The First Decade

Laredo Morning Times | lmtonline.com | Sunday, September 15, 2019 | F3 Â $QQLYHUVDU\ while serving a few hundred students. It also did not have its own campus since it used Laredo Junior College’s Fort McIntosh campus — a loca- tion it would share until the 90s. Thompson was recruited in 1969 right before the center opened, and he still remembers the campus’s creaky, wooden buildings that were cramped featuring large annoying fans. “We had classes in those old barracks buildings,” Thompson said. “There was no air conditioning, and the classes would start in the summer at six in the morn- ing. There were these giant fans that made all this noise and caused you to feel like you were being blasted into the atmosphere.” In the very beginning, re- cruitment of students and faculty was spurred by the immense help of Billy Cow- DUW WKH FHQWHU·V ÀUVW SUHVL - dent. “Dr. Billy Cowart was hired, and we only had a desk at the library at Laredo -XQLRU &ROOHJH µ =DIÀULQL said. Cowart arrived in Lar- edo amid the August heat of 1969. A graduate of several 7H[DV FROOHJHV VXFK DV 87 Austin and Texas A&I, he was thoroughly committed to education. “At heart, he was just an old cowboy who would in- vite you to his house on Saturday, and people would sit around drinking beer and he would play the guitar,” Thompson said. Cowart and work-study student Mary Vela then took on the huge task of recruit- ing students and staff. One recruited professor was history expert Stanley C. Green, who received his Ph.D. from Texas Christian 8QLYHUVLW\ +H WDXJKW KLVWRU\ DW $SSDODFKLDQ 6WDWH 8QLYHU - VLW\ DQG ZRXOG EH 7$0,8·V second history professor. Green retired in 2013 and said he remembers how quaint the center was. “It was pretty small, kind of a mom-and-pop opera- tion almost,” Green said. “We would have faculty meetings, and the faculty meetings were in the of- ÀFH ZDLWLQJ URRP RI WKH librarian, so the whole fac- XOW\ ÀW 1RQH RI XV KDG HYHU been in that situation, so we were kind of feeling our way through.” Mary Trevino worked for Cowart in 1969 before the center even opened. 1RZ 7$0,8·V 'LUHFWRU of Migrant Programs, she remembers when the baby- faced faculty showed up. “My professors were very inspiring, although at the time they were very young,” Trevino said. “I remember Dr. Ball coming into the interview and I was like, ‘He’s going to be our professor?’” Although the unique set of faculty were young and sometimes unorthodox, Trevino said they were the brightest and most creative leaders for the new center. “Dr. Cowart had the idea that although we were just a center, we weren’t going to use that as an excuse,” she said. “We were going to bring in top-notch faculty. He brought in the very best.” In 1971, enrollment near- ly doubled to 459 students. 7KH FHQWHU JUDGXDWHG LWV ÀUVW class in 1972, and by then it had about 637 students. Instead of students re- ceiving their degrees at Presidential Lecture Series presents Dr. Keith Pannell MPA 20th Anniversary Celebration Premiere Screening - Alfonso Gomez-Rejón Milestone Student Celebration Music on the Menu University Convocation Master Class FAB Collection Tribute Penny Wars ,W·V 2Q 8V &KDLQ 5HYHDO 7$0,8 3UHVLGHQW·V 'LQQHU TAMIU Alumni Artist Lecture and Panel Make a Difference Day Presidential Lecture Series presents Anya Kamenetz $ 0 6\VWHP 3DWKZD\·V &RQIHUHQFH TAMIU Giving Day Sept. 18 Sept. 18 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 25 Sept. 26 2FW 2FW 2FW 2FW 2FW 2FW Nov 2 Nov. 6 1RY Nov. 19 Upcoming Schedule President Dr. Billy F. Cowart