April May June 13

Volume LXVIII Number 4
April/May/June 2013
The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

April/May/June 2013 - Volume LXVIII Number 4
In this quarters TACT newsletter...

Page 3 Presidents Letter
by Peter Hugill
TACT Board of Directors 2013-2014 President Cindy Simpson Houston Baptist University Past President Peter Hugill Texas A&M University VP of Financial Affairs Matthew Capps Midwestern State University VP of Membership Stacey Bumstead Lamar University VP of Legislative Affairs Mary Jo Garcia Biggs Texas State University Directors At Large Gary Coulton University of Texas San Antonio Elizabeth Lewandowski Midwestern State University Debra Price Sam Houston State University W. Allen Martin University of Texas at Tyler Donna Cox Sam Houston State University Executive Director Chuck Hempstead (512) 873-7404
Page 5 Incoming Presidents Message

by Cindy Simpson
Page 6 Executive Directors Report

by Chuck Hempstead
Page 8 TACT Summer Meeting Page 9 Shooting Wars and Cultural Wars: The Battle of San Jacinto Page 14 Una Voc; One Voice Page 18 Membership
TACT
Copyright 2013 by the Texas Association of College Teachers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced in any form without permission; Chuck Hempstead, Editor.
Texas Association of College Teachers 5750 Balcones Dr., Suite 201 Austin, Texas 78731 tact@bizaustin.rr.com [p] (512) 419-9275 f] (512) 873-7423
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Cover Page Index The Presidents Column Incoming Presidents Message The Executive Directors Report

Texas Association of College Teachers
Defending Academic Freedom
Presidents Letter
by Peter Hugill TACT President
TACT Presidents Column, June 1, 2013
TACT Summer Meeting Shooting Wars and Culture Wars Una Voz, One Voice GRF Contributors Membership
Fellow TACT members, this is my last column as President. I would like to thank you all for your continued support, financial and otherwise, as well as encourage you both to continue that support and do your best to persuade your colleagues to join us. Until I began to visit Austin regularly to lobby our elected representatives as your President I didnt really realize just how crucial that lobbying is. Although its hard to tell precisely what we have been able to accomplish over the past several years I believe we have done a lot, most specifically in, thus far at least, preventing the passage of guns on campus and in stalling somewhat the agenda of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). These issues are by no means interlinked, but both are important to faculty and have therefore been the highest on our agenda at TACT alongside the usual bread and butter issues of Texas Grants, retirement contributions and the like. Although I dont wish to reduce what we do at TACT to anything like a single issue, there is no question that the guns on campus issue has, above all else, been THE issue that most concerns faculty in the State of Texas. At my own university, Texas A&M, over eighty percent of the entire faculty, when polled by the Faculty Senate, expressed opposition to guns on campus, with more than ten percent having no opinion and less than ten percent supportive. Given the relatively conservative nature of my colleagues I suspect that, on other campuses, opposition would likely be higher. And when I talk to my conservative colleagues many will tell me that while they themselves have concealed carry permits they regard this legislation as ill conceived and, in fact, dangerous to faculty and students. TACT has done its best to carry such a message to our representatives in Austin.
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The problems posed by the TPPF are a different matter, and probably much more serious in the long run, however emotive the guns on campus issue may be for faculty. As Im sure many of you are aware the problem we have in Texas is that our politics are being dominated by a group of politicians that seem have gone far beyond any reasonable definition of conservative. This group is pushing a radical agenda via such organizations as the Texas Public Policy Foundation and their influence on Governor Perry. They are radical in such areas as believing that the only real measure of faculty work should be how many students we teach and how positively those students evaluate us on the simplest of evaluation instruments. This
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Presidents Letter (cont.)

