Tatcho Mindiola legacy extends beyond U of Houston

As many of the University of Houston’s most distinguished alums gathered at the Hobby Center in April, Dr. Tatcho Mindiola and his wife Cindy settled in at a small table during the reception. The beloved professor’s table was one of the most popular in a room filled with many of the Bayou City’s power brokers, including the new mayor.

The former director of UH’s  Center for Mexican American and Latino Studies could see his life’s work that night as many former students stopped to say hello and ask to take a picture with him. Even Aggies and Longhorns who were there as guests made sure to visit with a man who should be remembered as one of the most important Latinos in Houston and Texas history.

Mindiola’s contributions to UH and the City of Houston were so great, it’s not enough to describe him as a distinguished professor. Mindiola, who died on Aug. 17 at the age of 85, was one of the most important Houstonians of the last 50 years. 

‘Like a ripple effect’

“I’ve always told (Mindiola) that in the history of our community, I don’t think there has been anyone else, elected or not, who has had a more long-lasting and positive effect on our community,” said former Texas State Rep. Roman Martinez. “I told him it was like a ripple effect. 

“All the hundreds of students he helped and then they in turn made our community stronger. He helped so many in our community reach their goal – their dream of success. He helped them become teachers, authors, engineers, nurses, doctors and politicians – so many things because of what he did for them at UH through his program.”

Former State Rep. Al Luna, State Senator Carol Alvarado, State Rep. Armando Walle, Houston City councilman  Joaquin Martinez, Houston Community College Trustees Eva Loredo and Adriana Tamez, Justice of the Peace Victor Trevino III, and Harris County Department of Education Trustee Richard Cantu are just a few of Mindiola’s former students.

Mindiola’s students are also prominent media figures making a difference and helping open doors for Latinos in media. ABC 13 anchor Mayra Moreno, a former CMAS scholarship winner from Houston’s East End, is the president of Houston’s Association of Hispanic Media Professionals.

On the night Mindiola died, Moreno was handing out scholarships to five local college students during the HAHMP Gala.

“Truly sad time!” Moreno said on X after learning of Mindiola’s passing. “I was a recipient of a CMAS scholarship, and part of the prerequisite was to put in some study hours at that building. He was always there encouraging the students and being the bright light much needed. May he rest in peace!”

Truly a sad time! I was a recipeint of CMAS scholarship and part of the prerequisite was to put in some study hours at the building. He was always there encouraging the students and being a bright light much needed.
May he rest in peace! https://t.co/BKa01mNv2R

— Mayra Moreno ABC13 (@MayraABC13) August 19, 2024

Axios reporter Russell Contreras, the former President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, was also Mindiola’s protege at UH.

“Looks like you’re doing well. … Just remember we discovered you,” Mindiola wrote to Contreras two years ago.

Contreras shared that message on social media site X while paying tribute to Mindiola.

Beloved mentor

“A mentor who encouraged me to pursue journalism and cover the people ‘who are right outside this window in that neighborhood over there.’ RIP, Dr. Mindiola,” Contreras wrote on X.

A mentor who encouraged me to pursue journalism and cover the people 'who are right outside this window in that neighborhood over there.' RIP, Dr Mindiola. pic.twitter.com/cWdqyxNoCe

— Russell Contreras (@RussContreras) August 18, 2024

Martinez was one of the first politicians Tatcho Mindiola lobbied to help fund UH’s Center for Mexican American and Latino Studies. Martinez came through with $20,000 for the program during his first session. Then he added $200,000 in the next session, upsetting the UH president and the school’s continuing education program at the time.

Despite the political wrath on campus, Mindiola remained unapologetic in his commitment to recruit, educate and retain Latino students, mostly Mexican Americans.

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“He not only recruited so many Hispanic students to get a college education, he helped them stay there to finish and graduate through his retention programs,” Martinez recalls.  

Walle encountered Mindiola after his work-study job duties were transferred from the engineering department to CMAS. The CMAS staff helped Walle navigate college while the program helped first-generation college students assimilate.

Building a Latino pipeline to UH

Equally important, CMAS students helped mentor local kids from Austin High so they could apply to UH.

“As my coursework, family responsibilities and personal goals were being accomplished there was a constant man with graying hair that was there to lift you up and challenge you,” Walle says. “A brown man in a nicely ironed shirt and tie who looked like you telling you that you could do it. 

“As I graduated and went into public service and eventually matriculated into law school, Dr. Mindiola was someone we all wanted to emulate. He taught us that being a highly educated brown person had a responsibility to it. A responsibility to give back and bring others with you.”

Walle, who is now in his 16th year in the Texas Legislature, is proud to say he has never lost sight of Mindiola’s advice or mission to help Latino students. 

“My role as member of the House Appropriations Committee has allowed me to steer resources toward UH to do precisely what he encouraged,” Walle says. “I get to help fund programs that allow students to excel and graduate thereby laying an education foundation for generations to come.

“Therefore his legacy will live on. The torch has been passed, but he will be forever remembered as such. I am grateful to have known him and been mentored by him.”

Helping South Texas

Former Texas State Rep. Luna credits Mindiola with helping him when he represented District 143 from 1980-1990. Luna called on Mindiola to testify before the select task force on higher education in the 1980s. 

Luna was the only Mexican American on that committee. Tatcho Mindiola was an important voice behind the scenes and before the committee.

“He was one of the presenters of the committee,” Luna says of Mindiola. “We highlighted how underserved South Texas was in higher education. They had no medical school, no law school, no UT and A&M campuses.”

In part because of Luna’s work and Mindiola’s testimony, the predominantly Latino South Texas region now has a medical school, law school and schools in the University of Texas and A&M systems.

 

“He was very significant because he influenced a lot of people,” Luna says. “It was not only by juggling the Mexican, Chicano and Mexican American experience in Houston.”

Mindiola was born on May 16, 1939, in Houston as the fifth of eight children to Tatcho Mindiola Sr. and Hortencia. He is survived by his wife Cindy, twin daughters Maricela and Maribel, sons Trae and Gilbert, four grandchildren and two brothers.

Part of one of the first Mexican American families in Houston’s Sunset Heights, Mindiola served in the U.S. Army after high school. After his discharge from the Army, he used the GI Bill to attend UH and graduate with a business degree and then a masters degree in Sociology. He also received a PHD at Brown at a time when few Latinos attended Ivy League institutions.

Tatcho Mindiola deserves building at UH

“UH is one of only five top tier research institutions with high Hispanic populations,” Martinez said. “It’s a success for UH, I think, reached only because of the foundation that Tatcho Mindiola built!”

Mindiola’s legacy lives on through his family and his legions of students. As he is laid to rest this weekend, though, it’s time to build another monument to Mindiola on the campus where he spent his professional career.

“I think it’s time all those people in our community he helped and the leadership at the University of Houston to come together and continue to build for the future just like Tatcho did for so many years,” Martinez said. “It’s time we put a building on that campus to house CMAS and have a Hispanic name on it that students can identify with as the best role model possible.

“It’s time for a Tatcho Mindiola Center building on the campus of UH to honor this person who dedicated his life to education and the advancement of our community.”