CLASP presentation brings about discussion of UHCL’s past, present and future
Clear Lake Association of Senior Programs (CLASP) hosted an event called UHCL: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Oct. 10 as part of the university’s 45th anniversary celebration. Sponsored by Strategic Partnerships, the event featured four former and current faculty members who shared their stories with the audience.
Jonathan Zophy, professor of history and author of the book “Building a University: A History of the University of Houston-Clear Lake,” moderated the event. Zophy, who joined UHCL in 1988, said early faculty members were “pioneers” during a time when the campus was very small.
“I was taken by the congenial colleagues that were here and then getting to know the students – they have been a delight,” Zophy said. “So it’s kind of the human relationships that keep us going.”
John Gorman, retired professor of literature and the university’s poet laureate (a title which he was given for fun), was one of UHCL’s charter members. Gorman said he was working in Austin in the mid-1970s when he saw that UHCL was hiring four ten-year positions in the field of literature.
“You were free to follow the genius of your motivation and your own discipline,” Gorman said. “You were free to cross into new territory and develop other interests, and to do very stimulating teaching. It was a success from the start in the sense that the people who could use an opportunity like that were the happiest about it in the end.”
Lisa A. Jones, associate professor of multicultural education in the College of Education, first came to UHCL as an adjunct in 1998.
“Someone told me that this [was] such a magical place and that we [were] on the verge of just so much more happening, and I wanted to be part of that,” Jones said. “I’ve seen it grow, and I want to continue to be a part of that.”
College of Science and Engineering Dean Miguel Gonzalez joined UHCL this year. Initially, Gonzalez was motivated to move to Houston to be closer to his daughter but said what truly drove him to join UHCL was the university’s primary mission.
“What really sold me on coming here is the mission of the institution,” Gonzalez said. “The mission that is student-centered, community-minded and partnership-oriented.”
The four presenters shared their unique points of view, their personal accounts and experiences at UHCL, and their individual visions of UHCL’s future as the university continues its evolution.
EDITOR’S NOTE: 11/11/19 – This brief was adapted from a previously published article, which was pulled from The Signal’s website because of inaccuracies in reporting.