group views education in almost purely instrumental , job-training terms. It believes, for example, that the Federal Government should have no role in research and that the only research we should do ought to be sponsored by private interests. They have also consistently argued against teaching the humanities. Through their influence on Perry the TPPF has been able to get several of their members and followers appointed to the Boards of the States universities, with their prime targets TAMU and, currently, the University of Texas. At TAMU the replacement of Chancellor McKinney, who was very clearly their creature, with Chancellor Sharp, who is not, has somewhat ameliorated the problem. Former Chancellor McKinney enjoys the dubious distinction of being the only TAMU administrator ever to be censured by the Faculty Senate and by an overwhelming majority of the entire TAMU faculty for his toeing the TPPF line. Even so, the TPPF has not gone away, and if they are successful at UT and TAMU you can be sure that their agenda will widen to encompass the entire state. Currently, much of the tension that UT is experiencing, especially the attacks on President Powers, is coming from this radical group. It seems clear that, within Austin, there is considerable tension between the radical wing of politicians being influenced by the TPPF and a more responsible group that is well aware that the continuing success of a complex higher education is central to the continuing development and success of the States economy. TACT is committed to doing its best to influence the latter to continue to resist the destructive impulses of the radical element. The issue of guns on campus is less easily isolated. Most Republicans and some Democrats are convinced, or have allowed themselves to be persuaded, that having armed students on campus would be a good idea. We have done our best to persuade them that the data do not in any way support their belief that campuses are dangerous placesthey are in fact the safest large communities in America from gun violence. But most continue to respond not to reason but to emotion and ideology. Our friends and colleagues from the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors have, however, been able to insert opposition to guns on campus into the Democratic Party platform and we have seen substantial support in the just finished session from Senators such as Kirk Watson. This issue will almost certainly come back in the forthcoming special sessionLieutenant Governor Dewhurst has said as much. In a special session guns on campus could easily pass, and I can only encourage all TACT members to personally contact their representatives to express their opinion. Once again, thank you for the opportunity to serve you. I leave TACT in capable hands.
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Defending Academic Freedom Incoming Presidents Message
by Cindy Simpson TACT President
Dear Fellow TACT Members, As we enter our summer break, I want to take the opportunity to reflect upon the past, contemplate the present and plan for the future but, not necessarily in that order. First, I would like to introduce myself. I currently serve as the Dean of the School of Education and Behavior Sciences at Houston Baptist University. I am excited at the prospect of serving as President of the Texas Association of College Teachers. I am a long serving member of the organization and hope to continue the legacy established by my predecessor. The past legislative session has been very active for higher education. It appears that efforts towards stopping the legislation that would allow for guns on campus have been successful, at least for the time being. Two bills were filed, but the movement of the legislation seems to have stopped at the regular session. However, they will likely re-emerge in the special session. Funding for the Hazelwood Act seems to be moving through the legislature. As of May 10th, the bill moved from the House to the Senate and currently resides in the Senate Higher Education Committee. It is still unclear as to what extent institutions of higher education may be reimbursed, but anything has to be better that what was previously provided. I want to applaud the efforts of Chuck, and our own TACT members, including several other Board members, in their continual lobbying of the legislature. Looking forward, we are planning for a great fall conference October 26-27th. Lastly, I want to thank Peter for his leadership this past year and extend a warm welcome to our newest TACT board members. Cindy Simpson
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Executive Directors Report

by Chuck Hempstead TACT Executive Director
Legislature gone and back
When the first special session was convened an hour after adjournment of the 83rd Regular, the best quip was, Damn, that was just a one-drink Interim. With that in mind, the following observations are intended to be first reactions rather than a contemplated analysis. In other words, everything is subject to change. Guns on Campus Like the past several sessions, legislation allowing holders of concealed handgun permits to bring weapons into classrooms seemed like a slam dunk. Second Amendment groups, limited government intrusion groups, state officials and legislative leaders expressed support. More importantly, bill authors lined up a majority of co-sponsors. TACT again regularly expressed opposition, and they magically got caught up in the end-of-session bill massacre. As promised by the supporters, the issue is back in the special session as SB 9 by Birdwell, and HB 19 by Fletcher, if the Governor opens his call to include it. TEXAS Grant - TACT has always been a vocal advocate for TEXAS Grant, the states primary scholarship program. The program took a big hit last session as appropriations were slashed, but enjoyed a 25 percent increase this time. Everyone still admits that its not enough for the number of qualified, financially needy students, but it reversed the negative trend. Teacher Retirement System Some TACT members are vigilant that TRS not morph into a defined contribution plan, as the private sector has largely done, and that again did not gain traction. SB 1458, by Duncan, assures continued actuarial soundness of the defined contribution plan and permitting a cost of living increase for retirees by annually ratcheting up the percentage of salary contribution by active members (6.4% rises to 7.7% in FY 2017). It also increases the contributions by employers and increases the age of full retirement benefits for those not yet 50 years old. Higher Ed Funding/Faculty Salaries As TACT reiterates, because of the block grant type funding of universities, there is little to do at the legislative level but ask for higher state appropriations, which was accomplished this time to the tune of 4.4 percent, or two-thirds of a billion dollars. We pointed out that following cuts two years ago, Texas faculty lost ground to the average of the other top ten most populous states. It is now up to the faculty at the campus level to be involved with their budgeting process to assure that some of this new money goes to salaries.
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Executive Directors Report (cont.)

