Texas Tech University Archives

Distinguished Hispanic Red Raiders

In honor of the university's charter centennial, the Texas Tech University Archives curated a large exhibit titled "Unidos Podemos / United We Can - Celebrating Hispanic Heritage at Texas Tech University" that will be on display in the Library's Croslin Room from September 15-October 15, 2023. The exhibit was designed with the intention of being updated each year it is on display. Three to five new biographies honoring distinguished TTU Hispanic alumni will be added each year.

While the physical exhibit will be on display for one month each fall, the exhibit’s two accompanying webpages will be available year round. The “TTU Hispanic Heritage Timeline” webpage is a more in-depth version of the chronology posters. This page, the “Distinguished Hispanic Red Raiders,” contains the longer version of the biographies featured in the exhibit accompanied by citations and lists of related archival resources found in the University Archives.

Community activist, civic leader, and Lubbock newspaper founder and editor, Bidal Aguero was born on July 23, 1949. He was one of five children born to Ignacio and Eulalia Aguero, both migrant workers. Like most Mexican Americans in the 1950s-1970s, Aguero faced racial discrimination in school and other aspects of everyday life. He rejected guidance counselors suggestions that he go into vocational training or the military, instead enrolling in Texas Tech in the fall of 1967. There, he was active in Los Tertullianos and later founded Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan (MECHA) to pursue a more activist role in confronting and addressing issues facing the Hispanic community.

Graduating in 1972, Bidal established Commerciantes Organizacion Mexicano Americano (COMA), the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce. He engaged in political pursuits such as running for local offices while working in several Lubbock social service organizations focused on supporting and advocating for the Hispanic population.

In 1977, Aguero started El Editor newspaper, which by 2015 would become the longest running bilingual newspaper in the Texas Panhandle. His wife, Olga, and their daughters carried on the family newspaper business after he stepped down from handling its daily operations. Bidal passed away at age 60 on November 3, 2009.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Bidal Aguero Reference File
Bidal Aguero oral history interview [transcript], 1976
Bidal Aguero oral history interview [transcript], 1985
Bidal Aguero oral history interview [transcript], 1998
Bidal Aguero Papers, 1960-1987
Bidal Aguero Papers, 1949-1988 and undated
Bidal and Olga Aguero Papers, 1959-1997 and undated
Olga Aguero oral history interview [sound recording], 2021
El Editor (newspaper, digitized)
Nephtalí De León oral history interview [sound recording], 2013
Jesse Reyes oral history interview [video recording], 2010
George Sulaica oral history interview [transcript], 2011

See also:
"Bidal Aguero, El Editor and Lubbock Politics Part One," video excerpt from Olga Aguerro oral history interview with Karen Wisely and Joel Zapata, 2016
"Family and Marriage to Bidal Aguero," video excerpt from Olga Aguerro oral history interview with Karen Wisely and Joel Zapata, June 24 2016
"Oral History Interview with Bidal and Olga Agüero, 1998," transcript from Olga Aguerro oral history interview with José Angel Gutiérrez, November 3, 1997
Iber, Jorge and Arnolda De León, Hispanics in the American West (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2006) The Handbook of Texas, June 10, 2016
Yolanda G. Romero"Bidal Aguero (1949-2009)" , The Handbook of Texas, June 10, 2016

The youngest son of Lauro Faustino Cavazos, Sr., foreman of the Santa Gertrudis Division of the historic King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas, Bobby Cavazos was born on November 26, 1930. He grew up working cattle on the ranch and, like his siblings, was able to attend Anglo-only schools in Kingsville ISD due primarily to his father’s connection to the King Ranch.

Bobby’s natural athletic ability earned him a football scholarship to Texas Tech University in 1950, where he proved to be a notable running back. He was part of the 1954 Gator Bowl championship team, defeating Auburn for the title, and was a second team All-American in 1953. During the three seasons he played for the Red Raiders, Bobby set a school career rushing record of 2,278 yards and scoring 35 touchdowns. He was drafted into the NFL as the first pick in the third round to the Chicago Cardinals in 1954. Unfortunately, Cavazos never got to play in the league due to a shoulder injury suffered during his first preseason game. Bobby returned to the King Ranch to work as foreman of the Laureles Division. In 1968, he was inducted into the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Fame.

