For many of us… 9/11 happened when we were toddlers. For those old enough to remember. They’ll never forget. Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of September 11th. 2,977 people died that day. Attacks like those on 9/11 were shocking… even for the U.S. Military. 

Major Jamaine Williams was stationed at Fort Benning, here in Georgia. He told me how he and his crew members relied on tv news to keep up to date with what was happening. “As the reporters were giving us information up to the minute. We were getting feedback that this was not an accident, it was something catastrophic,” said Williams.

Dr. Dean Cummings also provided insight into what the following weeks were like in America. “Nobody wanted to laugh. It was not the time or place. It was very somber. It took a long time to get over it,” said Cummings.

Dr. Cummings is an associate professor. Who worked in the media industry in 2001. Due to the live nature of the event Cummings believes that’s why it is remembered so vividly. “They hit New York at 9 o’clock in the morning. And everybody saw it live. And that impacted so many people,” said Cummings. 

Following 9/11 the government and American public wanted to ensure that we could not be attacked from within again.

Dr Barry Balleck explained how feelings of vulnerability and uncertainty paved the way for Americans to willingly trade in areas of their privacy for more security. “It was shortly after that we passed the patriot act. Which was incredibly sort of expansive and invasive type of document in terms of surveilling American citizens,” said Balleck.

Major Williams was in the initial deployments into Iraq following 9/11… He still thinks that we have more in common with our neighbors than we are led to believe. “The patriotism, commandery, we may have our differences. But all in all we are here as Americans,” said Williams.

The post 20th Anniversary of September 11th, 2001 appeared first on The George-Anne Media Group.

Editor’s note: This story was published in the Wheel’s first issue on Friday, Sept. 14, 2001, following the events of 9/11. 

College freshman Kelly Chicos awoke to terror Tuesday morning.

There had been explosions, a friend told her. The World Trade Center was on fire. As she shook sleep from her eyes, devastation came into focus. Her father worked as a financial advisor on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center, and she didn’t know where he was.

“I was hysterical,” Chicos said. “I thought my dad was dead.”

For 15 panicked minutes, she made repeated phone calls to her father’s cell phone, until the moment of relief when he finally answered. He was in Philadelphia, her hometown, and was scheduled to return to New York City that very morning. His flight never departed and he was safe. 

“I feel like the luckiest person alive,” Chicos said.

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., luck is relative. Chicos’ initial panic and despair on Tuesday was shared by thousands of Emory students frantic to touch base with loved ones and understand what was happening in the initial hours of the attack.

The first issue of The Wheel after Sept. 11 featured interviews with students in the wake of the attack. (Emory Wheel)

College freshman Rob Shore first heard that the airliners had been hijacked in a morning class. His mom is a flight attendant for United Airlines, and she frequently works on domestic flights like the United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles, which crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center. He didn’t know if she was in the air, on the ground, at home or at risk.

“I was a little freaked out, really scared,” he said. “I ran out of class, ran back to my room. I felt that cold, tingly feeling as I called my dad.”

Like Chicos, Shore was lucky. His mom was supposed to be en route on a flight from London to New York City, but the plane had never left the ground.

He was relieved, but unsettled. “I’m just thinking, ‘What do you do now?’” Shore said Tuesday afternoon as he watched continuing news coverage in the Dobbs University Center. “Something has to be done.”

Students turned to one another for comfort in the early hours of the attack, often openly sobbing in the DUC and other public areas. Dozens formed lines to try to reach family and friends on public telephones until administrators made additional phones available. Many dissected the events of the morning with one another. Others were unable to put words to their terror and watched silently.

“It’s just unreal to watch all of this,” said College freshman Laura White, indicating what was on TV as well as what was happening on campus. White was one of hundreds of students mesmerized by the large TV screen in the DUC Coca-Cola Commons. “Just seeing 200 people standing around here,” she said. “I’m a little bit numb, a little bit in shock.”

College sophomore Anna Scruggs’ eyes filled with tears as she stood in the DUC Tuesday morning. “A guy in my last class has family in [the World Trade Center],” she said. “He watched it collapse on itself. I’m crying for him. I hope everything is OK. To have known someone there, I can’t imagine.

A sign on the front door of Dobbs Hall explained that residents were watching the news together in a common area “just so we have each other,” the sign read. 

College freshman Brian Offen was one of many students who gathered in Dobbs. “We’re all just watching, seeing if anything new has come up,” he said early Tuesday afternoon. 

He said he had been glued to the TV for hours straight. “I’m not going to work today,” Offen said. “It’s hard to focus when there’s a tragedy.”

After Offen heard about the attack from his roommate, he spent more than two hours trying to locate family members who live in Long Island, N.Y.

“All the phones were tied up,” he said. “I just wanted to touch base with them, to see how they’re doing.”

College freshman Justin Karp joined the group in Dobbs. “It’s better to experience things with friends, to share ideas,” said Karp, of New Rochelle, N.Y.

