UT president welcomes incoming college freshmen

In a room full of burnt orange shirts and Longhorn insignias, "The Eyes of Texas" played on repeat Tuesday evening.

In downtown Brownsville's Wells Fargo building - far from Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Sta-dium and the University of Texas Tower - the president of the uni-versity welcomed local members of the school's incoming class.

"We want them to know, we're behind you, we're supporting you and we're thankful you're coming," President William C. Powers said.

In Brownsville, where many fu-ture Longhorns are first-generation college students, the send-off took on special meaning. The university has been recruiting heavily in the Rio Grande Valley through its newly opened Valley Admissions Center in Harlingen.

"You can't recruit students with just a brochure," Powers said. "We take care of them when they're applying, and we take care of them when they arrive."

At Tuesday's send-off, the diver-sity of UT's class of 2012 - even among its Brownsville recruits - was clear.

Alexandra Hagan, a graduate of St. Joseph's Academy, comes from a family of Longhorns. Her mother, two uncles and two aunts are all UT alumni.

"They bleed burnt orange," Ha-gan said.

She's toured the campus many times, and she's already been to a number of football games. Hagan thought about schools in California, but the family tradition, she de-cided, is a valuable one. She'll carry the torch next fall when she begins her major in business.

Cesia Marisa Flores, already out-fitted in the color of her future alma mater, is ready to move on.

"I didn't want to stay in the Val-ley," she said. "I know there's more out there."

Flores is not only a first genera-tion Longhorn, she's a first-generation college student. Attend-ing UT is a big deal - for her and for her mother, who pushed her to stay on top of application deadlines and scholarship opportunities. She is looking forward to studying kinesiology.

Still, Austin is a long way from Lopez High School, from which Flores will soon graduate.

"I'm a little excited," she said, "but I'm also a little scared."

Singing "The Eyes of Texas," the university's alma mater, Flores and Hagan - along with a room full of alumni and future classmates - were on equal footing, each prepar-ing to begin her own UT legacy.

There's no greater equalizer, no better emblem of camaradarie, than a pair of "Hook ‘em Horns."