The cultural melting pot of the hill country

By Andrew Potter

When you think of cultural “melting pots” what comes to mind? Is It the major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago that have found their identities through diversity. A population boom of  1,222 students from 2013 to 2014 has people wondering about the bright future of the rising star of Texas.

Jenah Stephenson

"We take seriously our role in preparing our state's future leader and workforce, and this steady growth tells us that students and their parents feel the same way," said Texas State President Denise M. Trauth in a Texas State News Service press release. 
The Press release said that for the 17th consecutive year, Texas State has broken enrollment records. In terms of diversity the press release stated that minorities now make up 46 percent of the student body as of recent polls taken in Fall, 2014.

Joshua Hinojosa

Jenah Stephenson from Red Oak, Texas went on to say "Yes the university should continue to grow. We need a better way to handle construction, but we should grow. It gives students in and out of state a better opportunity in Texas." 

Students concerns came from the affect the rising population will have on our campuses parking system and registering for classes.
"I would say it has an affect on parking," Joshua Hinojosa also voiced concerns on the difficulty registering for class

Hinojosa stated "not only do you have to wait behind all these people for a class, there is a high chance that you won't even get into the class because of the amount of people who are trying to take it as well."
To accommodate the massive influx of students, the university is obviously going to have to construct more residence halls, dinning halls and academic buildings.

Although Hinojosa is already a student he makes a point to view the construction from a prospective students eyes "I'd be turned off by it (construction) and would not want to be apart of a university that is not complete."  

"We've out grown the library. Rather than add to the library we figured out, about a year ago, to repurpose the Alkek library" said Carl Van Wyatt, the vice president of technology, said in a University Star article

Elisa Alvarado

Other students said similar things to Joshua, while there are countless positives for Texas States expansion, other students see this as a weakness. Students such as Elisa Alvarado do not like the track Texas State is growing. When asked the same question as Jenah, Elisa stated 
"I am extremely biased on the growth of Texas state. I would prefer if it did not increase in growth. I had specifically selected Texas state because  it was a "smaller" school. I had the opportunity to attended UT but I passed on enrollment because I was afraid I would be just another "number" and be lost in the mix."

She also makes a valid point on the correlation between the rise of the student population and the the rise of tuition that inevitably follows.
With the rising enrollment rates, brings a multitude of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences. According to these Texas State Diversity Statistics our university is almost over 50% minority. With this comes more federal funding, Texas State received over four million in funding just this last year as seen in this letter to the student body seen here with Presidents Trauth's letter to the student body.
This Campus is truely living up to its name as "the rising star of Texas" we are rising at record breaking rates. With our athletic programs on the rise, our academic fields becoming more redounded and our diversity attracting top students and scholars, it truly is a great day to be a bobcat