When Karp’s resident advisor woke him in the morning to describe what had happened and ask if Karp’s family was safe, Karp said, “I completely freaked out.”

By Tuesday afternoon, after finding that his loved ones weren’t hurt, Karp’s initial panic turned into a general sadness.

Students seeking answers to why the tragedy happened were able to find some comfort from counselors, who were available starting late Tuesday morning.

By 11:30 a.m., the Student Government Association had begun working with administrators to help develop a response, according to SGA President Anna Manasco. SGA executive members helped coordinate the memorial service in Glenn Memorial Auditorium Tuesday evening, and helped publicize counseling resources. By Wednesday morning, SGA had organized a blood drive in conjunction with the School of Medicine and the Office of Residence Life.

“I think [the tragedy] has shown Emory is a resilient community,” Manasco said. “It’s a human community, and people are grieving for themselves and for others. But at the same time, they are interested in how we can work through this together.”

Manasco and SGA representatives and members of the Emory community at large quickly mobilized to help each other without prompting, likely because they wanted to do something, anything.

More than 2,000 students, faculty and staff gathered on the Quadrangle Sept. 11, 2001 for prayer, songs and a moment to grieve. Some students shared their personal reactions to the crisis. (Stanton M. Paddock, 2001)

College freshman Greg Galant said he understood the desire to be active. “You feel helpless being here in Atlanta with everything going on out there,” said Galant, of Huntington, Long Island.

Galant spent Tuesday afternoon watching news coverage alone in his room in Harris Residence Hall, after mourning with friends earlier in the day. The pictures on TV shocked him, he said. 

“When I saw the World Trade Center fall, my heart just stopped,” he said. “I go into the city a lot. I’m an hour from there, and just returning to New York City without the World Trade center is hard for me.”

He said that he imagines it must be even harder for those who lost friends or family. One of Galant’s hallmates was initially unable to reach a parent who worked in the World Trade Center, he said. “He couldn’t find anything out,” he said. “He tried calling over and over.”

Eventually, the friend heard that his father had taken the day off to go golfing and was safe. “I can’t imagine what that is like, if you had a family member who did work there,” Galant said.

It’s all hard to imagine, Galant said. The horror and destruction. The grief and anger. The hows and whys. The future. 

“It really hit me when I was walking back from the DUC, what had happened to New York and to the country,” he said. “There’s been so much loss of life and property. It’s the type of thing that will change how we live.”

Editor’s note: This story has been edited to omit a quote which may be harmful for some readers.

The post From the archives: Students react to national crisis with disbelief, hope appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

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In just his second collegiate game, freshman running back Alton McCaskill broke out for the UH offense scoring three touchdowns in the Bayou Bucket Classic. | James Schillinger/The Cougar

Freshman running back Alton McCaskill found himself all alone down the left sideline, securing the easiest catch of his young career and strolled 35 yards into the end zone on the Cougars’ first drive. McCaskill’s touchdown perfectly encapsulated UH’s 44-7 clobbering of in-town rival Rice on Saturday night at Rice Stadium to keep the Bayou Bucket in its display case on Cullen Boulevard.

Apart from a second quarter in which the Cougars only managed to pick up three total yards, the UH offense marched up and down the field at will.

In just his second collegiate game, McCaskill established his presence in both the UH pass and run game. Along with his game-opening 35-yard touchdown reception, the freshman scored a pair of second-half touchdowns on the ground.

Junior quarterback Clayton Tune played interception-free football,  going 22-30 for 236 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Tune and sophomore receiver Nathaniel Dell were in sync, connecting whenever a third down conversion was needed.

Senior cornerback and new offensive weapon Marcus Jones hauled in four receptions for 51 yards.

Despite losing junior defensive lineman Sedrick Williams to a broken ankle in the first quarter, Cougars’ defense stifled Luke McCaffrey and the Owls’ offense.

The defensive line consistently pressured McCaffrey, sacking the Rice quarterback three times.

Sophomore safety Hassan Hypolite and junior cornerback Art Green both picked off McCaffrey.

Junior cornerback Alex Hogan put the icing on the cake, picking off McCaffrey and returning it 91 yards to the house as the game clock ran out.

The Cougars’ defense held the Owls to a mere 212 yards on the night.

Backup quarterback Ike Ogbogu picked up some valuable real game experience, as the junior took over the UH offense in the fourth quarter.

With the victory, UH washes out the sour taste of its season-opening collapse and improves to 1-1.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“UH tramples Rice in Bayou Bucket Classic” was originally posted on The Cougar

Miami-Ohio returned starting quarterback Brett Gabbert and he fared better than his backup AJ Mayer in the previous week, yet the Gophers defense was too much for the Redhawks offense early and throughout this contest.

The Minnesota Gophers beat the Miami-Ohio RedHawks 31-26 on Saturday afternoon at Huntington Bank Stadium. 

Miami-Ohio returned starting quarterback Brett Gabbert and he fared better than his backup AJ Mayer in the previous week. The Gophers defense was too much for the Redhawks offense early but Miami got into their groove in the second half, nearly coming back from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat Minnesota.

