Top Ten Moments: May 2024

I’m thrilled about our landmark partnership with University Federal Credit Union (UFCU) that will rebrand the football stadium as UFCU Stadium. Our 15-year, $23 million partnership is the largest corporate sponsorship in the Sun Belt Conference for naming rights at a football stadium and one of the largest for a college football stadium in Texas. This is just the beginning to a relationship that will benefit our students, university, and the community.

Many thanks to all the TXST faculty and staff members who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure our graduation ceremonies run so smoothly. These moments are so special for our students and their families. Congratulations to the nearly 4,400 new grads!

We enjoyed hosting the Texas State University System Board of Regents on our San Marcos Campus. I’m grateful for their leadership and for our team who worked hard to make it all happen. Thanks to our Gold Star Society students and guest speaker Douglas Brinkley for making the banquet special.

Congratulations to Softball for appearing in their first Championship Sunday appearance since 2003 and for finishing as Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champions. Also, congratulations to Women’s Track and Field for becoming Sun Belt Outdoor Champions!

Thank you to Austin Community College Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart for inviting me to share my journey at ACC’s commencement. As a first generation, community college student, I know the value proposition of ACC. I’m thrilled we’re partnering for the Bats to Cats transfer partnership.

Our Financial Aid staff worked tirelessly through the FAFSA delays experienced throughout the country, and I am very grateful for them. We are now 100% caught up on making offers to over 25,000 upcoming TXST students thanks to these staff members.

The entire Student Success division and Texas State Dining team worked a ton of hours to put on the Late Night Breakfast event, which saw a record 2,500+ students! I loved seeing so many smiling faces the night before finals began.

It was a pleasure to welcome Yvonne Moody, executive director of the Terry Foundation, and her board members to campus. The foundation has funded nearly $25 million in scholarships for our wonderful students over the years.

It was an honor celebrating current and retired TXST employees who have given more than $10,000 to TXST (or at least ten years in a row) at the second annual Gold Standard Luncheon. Almost 5,000 have done so thus far! We also had an insightful student panel who shared the importance of their gifts.

It was a blast hanging out with the Division of Marketing and Communications’ Giselle Kowalski and Tyson Taylor to record the Office Hours podcast, a weekly podcast that brings one TXST student and one TXST professor together for a conversation. Be sure to check it out in July wherever you listen to podcasts!