their budgeting process to assure that some of this new money goes to salaries.
Cover Page Index The Presidents Column Incoming Presidents Message The Executive Directors Report TACT Summer Meeting Shooting Wars and Culture Wars Una Voz, One Voice GRF Contributors Membership
Outcomes Based Funding - TACT has expressed its concern to the Commissioner and Legislature about the equitable implementation of funding universities after they perform against quantifiable target measures. Surprisingly, it did not pass muster but may be revisited during the special. Hazelwood Act - Providing free higher education to veterans and their beneficiaries had grown to a significant unfunded mandate. Additionally, the cast was not evenly distributed among institutions. The Appropriations Act added money to reduce that expense. TACT will remain involved during this and any future special sessions to advocate for the betterment of your working conditions, and we appreciate you continuing your communications with your local legislators to keep higher education on the top of their minds compared to the many other demands for state resources.
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TACT Annual Summer Meeting Austin, TX June 2013
TACT Board Members in attendence were, (from left to right): Gary Coulton, Debra Price, Chad Rose, Mary Jo Garcia Biggs, Cindy Simpson, Peter Hugill, and Stacey Bumstead.
Passing of The Gavel from Past to Incoming Presidents Peter Hugill and Cindy Simpson. Peter receives a new automobile from TACT in appreciation of all the miles put on his old one in service of the association. Thank you Peter!
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Shooting Wars and Culture Wars: The Battle of San Jacinto and the New history
by Greg Cantrell
Erma and Ralph Lowe Chair in Texas History, TCU On the occasion of celebrating San Jacinto Day April 21, 2013
In January 2013, a study by a group called the National Association of Scholars stirred quite a controversy among those of us who teach history in the state of Texas. The study analyzed the content of freshman and sophomore history courses at Texas A&M and the University of Texas and concluded [and Im quoting]: that all too often the course readings gave strong emphasis to race, class, or gender social (RCG) history, an emphasis so strong that it diminished the attention given to other subjects in American history (such as military, diplomatic, religious, intellectual history). The result is that these institutions frequently offered students a less-than-comprehensive picture of U.S. history. (Recasting History, p.5) Now, Im not here today to praise or criticize this report, to debate its accuracy, or assess its methodology. But it made me think about the subject that I would like to discuss today, and that subject is the relationship of historians to the general public, and the relationship of the academic study of history to the popular memory of events like the Battle of San Jacinto. Whatever you may think of it, the National Association of Scholars report was certainly right in identifying race, class, and gender as three areas of study that are popular among academic historians today. The roots of this trend can be traced back to the 1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement, the womens movement, and the rise of the counterculture led historians to begin doing what was then called the new social history, that is, the study of common people and of historically neglected groups like women, African Americans, and other minorities. By the end of the twentieth century, the new social history had gone mainstream, and those university historians who researched and wrote traditional histories of battles and military commanders were often considered by their colleagues stodgy and behind-the-times. Its no surprise that works of traditional history that appear on the New York Times bestseller list are often written by non-academic writers. Ask most Americans to name a historian today, and youre likely to get names like John Meacham, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David McCulloch, and even Bill OReilly, but only occasionally the name of someone with a PhD and a university faculty appointment. An event like this afternoons brings together these two different worlds of history-the academic and the popular. Most of us are gathered here today for two reasons: Certainly, we love history. But truth be told, we could probably learn more history spending several hours with the latest scholarly book on the Texas revolution than by driving out here, parking our cars, waiting around for the program to begin, listening to the ceremonies, and then finding our way back home when its all over.
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Shooting Wars (cont.)