Besides serving as a Kleberg County Commissioner in Kingsville, Bobby was the author of two books, “The Cowboy from the Wild Horse Desert: A Story of the King Ranch” (1999) and “The Cowboy from the Wild Horse Desert book two: The Saga Continues” (2002). He passed away at the age of 82 in San Antonio, Texas, on November 16, 2013.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Bobby Cavazos Reference File
Bobby Cavazos oral history interview [transcript], 1998

See also:
Jorge Iber, "Mexican-Americans of South Texas Football: The Athletic and Coaching Careers of E.C. Lerma and Bobby Cavazos, 1932–1965", International Journal of the History of Sport, Volume 26 Issue 7, p. 966-980
Robert J. “Bobby” Cavazos, Find a Grave website
Don Williams "Bobby Cavazos, Son of the King Ranch, Tech All-American, Dies at 82, " Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, November 18, 2013
Joe Yeager, "Fantastic 47: No. 37, Bobby Cavazos", July 3, 2022

Lauro Cavazos Lauro Fred Cavazos was born on January 4, 1927, on the historic King Ranch in South Texas, where his father, Lauro Faustino Cavazos, Sr., was the foreman of the Santa Gertrudis Division. After serving in the Army from 1944-1946, Lauro enrolled as a journalism student in Texas A & M University-Kingsville, then transferred to Texas Tech University. He earned his bachelor’s (1949) and master’s degrees (1951) in zoology at Tech and completed his doctoral degree in physiology from Iowa State University (1954).

His academic and administrative career was a highly distinguished one. Dr. Cavazos taught at the Medical College of Virginia from 1954-1964 and, beginning in 1964, at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, where he also served as dean from 1975 to 1980. Additionally, while at Tufts he sometimes taught courses at Texas Tech and the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center.

Lauro returned to Lubbock in 1980 to become Texas Tech University’s tenth president. His inauguration marked two Texas Tech milestones - Cavazos was the first Red Raider alumnus to serve as university president and, as of 2023, he is the only individual of Hispanic descent to hold the title. The university was also the location where he met his future bride, Peggy Ann Murdock, with whom he would later have ten children.

A recognized expert in both the fields of medicine and education, Cavazos was a consultant to national and international health organizations, including the World Health Organization, and a variety of inter-American health groups. He authored or co-authored approximately 75 publications in the areas of physiology and reproduction, fine structure of cells and tissues, and medical education. Dr. Cavazos received a number of awards recognizing his efforts in education. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan presented him with an award for Outstanding Leadership in the Field of Education. In 1985, Lauro was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal from the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences, and, in 1987, he accepted an award designed in his honor from the Texas Tech University Ex- Student Association.

On August 9, 1988, Dr. Cavazos was nominated by President Reagan for Secretary of Education. He was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 20, 1988, making him the first Hispanic American to hold a cabinet position. The League of United Latin American Citizens presented him the National Hispanic Leadership Award in the field of education in recognition of his achievements. As Secretary, Cavazos concentrated on reforming American Education through raising the expectations of students, teachers, and parents. He also targeted federal resources to improve opportunities for those most in need, and initiated special programs to combat drug and alcohol use. As a strong advocate of parental involvement in education, he provided leadership to encourage parental and community participation in education reform. He continued in his cabinet post following George Bush’s presidential inauguration, resigning two years later on December 1990. He returned to teaching at Tufts University the following year.

Texas Tech bestowed an honorary doctor of science degree upon Cavazos during the May 2016 commencement ceremonies. Among his publications were two books about his life and growing up on the King Ranch – A Kineño Remembers: from the King Ranch to the White House (2006) and A Kineño's Journey: on Family, Learning, and Public Service (2016, co-authored by Dr. Gene B. Preuss). At age 95, Dr. Cavazos passed away on March 15, 2022.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Lauro Cavazos Reference File
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [sound recording], 1980
Lauro F. Cavazos interview [sound recording], July 9, 1980 (See S 1811.1 Bea Zeeck Papers, 1941-2009)
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [abstract], 1984
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [sound recording], 1989
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [sound recording], 1991
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [abstract], 1994
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [abstract], 1997
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [sound recording], 2000
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [abstract], 2005
Lauro F. Cavazos oral history interview [transcript], 2016

See also:
Chris Cook, "Texas Tech University Bestows Honorary Degree on Cavazos", Texas Tech Today, March 11, 2016
Alex Driggars, "A Texas Tech Trailblazer: Former University President, Cabinet Secretary Lauro Cavazos Dies at 95", Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, March 16, 2022

Richard Cavazos Richard Edward Cavazos was born on January 31, 1929, in Kingsville, Texas, to Mexican American parents Lauro Faustino Cavazos, Sr., and Tomasa Alvarez Quintanilla. Like his siblings, Richard had to overcome racism growing up. They were able to attend Anglo-only schools in the Kingsville ISD primarily due to their father’s prominent role as foreman of the historic King Ranch. A broken leg his sophomore year derailed Richard’s position on the Red Raiders football team. Instead, he focused on his academic studies through Texas Tech’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program. Richard graduated with distinction in 1951, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology, after which he was commissioned into the U.S. Army. He completed basic officer training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and received further military education at the Command and General Staff College, the British Army Staff College, the Armed Forces Staff College, and the United States Army War College.

