Friday, July 27, 2018
  Media Advisory

By Marci Caltabiano-Ponce

 PHOTO GALLERY by Silver Salas

Edinburg, Texas – The UTRGV University Library on the Edinburg Campus held a reception July 26 for about 100 visitors to a new exhibition called Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America.

The exhibit is offered in conjunction with the Texas State Historical Association and the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition service, SITES.

Visitors to the reception heard remarks by University Librarian Paul Sharpe; head of Special Collections and University Archives Sean Visintainer; and from the CEO of the Texas State Historical Association, Frank de la Teja.

Two guest speakers gave presentations.

  • Rene Torres, a local baseball historian and former baseball player for Pan American College, gave a lecture regarding the deep roots of baseball in the Rio Grande Valley.
  • UTRGV professor and sports journalist Dr. Gregory Selber spoke of his experience covering football in the Valley, and the unique sporting culture here.

Rene Torres
Rene Torres, a local baseball historian and former baseball player for Pan American College



ABOUT UTRGV

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.

UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.