No, we came here because we have an emotional attachment to the glory and romance of the Texas Revolution, we admire the heroism of the men who fought here, some of us wish to honor ancestors, and in some way we want to relive it all by being here and imagining what it was like at 3:30 p.m. on that warm April day when Sam Houston gave the order to advance. There is nothing wrong with commemoration. We need heroes. The memory of events like the Battle of Jacinto is a part of the important glue that creates our common identity as Texans and binds us to one another. Solemn ceremonies like this one today are fitting and proper. But commemoration is not the business of historians. Our role is more mundane. It is to find out what really happened, and more importantly, to analyze it, to explain why it happened and what its meaning and importance are. In my line of work, I hear the word revisionist a lot, and usually its not employed kindly. Youre engaging in revisionist history is a charge hurled by politicians at one another, when one guy thinks the other guy has made up new facts to support his case. When leveled at a historian, the charge of revisionism usually is intended to suggest that the historian has maliciously tried to sully the reputation of a venerated hero by exposing his flaws or errors. But historians understand the term differently than do most of the public, using it simply to indicate that someone has uncovered new facts, or interpreted the known facts in a new way. To the professional historian, all history is revisionist, or else thered be no point in writing it. Which leads me back to the Battle of San Jacinto. After nearly two centuries of study, we know a lot about what happened here on April 21, 1836. Is there more we can learn about the events themselves--about, say, exactly where Houstons first horse was shot from beneath him, or why the Mexicans failed to post pickets that wouldve alerted them to the Texan advance? Sure. New records occasionally come to light, or smart people put together the known ones in ways that answer old questions. But what historians mainly have to offer after 177 years are new questions, new ways of looking at things. And here is where I would argue that the new approaches developed by historians in the past 25 or 30 yearsapproaches that include that unholy trio of race, class, and gendercan actually not only tell us a great deal about the battle and its significance but help keep what happened here relevant to todays generation of Texans and to generations to come. Ill offer just a few examples. Histories of the Texas Revolution written a generation or more ago focused almost entirely on the Anglo males who fought on the Texan side--and mostly on the officers. But relatively recent advancements in our understanding of race in the nineteenth century are now shedding all sorts of new light on events like San Jacinto. To what extent did the leaders of the Texan cause see the Revolution as a conflict
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between white and nonwhite races? What understandings about race led Sam Houston to first order Juan Seguin and his Tejano cavalrymen to stay behind and guard the camp, only to relent in the face of Seguins militant insistence that his men be allowed to fight? What calculations had Seguin and other Tejanos made when they cast their lot with the revolutionary movement, and how were those calculations shaped by their own understanding of race? Recent scholarship has demonstrated that race (to use academic jargon) is socially constructed, that is, that it has meant very different things to different people at different times, and that people have often used and molded the concept of race to further their own interests. We know, for example, from the work of Professor Frank de la Teja of Texas State University that some of the Tejanos in the Texas army had grandparents or great-grandparents who were classified as Indians, mulattoes, or mestizos under the Spanish colonial regime, but as their families rose in prominence the government reclassified them as white, even though their skin tone hadnt changed. How might such an experience have shaped Tejanos attitudes toward the Revolution and the society they expected it to produce? Did malleable notions of race lead them to an optimistic belief that, over time, they might be accorded full equality under an independent Texas? The social historians interest in class likewise promises to give us new insights into what happened here in 1836. Starting with the pioneering work of Professor Paul Lack of McMurry University twenty-five years ago and continuing today, historians have begun to dissect the personnel of the Texan army and learn more about them--and I dont just mean the officers. Generations of Texan schoolchildren were taught that the Texans were fighting for freedom from Mexican tyrannyand surely they werebut how many of those soldiers were also poor men whose chances for financial independence back in the United States looked dim compared to the opportunities in an independent Republic of Texas? Indeed, how many of them were recent arrivals, including some indeterminate number of them who had been activeduty U.S. Army soldiers only a few weeks earlier and were still wearing parts of their American army uniforms? It turns outas historians have increasingly realizedthat class and race actually intersected in complicated but important ways in the nineteenth century, and that realization promises to explain much about the motivations of Sam Houstons soldiers. Notions of what it meant to be whitean identity reinforced by the existence of the institution of slaveryshaped the everyday actions of men in ways that we are only beginning to understand. Most of Houstons men were not slaveholders, but most did come from the South; how many of them aspired to the station in lifeto the respect and honorthat the ownership of slaves and a plantation could confer, and that could only be had in a state where racial slavery was legal? Scholars such as Professor Andrew Torget of UNT have asked other questions recently: What role did the booming international cotton economy and the fortunes