He was deployed to Korea with the 65th infantry where he received both the Silver Star and Distinguished Service Cross in 1953. Richard became commander of the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, in February of 1967 during the Vietnam War, where he was once again awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He was deployed to Korea with the 65th infantry where he received both the Silver Star and Distinguished Service Cross in 1953. Richard became commander of the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, in February of 1967 during the Vietnam War, where he was once again awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

In 1976, he became the first Hispanic to reach the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army. In 1982, Richard broke another race barrier when he was appointed the Army’s first Hispanic four-star general and assumed command of the U.S. Army Forces. After 33 years of military service, Richard retired on June 17, 1984. The following year, President Reagan appointed Richard to the Chemical Warfare Review Committee.

Cavazos was also the May 14, 1982, commencement speaker at Texas Tech while his brother, Lauro, was president of the university. Governor Clements appointed Richard to the Texas Tech Board of Regents for 1989-1995, making him one of very few Hispanics to serve in this capacity. On October 29, 2017, Richard passed away in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 88. In 2021, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus recommended that Fort Hood, one of the country's largest military installations and where Cavazos was stationed in 1953, be renamed in honor of the late General Cavazos. Fort Hood was officially renamed Fort Cavazos on May 9, 2023.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Lauro F. Cavazos Family Reference File
Richard Edward Cavazos Reference File

See also:
"Richard E. Cavazos", National Museum of the United States Army
Joel Hernandez, "Fort Hood Should Be Renamed After The 1st Hispanic 4-Star General, Lawmakers Say", NPR, September 15, 2021
Joel Hernandez, "Army base Fort Hood is renamed for Hispanic 4-star general Richard Cavazos", NPR, May 9, 2023
April Rubin, "Fort Hood Gets a New Name: Fort Cavazos", The New York Times, May 9, 2023

Abner Euresti grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and is the second oldest of seven children. A native Spanish speaker, his childhood dream was to master the English language and attend Texas Tech University. In order to make that dream a reality, Abner and his older brother would often work in farm fields to save up for tuition and prioritized learning English. He faced a lot of prejudice during his time in school, as many people looked down on the Spanish language. However, he continued to work hard and discovered he had a proficiency in writing while attending Lubbock High School.

Support and encouragement from his high school journalism teacher prompted Abner to decide on pursuing journalism in college. During his time at Tech, Abner focused on broadcast journalism and graduated with a degree in telecommunications in 1974. He became an intern for KCBD and was eventually hired as a full-time staff member. In 1979, Abner became a part-time anchorman. He was promoted to full-time anchorman in 1980 and was paired with Karin McCay, who would become his longtime co-anchor and close friend.

Euresti has remained with KCBD for his entire career, spanning close to 50 years of news gathering experience. He has received numerous awards and recognitions from the Texas State Teachers Association, the Association of Texas Professional Educators, the Texas Parent Teacher Association, and the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Division. Abner dedicates a lot of his time advocating for the Children’s Miracle Network, education, and at-risk students. Abner was the commencement speaker for the December 15-16, 2017, Texas Tech graduation ceremonies.

Recognized as the longest running news anchor team in the United States, Euresti and McCay were 2009 Silver Circle inductees for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Abner Euresti Reference File

Born in 1949 in San Angelo, Texas, Tina Fuentes knew from a young age that art was her calling. She, accordingly, channeled her passion, strength, and understanding of the fundamentals of composition, perspective, and color into a becoming a nationally recognized multi-media artist. She earned a B.F.A. degree in 1973 and an M.F.A. degree in 1975 from North Texas State University. Tina specializes in the areas of painting, drawing and printmaking. Since 1982, her work has been featured in a large number of one-woman and multi-artist exhibitions, as well as a documentary film, El Arte de Tina Fuentes, that was broadcast on PBS.

