Dr. Miguel A. Nevarez Post Office Building
DR. MIGUEL A. NEVAREZ POST OFFICE BUILDING -- (House of Representatives - May 11, 2004)
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.
Though we honor the life's work of Dr. Miguel Nevarez by designating a post office with his name, his real legacy is reflected in the lives and the careers of the students that he has helped for over a quarter of a century with his leadership and service, mostly as president of UT Pan American.
Dr. Nevarez is the first Hispanic president of UT Pan Am and the longest seated Hispanic president of any four-year institution of higher learning. He has a total of over 30 years of service to UT Pan Am, including his tenure as a professor in the education department, associate dean of men, vice president for student and university affairs and, of course, as president and leader of the university.
Dr. Nevarez has repeatedly been recognized for his leadership, including being named one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics in America" and as one of the "50 Most Influential Hispanics in Business Technology." His commitment to education has fundamentally and forever changed not only the Rio Grande Valley but elsewhere across our Nation as UT Pan Am graduates have assumed positions of leadership.
It is not surprising to any of us who have worked with Dr. Nevarez that, after a much-deserved sabbatical, he will be returning to work with Dr. Velma Menchaca and the outstanding faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership.
There, he will return to teaching, and he will be working primarily with the doctoral and master's programs involving higher education, organizational behavior and organizational management, programs that came into being through his leadership as the president at UT Pan American.
Just as the commencements that we are celebrating across America represent both an end and a beginning, so does this announcement by Dr. Nevarez. The opportunity is there for us to step up to the challenge of giving students all the education for which each is willing to work. We can honor this legacy of Dr. Nevarez not only by the quite appropriate naming of a post office down the street in his honor, but by giving our public institutions of higher learning the financial support that they need to do the job to which he has dedicated his life, and particularly, in preparing our students for quality jobs upon graduation, by giving them the financial assistance that they deserve.
With the overwhelming majority of students at UT Pan American qualifying for student financial assistance, but with too many unable to receive the assistance that they need at current funding levels, it would be particularly appropriate to honor
Dr. Nevarez with the further tribute of extending and expanding that financial assistance. I believe that we must double the maximum amount of Pell Grants in order to achieve that objective.
Dr. Nevarez already has the grateful thanks of a community that he has served for decades. Today, as we designate this post office with his name, this body, the United States Congress, affirms our gratitude for his life's work in service, not just to the Rio Grande Valley but to our entire Nation in developing the leaders who will guide our country in the future.