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to be made from cotton and slavery play in bringing about the Revolution in the first place? How important were fears of a slave uprisingfears stoked by Mexicos antislavery policies and Santa Annas stated intention to liberate Texas slavesin bringing on the Revolution and motivating the men at San Jacinto? These are questions rarely asked a generation ago, and when they were asked, they were usually dismissed as extraneous to the central questions of freedom and tyranny. And even gender, seemingly the least relevant of modern-day historians preoccupations when it comes to studying battles, promises to enhance the way we understand the 1836 battle. Jeff Dunns recent published essay on the women of San Jacinto focused attention on the Anglo women of the neighborhood, on the soldaderas who were with the Mexican Army of Operations, and on a certain mulatto girl named Emily West, who may or may not have been entertaining el Presidente in his tent that fateful afternoon, but who surely existed and was present at the battleground. But perhaps even more significant, in light of current historiographical trends, is the use of gender as a category of analysis to better understand the mindset of the battles participants. Professor Jimmy Bryan of Lamar University, for example, has examined how Anglo-American notions of what constituted manliness led young men to sign on for military adventures in places like Texas. Sam Houstons soldiers may have been fighting to free Texas from tyranny, but some of them, at least, were also fighting to prove their manhood. What motivated Santa Annas soldiers is less certain, but the innovative current work of Professor Will Fowler of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland suggests that the trauma of San Jacinto and its aftermath played a key role in creating a sense of Mexican national identity for the first time, and therefore that the significance of San Jacinto for the course of Mexican history goes far beyond just the loss of territory. If race, class, and gender, then, are informing recent scholarship on San Jacinto in all sorts of productive ways, so are other ongoing scholarly trends. Ill briefly mention two of them. One is the growing scholarly literature on what is often called collective memory, that is, the study not of what actually happened in the past but rather what a society collectively believes happened and how those beliefs themselves affected peoples actions and attitudes. An example of this is the current research of Professor Sam Haynes of UT-Arlington, who is studying how Americans in the 1830s collectively remembered the American Revolution, and how those memories helped to shape Texans responses to events in Texas. So we learn, for instance, that William Wirts best-selling biography of Patrick Henry, published in 1817, almost certainly provided the inspiration for William Barret Traviss famous Victory or Death letter from the Alamo, and that Houstons men clearly felt themselves laboring under a heavy burden to prove themselves worthy heirs to their parents, who had defeated the British in the American Revolution. (How do you live up to the achievements of the greatest generation?)
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A final trend in todays historical profession that promises new ways of understanding San Jacinto is the new body of scholarship on citizenship. A growing number of historians have focused on the changing meaning of what it meant to be a citizen in the nineteenth century, and at least one of these, Professor Eric Schlereth of UT-Dallas, has applied this analysis to the Texas Revolution. He asks, what constituted allegiance and patriotism in the minds of Americans and Mexicans in the 1830s? Was allegiance, and therefore citizenship, principally a legal doctrine and thus voluntarily transferable, or was it something mystical, a matter of blood and heritage? What did it mean when Americans in the 1820s voluntarily transferred their allegiance from the United States to Mexico, only to turn around in the 1830s and withdraw it from Mexico and transfer it to the Republic of Texas? These are important and fascinating questions (and timely ones at a time when the words path to citizenship are heard on a daily basis), and scholars are hard at work studying them. So, as we are gathered here today to remember what happened here 177 years ago and to pay tribute to the brave men who struggled here, let us also remember that there is still much that we have yet to learn about the Battle of San Jacinto, and much that the Battle of San Jacinto can still teach us about ourselves. The study of race, class, gender, collective memory, and citizenship may all be academic trends that seem, at first glance, designed to make us ignore events like battles, but in fact, I would argue that they hold the promise of giving us a much richer understanding of such events. Indeed, as we speak, some of our finest professional historians are applying these new approaches to the Texas Revolution itself. Our understanding of this battle, like our understanding of all historical events, is constantly evolving. But this should not be a cause for concern, a cause for hysterical demands for more standardized testing or for the revision of college curricula. As we all are well aware, the Texas of today, like it or not, is a very different place than the Texas I was born into in the 1950s. In the 1950s it may have made sense for our understanding of San Jacinto to be focused almost entirely on the heroic exploits of Anglo males like Sam Houston, Thomas Rusk, and Deaf Smith. But in 2013, about 22 percent of Texans are white males like me. Questions of race, gender, and citizenship are central concerns of all of us. For what happened here in 1836 to remain relevant to todays generation and to the generations to come, we need historians to continue to explain those events in ways that will resonate with todays Texans. In the archives, libraries, and halls of our states universities, that work is under way.
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Una Voz, One Voice: Challenges Faced by Latino First-Generation College Students
by Amy Dicke-Bohmann & Nancy Compean-Garcia
Texas A&M University-San Antonio
I come from small community so, you know, that was the big issue--time and money. [Student participant] What challenges face Latino first-generation college students? Two students from Texas A&M University-San Antonio were interviewed while on a trip to a research partnership with the College Station campus. The two students were graduating seniors in the education department, and shared answers to questions about college adjustment asked by their professors. Mayo, Murguia and Padilla (1995), discussed the relationship of social integration and academic performance of minority university students. Latino students are in need of cultural capital which will assist them in the process of academic achievement. However, the authors emphasize that social capital will only benefit Latino university students as they make connections with faculty and fellow students outside of the classroom. The classroom environment gives students an opportunity to interact with faculty nevertheless the research confirms that building relationships outside the classroom is a higher level of learning and teaching for both faculty and students. An example of this type of Informal Social interactions is sharing coffee, or attending extracurricular activities with students. Perhaps it may include attending birthday parties, or visiting students in the hospital, all outside of the classroom. According to Brown, Santiago and Lopez (2003), a large number of Latinos in higher education are also nontraditional students. They are older, work, attend college part-time, and often are also caring for a family all characteristics that influence the decisions Latino students make in participating in and completing higher education. Based on the review of literature of social and cultural capital, we decided to interview two graduating Latino first-generation college students with regard to their experiences at their undergraduate institution. The summary of interview themes is as follows: Balancing school and family, financing their education, and communication with university professors and administrators. The students were also asked about how the university could better support their goal to complete their degrees successfully. The students are identified as Student A, who is male and 32 years old, and Student B, who is female and 28 years old.