Her versatility and driven mentality has resulted in her being selected as an exhibition juror and being appointed to several arts organization boards and programs. She has received several artist-in-residence awards, faculty awards, and research grants, with the most recent being a sizable National Science Foundation collaborative grant with Atmospheric Science Professor Eric Bruning. Tina also shares her love of art with students through a long and productive teaching career that began in 1972 in the Abilene Independent School District and continues into 2017 at Texas Tech, where she is a tenured professor in the School of Art.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Tina Fuentes Reference File
Christina Fuentes Faculty File, 1986-2017
Tina Fuentes oral history interview [sound recording], 2001
Tina Fuentes oral history interview [sound recording], 2021
KTXT-TV Recordings, 1994-2008 – “El Art De Tina Fuentes” video (2000) and Tina Fuentes interviews (5 recordings), undated
University News and Publications Recordings, 1994-2008 – “Day of the Dead” interview, undated

See also:
Allison Boroda, “Transformations through Art and Science,” Ampersand, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Fall and Winter, 2015: 5-9
Kippra D. Hopper and Laurie J. Churchill, Art of West Texas Women, Texas Tech University Press, 2010

Lubbock native Christy Martinez-Garcia was a McNair Scholar at Texas Tech. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and Marketing in 1997, she began her career as a public information officer for the City of Lubbock and took graduate courses at Tech and Wayland Baptist University. Relocating to Washington D.C., Christy worked as Assistant Director of Public Information for the National Council of La Raza.

In 2006, she returned to Lubbock and founded Latino Lubbock Magazine, which celebrated its 17th year in publication in January 2023. She is also founder and president of the West Texas regional nonprofit organization, Los Hermanos Familia. Her many service commitments include being a board member of the National Association of Hispanic Publications, leading the effort to rename North Avenue U to Cesar E. Chavez Drive, and authoring narrative for two historical state markers in Lubbock. She has appeared on several segments of KLBK TV’s “Trends & Friends.”

Her professional and community contributions have been recognized through many awards, including 2009 Women in Small Business Champion from the SBA Northwest, the 2014 Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains Women of Distinction Award, the 2017 Senator Robert L. Duncan Community Champion Award, and the 2019 Latina Publisher of the Year by the NAHP. Christy was sworn in as the District 1, City of Lubbock Council representative on May 17, 2022. Her council election made her part of the first majority-female council in the city’s history.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Christy Martinez-Garcia Reference File
Christy Martinez-Garcia oral history interview [sound recording], 2022

See also:
Christy Martinez-Garcia, City Council District 1, 2022
Christy Martinez-Garcia oral history interview [video recording] with Acuña-Gurrola, Moisés and Martinez-Garcia, June 14, 2016
Alex Driggars, "First Majority-Female Lubbock City Council Makes History", May 21, 2022
Sara Self-Walbrick, "Conversations with Candidates: Christy Martinez Garcia for Lubbock City Council District 1 ," April 25, 2022

Anita Carmona Harrison was born on February 17, 1944, in the Guadalupe neighborhood of Lubbock, Texas. Following a tour of the Texas Tech campus with her second grade teacher, Mrs. Billie Everton, young Anita decided she wanted to attend and started a piggy bank fund. In the fall of 1963 she enrolled at Texas Tech, where she worked in the library, tutored geology students and made the Dean’s List. Of her college years she fondly recalls “meeting people from diverse backgrounds,” hanging out with friends in the SUB, and being taught once again by Dr. Everton, who had by now become a professor at Texas Tech.

In 1967 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education, went on to teach bilingual kindergarten classes and, in 1969, helped develop Lubbock ISD’s first Curriculum Guide for Bilingual Kindergarten. She continued to teach elementary school while raising two daughters and, in 1999, she retired from LISD after almost 30 years from public teaching.

Anita is recognized as the first Lubbock-born Latina to attend Lubbock schools from K-12, attend all undergraduate years at Texas Tech and successfully graduate. She grew up in a very tight knit family and has proudly shared stories of her childhood, family and community over the years with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and Latino Lubbock magazine. She continued to contribute to her community through volunteer work at Covenant SurgiCenter, Hope House, and serving on the city’s library board.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Anita Carmona Harrison short self-biography from “First Texas Tech Los Tertulianos Hispanic Alumni Reunion” booklet, November 13-14, 2009
Anita Carmona Harrison oral history interview [sound recording], 2009

