Originally published September 30, 2015
By Daniel Perez
UTEP News Service
A cherished “snapshot” of The University of Texas at El Paso circa 2014 was deposited in the ground outside the front of Old Main during a brief afternoon ceremony Sept. 29, 2015. It was left there for future Miners to enjoy 25 years from now.
About 200 UTEP students, staff and faculty witnessed the placement of the two orange time capsules – plastic PVC containers filled with information and mementos that will tell a story of the region, the University and the people who worked and studied here.
The area will be topped with a bronze-colored steel marker that designates the spot as home to the Centennial Time Capsules. The plan is for the two orange PVC cylinders to be opened in 2039. Faculty and staff of UTEP AWARE Class 22 (2012-13) gathered the items for one, and members of the Students of the Centennial group collected items to fill the other. The hope is that many of those responsible for capturing the memories will attend that ceremony in a quarter century.
Those future Miners will find items that tell a story of the academic, athletic and everyday accomplishments of their predecessors. In one canister they will discover brochures, fact sheets, degree plans and items created on campus 3-D printers. The other contains military coins and patches from the Military Student Success Center, signed team jerseys by athletic teams, and a porcelain lamp that nursing graduates hold as they recite a professional oath.
“It’s a snapshot of what UTEP was like,” said Ann Horak, Ph.D., director of UTEP’s religious studies program and spokesperson for UTEP AWARE Class 22.
Maribel Villalva, director of the University’s Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, was the event’s emcee. She served as executive director of the campus’ Centennial Celebration and was involved in both time capsule efforts. She told the crowd that participants should be proud of their efforts that collected an eclectic mix of items that together paint a vivid picture of the campus.
“We are grateful for your hard work,” she told the group, many who had just attended the annual fall Convocation in the Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall.
Robert Dominguez, president of UTEP’s Student Government Association, said he was excited for those Miners of 2039 because they would relive the goals, dreams and student spirit of the Centennial generation. He said the student participation in this project demonstrated the passion and pride they had in the school.
“They’re destined for enjoyment,” said Dominguez, a junior biochemistry major.
After the official ceremony was over, University President Diana Natalicio was among the many who walked over to a special orange and blue wheelbarrow and used a garden shovel to scoop some dirt on top of the capsules that had been set in the ground.
She remarked how the contents of these time capsules will offer future students a special perspective of University life because they come from personal decisions made by individuals of what was important to share.
“They are communicating over time in a different way from books and magazines to tell their story,” President Natalicio said. “This is a more personal transmission.”