Dr. Roland S. Arriola, Ph.D., on Wednesday, May 28, announced the formation of ENCORE - Engaging Communities for College Readiness, a major initiative of the Texas Valley Communities Foundation to help more students aspire, and be academically prepared, for college and university life. Arriola, a former longtime board member of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, is president of the TVCF. The non-profit group, which is based in Edinburg, plans to create a $100 million endowment to help dozens of Valley charities help improve the quality-of-life in deep South Texas. See lead story later in this posting.

Roland Arriola leaves UT-Pan American to help next generation of Texans succeed
By DAVID A. DÍAZ

In many ways, the recent decision by Dr. Roland Arriola, Ph.D., of Edinburg, to retire from a top leadership post at the University of Texas-Pan American will probably mean that he will help even more young South Texans realize their dreams of a college education and beyond.

Arriola, a longtime vice-president at the local university, is best known by many for helping create HESTEC, the familiar acronym for Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology - a week-long series of major conferences, exhibits, demonstrations, and expositions held each fall at the Edinburg campus.

HESTEC is designed to inspire Hispanic students to do well in middle and high school by exposing them to national figures, from astronauts, leading journalists and famous entertainers to titans of industry and politics, who serve as role models to an estimated 85,000 South Texas public students and their families who annually participate in the early autumn gathering in Edinburg.

Arriola was also a longtime member of the board of directors for the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg City Council.

Until about mid-2003, Arriola's participation with the EEDC was credited for helping shape economic and legislative policies that have laid the foundation for many of the city's achievements, ranging from major infrastructure improvements that led to the booming medical industry in Edinburg, to landing the $18 million U.S. Border Patrol headquarters and the $20 million component of the UT Regional Academic Health Center.

ENCORE performance

Again, Arriola's influence on the region's welfare will continue to reach beyond UT-Pan American.

On Wednesday, May 28, Arriola returned to the spotlight again with a major press conference, hosted by The Social Club in Edinburg, where he announced that a relatively-new organization, The Texas Valley Communities Foundation - of which he is president - will help the region's non-profit organizations identify and secure millions of dollars in grants to help improve the quality-of-life in deep South Texas.

Among its major initiatives is the creation of ENCORE - Engaging Communities for College Readiness - a landmark effort that will help eligible community organizations find resources and funds for projects that prepare students to get ready for higher education.

Eventually, the foundation hopes to reach an endowment of $100 million. Generally, an endowment is a permanent fund bestowed upon an institution, such as a foundation, that is dedicated for a specific purpose.

In addition to Arriola, TVCF's Board of Directors include Eduardo E. Caso of Rio Grande City; Joseph F. Phillips of Sharyland; Celeste Cantú-Roach of Sharyland; Leo Olivares of Austin; Dale Winters of McAllen; and Sofía Hernández of Rio Grande City.

Common bonds

Although Arriola heaped attention and praise on the other eight board members of the foundation, he also is a symbol of generations of South Texans who have overcome economic and social obstacles to succeed, and those more affluent who have selflessly offered their financial and political support.

"I hope I don't get emotional here, but let me explain why I am so deeply passionate about this," Arriola said. "I can recall when I was growing up, my mother, during the day, went around selling the World Book Encyclopedia, and at night, she would work in the hospitals, cleaning out the bed pans, and all that."

Raised in a loving family of 10 - their father generated income as an agricultural worker - Arriola said his parents were the role models who not only sacrificed on behalf of their children, but imparted words of wisdom that they have never forgotten.

"I remember how I looked up to her (their mother), and she would keep saying, 'Mijito (my little son), you just have to finish your education, you have to do this'," Arriola proudly remembered. "That is why all 10 of us in our family earned a college degree, including several with advanced degrees."

Madison Avenue

Using HESTEC as the gold standard, Arriola said educating families about how to help their children achieve a college education will involve constant media campaigns - similar to the public relations strategies employed by Madison Avenue advertising conglomerates - such as the May 28 press conference to kick-off the latest news about ENCORE and the Texas Valley Communities Foundation.