See also:
Anita Carmona Harrison, “Anita’s barrio memories: my college graduation.” Latino Lubbock, June 2008
Ray Westbrook, “LISD teacher the first local Hispanic to attend only Lubbock schools.” Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, February 1, 2010

Ginger Kerrick was born on November 28, 1969, in El Paso, Texas, and spent her youth there dreaming of a future career in space and athletics. A knee injury early in her college years led her to focus full-time on her science education. She transferred to Texas Tech with the help of scholarships and student job opportunities procured by Dr. Walter Borst of the Physics Department. From Texas Tech Ginger earned her bachelor’s of science degree in 1991 and her master’s of science degree in 1993, both in the field of physics. An internship with the Johnson Space Center got her foot in the door. Her dogged determination to gain full-time employment with NASA proved successful, despite a hiring freeze and disqualification from the astronaut interview process due to a health issue. Employed for over two decades with NASA, Ginger has held multiple positions, most notably being selected as the first non-astronaut capsule communicator in 2001 and as a flight director in 2005, making her the first Hispanic female to hold that position. Ginger continued her association with Texas Tech through teaching in the STEM-MBA program in the Rawls College of Business and as a guest speaker in Kent Hance’s senior seminar course. She was also the TTU commencement speaker in December 2010.

The accolades continue to pour in for the former Texas Tech graduate. She received the Texas Executive Women’s 2011 Women on the Move award and in 2016 she was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in the area of STEM. Through her many speaking and teaching engagements Ginger serves as an inspiration to others dreaming of a career in space exploration and science. After 30 years of service, Kerrick retired from NASA in September 2021.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Ginger Kerrick Reference File
Ginger Kerrick oral history interview [sound recording], 2016

See also:
Emily Gardner, NASA Flight Director Discusses Leadership at Women's Institute Luncheon. Texas Tech Today, March 27, 2015
John Davis, Alumna Considers Space Career a Mission Accomplished. Texas Tech Today, January 7, 2009

Maria Rivas Maria Salas was born on June 27, 1943 in Pecos, Texas and raised by a single mom along with her five siblings in a one-room house. At the age of 1 year and 2 months, she was stricken with polio but eventually recovered enough to walk and graduate from Pecos High School as the first Mexican American Valedictorian in spite of being a student who only spoke Spanish when she started school. Upon learning that Maria could not afford to go to college, Mr. Kelly, the Principal, and others were able to secure financial support and housing for Maria to enroll at Texas Technological College in the fall of 1962. She was part of a group of Hispanics that started the first Hispanic student organization, Los Tertulianos. Maria graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Education in 1966.

In 1967, Maria Rivas, now a single mom, was hired by Lubbock public schools. While a student and now as a teacher, Rivas concluded that students who do not speak English struggle to learn in an English only classroom and eventually drop out of school. In 1969, she and three other teachers were hired by LISD to teach in the first phase of the Bilingual Program, Bilingual Kindergarten. It was obvious to her that the students were more successful when taught the essentials in their native language while learning English as a Second Language.

In 1971, Rivas was hired by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory to train paraprofessionals to implement a Bilingual Early Childhood program for 3, 4, and 5 year old migrant children. She earned her M.S. from Antioch College in 1975 and her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 1978. She was an assistant instructor and coordinator of the Bilingual Education program. Upon completion of her Ph.D., she was a Lecturer at the University of Texas at El Paso from 1979 - fall of 1980 and in the Spring of 1981, she was an Assistant Professor at Southwest Texas State University until 1983. In the Fall of 1983 when Texas Tech hired her as Assistant Professor, Maria served as Coordinator of the Bilingual Program. A strong advocate for Bilingual Education, she was involved in the Texas Association for Bilingual Education, served as president and coordinated the organization's 1990 very successful state convention held in Lubbock. In addition, she served in various local organizations and coordinated the first reunion of "Los Tertulianos" in Lubbock.

In 1984, Rivas married Dr. James "Jim" Goss, an anthropology professor at Texas Tech. Rivas is proud of her Texas Tech roots and her accomplishments. Her son, Dr. Sammy Rivas, is a Lubbock surgeon. She retired in 1990.

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Maria Rivas oral history interview [sound recording], 2010

Related collections within the University Archives and the Southwest Collection holdings:
Maria Rivas faculty File, 1983-1986
Maria Rivas short self-biography from “First Texas Tech Los Tertulianos Hispanic Alumni Reunion,” November 13-14, 2009

Back to the University Archives' Texas Tech History Pages

Quick Search: TTU

Southwest Collection
Site Resources