UTEP Time Capsule Contents Symbolize Centennial Successes

Originally published December 5, 2014

By Daniel Perez

UTEP News Service

Scores of students visited The University of Texas at El Paso’s Centennial Museum the afternoon of Dec. 3 to view dozens of items representing the essence of UTEP’s academic, research and athletic excellence during 2014 that will be put in a time capsule.

The objects donated by departments throughout campus were enclosed in two large, glass display cases in the middle of the room. Among the items were signed athletics teams’ jerseys, military coins and patches offered through the Military Student Success Center, and a hand-sized porcelain lamp held by graduates of the School of Nursing as they recite their professional oath.

Some of the items that may be put in a Centennial time capsule were put on display the afternoon of Dec. 3 in the Discovery Gallery of UTEP’s Centennial Museum. The articles were donated from departments throughout campus. Photo by J.R. Hernandez / UTEP News Service.
Some of the items that may be included in a Centennial time capsule were put on display Dec. 3 in UTEP’s Centennial Museum. The articles were donated from departments throughout campus. Photo by J.R. Hernandez / UTEP News Service.

“I loved this project,” said Oscar Franco, senior media advertising major who spent the better part of 2014 working on this activity that started as a project in a spring 2014 organizational and intercultural communication class. “I had to stick with it.”

The initial concept was to create a student-led activity that celebrated the University’s 100th anniversary. The students quickly realized they needed more time and funding to accomplish their goal, so they registered as a student organization: Students of the Centennial.

Franco, the group’s marketing chief, said it was exciting to have been so involved with the project and see the interest of others grow through the year. He looks forward to seeing the burial of the time capsule – described as an approximately 2-foot hard plastic cube – during the spring semester somewhere around Centennial Plaza.

The event had a festive air as UTEP cheerleaders and Paydirt Pete greeted passersby and encouraged them to visit the museum and see the donated items such as pens, pins and a Bhutanese prayer flag. The articles will be vacuumed-sealed for preservation before being placed in the watertight capsule.

The event’s main speaker was University President Diana Natalicio, who lauded those involved in the time capsule project and reflected on the many events and achievements the University celebrated during the past 12 months.

She noted last year’s festive Centennial kickoff on New Year’s Eve and the University’s placement among the Top 10 academic institutions in Washington Monthly magazine, including the #1 ranking for a third year in a row in social mobility, which acknowledges the impact a university has on the students it serves.

President Natalicio called the time capsule a fitting and important symbol of UTEP’s Centennial Celebration because it captures who we are and what matters to us in 2014 when UTEP is recognized as a national leader in higher education and students are the national model for social mobility. Its contents will communicate that message to the students, faculty and staff who open the capsule in 2039 – the University’s 125th anniversary.

“Twenty-five years from now when it’s extracted from Centennial Plaza – which will be finished in 25 years,” she said pausing as the room erupted in laughter, “it will serve as a reminder of the UTEP Miner pride that all of you, our students, feel at this particular moment.”

Maribel Villalva, executive director of UTEP’s Centennial Celebration Office, said she believed the day’s crowd was the largest number of UTEP students she could remember seeing in the museum.

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “It’s truly representative of the support the students have given this project.”

Yolanda Tiemann, president of Students of the Centennial, said she was grateful for the support the group received from President Natalicio and members of the Centennial Celebration Office. The senior organizational and corporate communication major said the project would not have been as successful without their guidance.

Tiemann glowed as she reviewed items in the display cases and recalled the long hours and team effort it took to engage students and departments. They eventually were able to collect more than 100 items. It was a lesson to her and her peers that perseverance pays off.

She said the most unique donated item was a piece of manufactured skin from the College of Engineering, but it had to be returned because it needed refrigeration.

“I think the overall message is that UTEP is very special,” Tiemann said as she eyed the glass cases.

What mattered most to Martina Myers, Ph.D., the communication lecturer whose students started the project, was that this was a successful grassroots activity done by students.

“They did a fabulous job,” she said.