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Defending Academic Freedom One Voice (contd.)
Balancing School, Family and Work Balancing school and family was exceptionally problematic for these students because they had to navigate a university setting, based in a mainstream culture, without turning their backs on their familys Latino culture. According to Student A, Challenges that I faced were time, money, and how am I going to support for my family, three kids, wifeshes always taken care of our children. I come from small community so, you know, that was the big issue--time and money. Student B said The challenges also were the time, because I am the wife. When will I contribute to my home if I go to school I have to spend lot of my time doing my home work or assignments? While conducting both interviews, the balancing act was the biggest obstacle mentioned by the graduating seniors. When asked about fellow students from junior college, and why they did not transfer with them to complete a four-year degree, the students also reported that the balancing act was too much for them. For example, Student B reported that they are at a point in the life where they have a family, they buy a new house, they have to work , and they just postpone it. These challenges may not be unique to Latino students, but they are common among non-traditional students. Many of the Latino first-generation college students are non-traditional, as the opportunities for them to afford education were often not available at age 18. Financing their Education Financing education is a huge issue for first-generation college students. Parents who did not attend college might not be saving for their childrens education for many years, as those who did attend college would do. A study by Richard Fry (2002), found that Mexican-origin Latinos have the lowest average household income among the native born at $42,000. Therefore, the social and cultural capital needed to creatively finance college is often not available to Latino first-generation college students. According to Student A, For me the biggest issue was money,because if I get into loan, well government is going to want to get their money back, somebody is going to want their money back, and that, knowing that part, and if I cant get any financial help, maybe, is there is somewhere I can go to that can give me some money management skills? That is something that also would have helped.
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Communication with University Professors and Administrators When asked what did work, and what the university could do for students, much of what the students reported focused on communication. They needed faculty and the university to communicate with them. They discussed not learning enough when they entered college, and how a better orientation would have been helpful, which is mostly communication from the administration. When asked about good things they encountered, they mentioned the librarian helping them to learn to find their sources, and favorite professors who communicated with them, gave them attention, and contributed to an inviting atmosphere. For example, Student B described how
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Defending Academic Freedom One Voice (contd.)
one professor made her feel welcome and helped her achieve success: she was just very nice, very helpful, kind and just providing whatever resources I needed, I would just go, whenever I would go speak with her, she would just understand and provided me the tools necessary for me to complete my assignments In 1988, Change published an article, The Undergraduate Hispanic Experience, which depicted the experiences and voices of Hispanic students in higher education. Students perceptions of TAMU-SA professors regarding communication and support were also shared in the interviews. Student B said, Based on my prior experience when I began I just decided to go there because I wasnt being successful at another university, I just applied and started and the difference between then and now I know that just always maintaining good communications with your professors helps out a lot, and little tid-bits of information such as the research that my professor shared about the advantages of joining a student organization. I now know that this connection will always help me to maintain a higher GPA so if students know this important research as they come in they have an advantage. In conclusion, the success of the Latino first generation college students depended on the universitys ability to give them plenty of attention, communicate with them, work with their schedules, and provide an inviting atmosphere. Because these students are often lacking in the social and cultural capital that other students possess, it is important for the university to step up and provide what is lacking, if the university would like to have a large number of successful first generation Latino graduates. The communication that the students crave can contribute to networking, which is part of social capital, and offer much-needed cultural capital as well. For example, faculty assume that students understand how to use a library when they enter college, but not everyone has the same experiences before entering the university. Faculty often forget that school experiences are supplemented to a great extent by a familys focus on education. If this type of cultural capital is not experienced, students will begin college several steps behind their peers. References Mayo, J. R., Murguia, E., & Padilla, R. V. (1995). Social integration and academic performance among minority university students. Journal of College Student Development, 36(6), 542-552.
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Richard, F. (2002). Latinos in Higher Education: Many Enroll, Few Graduate. www.pewhispanic.org, September. S.E. Brown, D. Santiago, E. Lopez. (2003). Latinos in Higher Education, Today and Tomorrow. http://www.EdExcelencia.org Fiske, E. B. (1988). The Undergraduate Hispanic Experience: A Case of Juggling Two Cultures. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning.
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The James M. Puckett, Ph. D. Government Relations Fund

