination of all involved to open the doors of what may be the nation’s second largest Hispanic-serving institution, only seven months from now.  

Having had the opportunity to see this great work in progress, I must pause and offer sincere thanks to the Texas Legislature, the UT System Board of Regents, Chancellor Cigarroa and the entire South Texas community for their vision and foresight to do something so grand and unprecedented for Texas and the nation.  When one thinks of the potential of this institution to transform lives, the outcomes will be immeasurable and will have impact in ways that we cannot even begin to fathom.

I am pleased to announce that everything is on schedule. UTRGV will open on time for the 2015 fall semester, and all new students as well as those currently enrolled at UT Pan American and UT Brownsville will be able to enroll in UTRGV as planned.  We remain focused on completing an orderly windup of affairs of UTPA and UTB and look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of these two great institutions.

The UT System is also committed to standing with and assisting Texas Southmost College in the months ahead as it completes the required processes to receive its independent accreditation. 

About The University of Texas System
Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities, six health institutions and an enrollment of more than 214,000. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public universities in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $15.6 billion (FY 2015) including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With about 90,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state. For more information, visit www.utsystem.edu.