Shasta's Awake: The University of Houston

UH Cougar game at Robertson Stadium. (University of Houston Athletics). FAIR USE: I'm only using this photo because it is relevant to the subject that I'm posting about, NOT to obtain profit.

Two and a half years into my collegiate career (counting the years I did dual credit in high school), I started at the University of Houston to major in architecture -- also known as, "that other big school in Texas", "Cougar Fucking High", "the college for students that couldn't afford Texas or Texas A&M", "the largest commuter school in Texas", and other derogatory nicknames that have been uttered ever since the school was founded in 1927. The school at the time was in the middle of transition -- Dr. Renu Khator became Chancellor and thus chief executive of the University of Houston that January with the stated of goal of elevating the University of Houston to tier-one status and developing a national relevant athletic department. Needless to say, it was a campaign that most non-Cougar supporters cared for or even blew off; I don't even have to mention what the vast majority of the alumni did.

For years, and even to some degree now, the University of Houston has not had much of a reputation here locally. Many are going to watch a Longhorns game or an Aggies game before they would watch a Cougar game. Many won't shut up about the glory of attending Texas or Texas A&M, yet, they'll only utter two condescending sentences about the University of Houston. But up to the last few years heading into Khator-era University of Houston, that's the reputation that the school garnered because of decades long  complacency: the University of Houston will provide you a degree because you need one, athletics whenever you are bored, and the opportunity to live at home because you can't afford to live on campus in Austin and College Station, much less anywhere else.

By the time Dr. Khator marks four years being head of the University of Houston, she has managed to be the catalyst for an improvement in the academic system that has put the University of Houston into Carnegie's top 50 national school rankings, finally bringing the school tier-one recognition. I would imagine that US News & World Report's elevation in rankings for the University of Houston will follow in 2012. Athletic director Mack Rhoades, along with Cougars head football coach Kevin Sumlin and head basketball coach James Dickey, have returned Cougar athletics to national conversation for the first time since Bill Yeoman and Guy V. Lewis, respectively. In fact, the University of Houston has even scored at Big East Conference invite. New school buildings are being constructed. It's now fashionable to live on campus. School spirit is contagious. Believe it or not, people are proud that they attend the University of Houston.

Indeed, the University of Houston has a long way to go. Its endowment, across the entire system, only barely squeaks past half a billion, compared to over $14 billion for the University of Texas and $5 billion for Texas A&M University. However, that is expected -- Texas and Texas A&M have a widespread appeal that comes with being founded in 1883 and 1871, respectively, and it undeniably hard and nearly impossible for a school like the University of Houston that's not even a hundred years old to reach. But, at the same time, it is not the University of Houston's intention to be an alternative to Texas and Texas A&M; the school intends to be a school of its own, with its own appeal. The school wants you to attend the University of Houston because it is the University of Houston -- a primary choice instead of a remedial choice.

Dr. Khator's generation of students, and I mean this for the students that were here in 2008 whenever she took over, are going to be the ones that pay the school the most dividends later on. We will be the alumni that will be donating to the school. We will be the ones that will be the boosters for the athletic departments. We will be the ones that will say, with pride, that we attended the University of Houston.

It's nothing short of amazing to see the transformation of this school in such short time. If you are a former University of Houston student and you haven't been on the campus in years, take some time, any time, and just walk through the campus. I promise that you will be in awe. While like I said, the school has a long road ahead to lead it from the abyss of being "just that other big school in Texas", the University of Houston is off to a hell of a start. Count me as one of its biggest supporters and I will be a big supporter, even after I graduate from here.