Texas Border Business
By Victoria Brito Morales
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – On Sept. 15, the eve of Hispanic Heritage Month, a large crowd gathered at UTRGV’s Brownsville Campus to celebrate the life and career of Dr. Juliet García, former longtime president of UT Brownsville and the first Hispanic woman to lead a university.
García is a recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of 17 people awarded the honor in July by President Joe Biden, along with actor Denzel Washington and Olympians Simone Biles and Megan Rapinoe.
The reception event was held at the UTRGV PlainsCapital Bank El Gran Salón – a short walking distance from what had been García’s office as the president of UT Brownsville who helped create the new university called UTRGV.
The evening was not only a celebration of García, but also a testament to her impact on thousands of lives in the Rio Grande Valley.
UTRGV President Guy Bailey said he has attended many events, but never one as prestigious as celebrating a Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree.
“Many of you worked for her for a long time,” he said. “I bet you never thought this would happen, but I’ll bet when you heard about it you thought, ‘If anyone deserves it, she does’ Did any of you think that?”
The crowd unanimously applauded Bailey’s remark.
Bailey said García has one undeniable legacy – decades of work, resilience and dedication she placed in the creation of the Brownsville Campus.
“There are a lot of things I could say, but if you simply go to Brownsville and you walk the campus, you will understand who she is, what she is about, what she’s done,” he said. “The work you did is with us every day, and we appreciate that,” he said, addressing García directly. “You continue to inspire and support us, and we see your footprint here every day.”
García, now a professor of Communication at UTRGV, was presented with a video message from friends, family and former and current colleges, including Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, who was chancellor of the UT System during the transition from UT Brownsville to UTRGV.
“Every person in those films, and all of you here, and many others who are not here, have been part of the journey and it was that, and it continues to be every day at this university. It is in desarrollo (transition),” he said.
García further translated desarrollo as a strong Spanish word describing a young adolescent in that moment of uncertainty, of being unsure what they will be, but knowing they will be great.
“We are in our desarrollo,” she agreed. “We dreamed of having UT here, we dreamed of having a medical school. Many of you here fought so hard for so long. And there were so many stopping points and pauses along the way, every one of them necessary to make the next one work.”
If she had to do it all again, she said, she would.
“Of course, a chance to impact your own home, for people who really care,” she said. “Everything we did was built because there were hundreds of people at any one time wanting to establish what we did and knowing it was important.”
At the celebration, García also received state recognition from former Texas Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., and a special gift from the Office of Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15). A representative from the office presented her with a U.S. flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol.
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