"What I am trying to say is that we have to have this urgency, we have to work with the parents in every way we can, through every form of communication," he said. "They are so busy trying to keep their families fed, working hard, but we still have to find a way to communicate with them. We are going to do that."

He said the need to increase the number of students in UT-Pan American's fledgling engineering programs was the catalyst for a new way to recruit students - by more directly involving their parents.

"When we were thinking about HESTEC, we looked at our engineering program, and we only had about 400 engineering students. What were we going to do? We had to reach out," Arriola said. "So we started HESTEC (in 2002). Last year, we had 85,000 people on our campus. We brought parents, las abuelitas (grandmothers), los tios (uncles/aunts), los primos (cousins), and today, we have more than 1,000 students in our engineering programs. I know it works."

The results for HESTEC have paid off, he said.

"We are already in the top six universities in the number of Hispanic engineering students in the nation," Arriola said.

During HESTEC, the parents were the best public relations success for the university.

"The parents started telling the kids, who didn't even know about it," Arriola said. "Some of the kids in the middle schools thought an engineer was the guy who rode a caboose in a train. The parents toured the buildings (at UTPA), then the public school teachers came, and it just made them start thinking. I know it works because I saw it work for HESTEC."

Philanthropy in the RGV

Arriola's latest venture in community service is best summed up by the slogan for Texas Valley Communities Foundation: "Developing Philanthropy in the Rio Grande Valley".

"Now that I am retired, I am going to dedicate the rest of my life to making sure that you are going to see so much coming out in the media about college readiness," he told about a dozen news media representatives who were joined by about another 100 area business, community, and political leaders.

You thought you saw so much about HESTEC, you are going to see so much about this that it is going to saturate your mind, you heart, and soul," he promised.

The art of giving is often ignored in the major news media, but Arriola thinks South Texans hunger for good news that make a difference in their lives.

"I know in politics today, we hear so much about Iraq, but the number one thing is education," Arriola contended. "It solves so many problems. It should be first and foremost. Everyone of us had our parents say, 'they can't take education away from you.'

"I am here to say I want all of you to be as passionate about this," he continued. "We are a family here. We want to help you find the resources. We can't do your jobs, but we can find a way to support you. That is why we are here."

TVCF Board of Directors

In addition to Arriola, the other board members for the Texas Valley Communities Foundation include:

• Eduardo E. Caso, Senior Vice President and Manager for International Banking at Wells Fargo Bank, Rio Grande Valley, who has extensive experiences in international trade and foreign affairs;
• Joseph F. Phillips of Sharyland, an area business leader and investor who, along with his brother, Tommy, built their family's McAllen-area petroleum distribution business into one of the largest fuel and convenience store chains in South Texas;
• Celeste Cantú-Roach, a philanthropist who serves on the Sharyland Education Foundation, and whose many generous charitable contributions have helped numerous organizations, including shelters for battered women and children, and hospice efforts for the terminally-ill;
• Leo Olivares, a former top legislative policy analyist to Sens. Mickey Leland, D-Houston, Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville, and Carlos Truan, D-Corpus Christi. He also a former city manger for Rio Grande City who is currently a student at the University of Texas Law School;
• Sofía Hernández of Rio Grande City, the Director of Economic Development for the Office of Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas, III. Her extensive credentials also include having served as a legislative advisor to Sens. Lucio, Truan, and Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo;
• Dale Winter, the secretary/treasurer for the foundation, and CEO of Office Furniture USA in McAllen. He is active in numerous civic and service organizations, ranging from the McAllen Business Alliance to the University of Texas-Pan American Foundation Board;
• Rosa Elia González, who family operate a number of Subway franchises in Starr County and own and operate R.E. Supplies in Rio Grande City. She represents Starr County on several boards with a goal to improve the quality of life in the Upper Valley;
• Diane Willis, the principal at Hargill Elementary in Hargill, and an educator with the Edinburg school district for the past 18 years. She also serves as secretary on he board of the UTPA Alumni Association, and has earned several degrees from UT-Pan American.