For over 50 years, TACT has been on the front lines of higher education issues in Texas. The GRF assists TACT with a key component of our mission: communicating TACTs legislative agenda (viewable here) in order to improve Texas higher education. Your voluntary contribution to the GRF allows TACT to present its members agenda to key lawmakers and legislative committees. The GRF is never used for candidate contributions, only for activities that increase awareness of issues concerning faculty statewide. All expenditures are approved in advance by TACTs President, President-Elect and Legislative Committee Chair. Thank you for standing with TACT to improve the quality of higher education in Texas.
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Thank you to the 2012-2013 contributors

Gary Coulton Mary Lynn DeShazo Frank Fair Chuck Hempstead Debby Hopkins-Higham Peter Hugill Harvey D. Johnson Joe Kemble Thomas Lawrence W. A. Martin John Rugh Cindy Simpson Lynn Tatum Pamela Zelbst Barbara Presnall Andrea Williams Debra Price Mary Jo Garcia Biggs
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[p] (512) 419-9275 [f] (512) 873-7423
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TACT
CONTENTS

TACT Membership and EPLI: Renew Today!

In the current climate of uncertainty in Texas system of higher education, its important to have strong advocates. Since 1948, the Texas Association of College Teachers has served university professors in the areas of academic freedom, statistical research, tenure implementation and protection, professional standards, and working conditions. We invite you to take a key career step by becoming a member of TACT today for $158 (which includes professional liability insurance). Your membership in TACT lets your voice be heard beyond your classroom and campus. We vigilantly monitor all agencies that affect faculty members to ensure your interests are represented. Our First Alert emails and quarterly eBulletins provide you with current developments on educational public policy issues, and we are always soliciting articles from you, our members. We also maintain a regular presence at the Capitol, where we lobby policymakers on our your top concerns. All TACT memberships include Educators Professional Liability Insurance (EPLI), which provides up to $2 million in coverage, plus legal fees for damages. EPLI is an important benefit for our members that has proven invaluable over the years. Sign up or renew your TACT membership today! Visit Join TACT or renew over the phone by calling (512) 873-7404.
Contact us!
[p] (512) 419-9275 [f] (512) 873-7423
Visit www.tact.org, and join TACT Today!
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Volume LXVIII Number 4

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

In this quarters TACT newsletter...

Page 5 Incoming Presidents Message

Page 6 Executive Directors Report

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

TACT Presidents Column, June 1, 2013

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

Presidents Letter (cont.)

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

Executive Directors Report

Legislature gone and back

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

Executive Directors Report (cont.)

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

TACT Annual Summer Meeting Austin, TX June 2013

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

Shooting Wars (cont.)

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

Shooting Wars (cont.)

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

Shooting Wars (cont.)

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

Shooting Wars (cont.)

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

The James M. Puckett, Ph. D. Government Relations Fund

Click Here to Contribute

Thank you to the 2012-2013 contributors

The TACT Quarterly eBulletin

TACT Membership and EPLI: Renew Today!

Visit www.tact.org, and join TACT Today!

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