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As the leaves begin to turn colors once again this fall, UTRGV celebrates its 10th anniversary with a year of events, football and plans to expand programs that prepare students for future careers.
“We wanted to be the best value in American higher education,” said UTRGV President Guy Bailey. “And what value is, is a combination of high quality and reasonable price. And so, I think we’ve done that, and I think the rankings of Washington Monthly magazine verifies that for us.”
UTRGV was ranked No. 7 nationally and No. 1 in Texas for the third consecutive year in Washington Monthly’s 2025 College Guide published Aug. 24.
UTRGV is the only Texas university in this year’s Top 30; the next Texas institution does not appear until No. 46.
The big celebration is UTRGV Day on Wednesday, said Patrick Gonzales, vice president for University Marketing and Communications.
“We have UTRGV Day every year where we celebrate our anniversary,” Gonzales said. “So, UTRGV Day this year is where we’ll kick off our 10th anniversary celebration. And so, you know, we’ll have cupcakes and goodies to give away, and that’s where we do our annual T-shirt giveaway as well.”
The Vaqueros football team will honor the university during its second home game on Sept. 13, with more giveaways and recognition of the 10 years.
The vice president said the anniversary comes at a time of record growth for the university.
“We will likely have another record-breaking first-day enrollment when we start school,” Gonzales said in an interview Aug. 21. “That will be … maybe our fifth straight. Our fundraising is higher than they’ve ever been. In our academic programming, we’ve added more than 40 new programs since UTRGV has started. That’s been our mission from day one and, as we look to the future, we’re just going to continue to expand on that mission.”
Jose Rodriguez/THE RIDER
Bailey said the mission has always been rooted in the Rio Grande Valley.
“The Rio Grande Valley is our home, and most of our students’ home,” the president said. “We’ve tried to be the Valley’s university, not just in location, but in our service to our communities and to our students. And so, that’s absolutely at the forefront of what we do.”
Looking ahead, Bailey said the next decade will focus on enhancing student life.
“What we want to do is enhance student life on campus and football is a good first step in that,” he said. “We want to create more living opportunities on campus, more opportunities for students to become engaged and to have a richer student life.”
When asked about his thoughts and feelings about these last 10 years, Bailey replied they were the “ best 10 years of my life.”
“I’ve lived a long life so far,” he said. “I say that for several reasons. First of all, I’ve never enjoyed living anywhere as much as I like the Valley. I love the people of the Valley, just love everything about it. And I think my own life is kind of emblematic of life in the Valley. It’s about family, it’s about hard work, and that’s what I’ve enjoyed and I couldn’t be more grateful for all of it.”
Jose Rodriguez/THE RIDER
