In 2014, The University of Texas at El Paso will commemorate its 100th anniversary. This website honors the nearly 100,000 students who have earned degrees at the School of Mines and Metallurgy, at Texas Western College and at UTEP — and the community that has supported them through the decades.

UTEP’s success is a testament to the community leaders who collected $50,000 in 1914 to create a school in spite of a world war in Europe and a revolution south of the border. The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy opened that year with 27 students on land that now is part of the Fort Bliss Army post northeast of Downtown.

Two years later, a chemistry explosion and subsequent fire heavily damaged one of the buildings. The fire, a water shortage in the area and a military buildup at the post convinced Dean Stephen Worrell to find another site for the fledgling campus. Local civic leaders donated several acres northwest of Downtown in 1917. That site is the nucleus of the current campus.

In 1919, the Texas Legislature voted to change the school's name to the College of Mines and Metallurgy and make it a branch of UT Austin. Thirty years later, the campus became Texas Western College. The University adopted its current name in 1967.

Today, UTEP is an urban university that serves more than 22,000 students and offers almost 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, with more in development. We welcome you to explore nearly 100 years of Miner memories as we count down to our Centennial!