Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship

CELEBRATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF TEXAS WESTERN'S 1966 NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP -- (House of Representatives - February 28, 2006)

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Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to rise in support of H. Res. 668, a resolution to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA basketball championship.

I am proud to join my colleague and very good friend, the resolution's author, Congressman SILVESTRE REYES from El Paso, in commemorating the 40th anniversary of this watershed event in our struggle for racial equality.

On March 19, 1966, Texas Western College's Coach Don Haskins led an all-black starting lineup to a 72-65 win over an all-white team from the basketball powerhouse, University of Kentucky. For Coach Haskins, he was simply putting his best players on the floor. For the Nation, he delivered the message that in competition, talent and ability mattered more than race. This is a lesson that we are still learning today.

The young men who took Texas Western College to a 28-1 championship season braved racism and hostile crowds to carry their team and their college to victory. I invite you to see this 1966 team photo in front of Memorial Gym, courtesy of the University of Texas El Paso. These champions were Bobby Joe Hill, Orsten Artis, Togo Railey, Willie Worsley, David Palacio, Dick Meyers, Harry Flournoy, Louis Baudoin, Nevil Shed, Jerry Armstrong, Willie Cager, and David Lattin.

It is fitting that on this 40th anniversary of the 1966 Miners breaking the color barrier in the NCAA championship game, that we reflect on how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. College enrollments are at an all-time high; and yet black, Hispanic, and low-income students are not enrolling and graduating at the rates we need for our Nation to put its best players on the floor.

Texas Western College is now the University of Texas El Paso. As an institution, it continues to lead the charge in developing our best talents without regard to race, ethnicity, or family income. The University of Texas El Paso is one of our Nation's leading Hispanic-serving institutions: 72 percent of its students are Hispanic. It is third in the Nation for producing Hispanic undergraduates, and is also rated the top engineering school for Hispanics. Since 1988, it has been led by a Latina, Dr. Diana Natalicio, a top administrator and a trailblazer by anyone's measure.

The University of Texas El Paso, in the spirit of the 1966 championship Miners, continues to break barriers and continues to refuse to let race, ethnicity, or family income trump talent and hard work.

I hope that all my colleagues will join me in celebrating this milestone in college athletics and racial equality.

Please join me in saluting the Miners on the 40th anniversary of their NCAA championship, and I urge you to vote for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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