To start the second quarter, Miami converted on a 46-yard field goal, trailing Minnesota 7-3.

On the next Gophers possession, Tanner Morgan threw a 25-yard dart to Dylan Wright running a post route for a score to increase their lead to 11 over the RedHawks, pulling ahead 14-3.

Daniel Jackson concluded the drive with a six-yard touchdown catch in the left flat to put Minnesota ahead 21-3 at the half.

After starting the second half with a sack on Morgan, Miami made adjustments on the field, bringing in Backup quarterback AJ Mayer, who threw a 26-yard pass to Jack Sorenson and capped off the drive by rushing for a 1-yard touchdown.

The Gophers struggled to create cohesive plays in the third quarter. Potts barely ran for a two-yard first down on a 3rd and 2 and on the next set of downs Wright tripped on turf in the middle of a slant route that would’ve been a sure-fire first down. The Gophers punted for the second straight possession.

Head Coach PJ Fleck attributed dropped balls as the main reason why the Gophers were so sluggish offensively in the third quarter.

The Redhawks offense continued to confuse the Gophers on the next drive. The drive ended with a Redhawks 45-yard field goal. Gophers 21-13.

After a second Minnesota 3-and-out in the third quarter with Miami-Ohio driving in Minnesota territory the 3rd quarter concluded.

In the 4th, Miami scored on a 23-yard strike by Gabbert to Sorenson for a touchdown to make the game 21-19. The RedHawks did not choose to attempt a two-point conversion due to a 5-yard sideline warning penalty, and settled for an extra point, trailing the Gophers just 21-20.

The Gophers’ next possession was the best of the third quarter, with five straight runs by Potts after freshman Mar’Keise “Bucky” Irving ran for a 43-yard kick return to make the game 28-20.

Gabbert next made his first major mishap of the game the next possession throwing a pass that was intercepted by safety Tyler Nubin.

The Gophers turned that turnover into points with a 53-yard kick by Matthew Trickett. This was the first 50+ yard successful kick of Trickett’s career which extended the Gophers lead to 11.

When Trickett walked on the field to attempt the field goal he said he was thinking “God’s got me,” Trickett said. “Trust my training, trust the guys around me and trust the guys up front to not let anybody through.”

Miami-Ohio responded by scoring directly after a 4th down roughing the passer call on Rashad Cheney Jr. that reversed a turnover on downs. An unsuccessful two-point conversion made the game 31-26, the eventual final score thanks Potts, who bulldozed his way for key first downs to prevent another Redhawks touchdown.

Fleck described Pott’s performance as ‘gutsy’ post game. “You don’t know how someone is going to react in that type of situation in that type of game”, Fleck said. “You know what Mo [Ibrahim]is going to do but Mo’s done that for years. Now Trey has shown what he can do.”

Potts didn’t expect to get such a ‘bell cow’ type of role in the backfield. He said, “when your number is called you have to go out and make a play”. Potts finished with 34 carries, 178 yards, 2 TD, and 5.2 yards per carry.

Minnesota will face Colorado in their first road game on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 12 p.m. CST.

Clayton Tune and the UH offense look to have a bounce-back performance Saturday night against Rice in the Bayou Bucket Classic. | Armando Yanez/The Cougar

Looking to bounce back from its season-opening loss to Texas Tech, Houston travels across town to take on Rice in the Bayou Bucket Classic.

Follow along with our live scoring updates throughout the game:

First Quarter (2:19): Houston 17, Rice 0

After an interception by sophomore safety Hasaan Hypolite set the Cougars up in Owls’ territory, UH marched down the field with ease.

Tune found senior wide receiver Jake Herslow in the corner of the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown pass.

First Quarter (5:37): Houston 10, Rice 0

Following Rice’s second consecutive three-and-out, the Cougars drove down deep into the Owls’ territory before the drive stalled out, resulting in a 38-yard field goal by senior kicker Dalton Witherspoon.

First Quarter (10:08): Houston 7, Rice 0

UH started the game driving straight down the field, putting together an eight-play, 84-yard drive capped off when junior quarterback Clayton Tune found freshman running back Alton McCaskill for a 35-yard touchdown pass.

This was McCaskill’s first career collegiate touchdown.

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“Live Score: UH takes on Rice in the Bayou Bucket Classic” was originally posted on The Cougar

An upcoming lecture by Adam Sonstegard, an English professor at Cleveland State University and the most recent winner of the Victor J. Emmett Jr. Memorial Award, is set to help students view a work of classic literature through the eyes of the graphic novel.

On Sept. 16, the 28th annual Victor J. Emmett Memorial Lecture will be held in the Governor’s Room of the Overman Student Center at 8 p.m. This year’s speaker, Sonstegard, will be giving a lecture entitled “A Connecticut Yankee’as an Early Graphic Novel.”

Sonstegard was chosen as the speaker for this installment of the lecture series as recipient of the Victor J. Emmett Jr. Memorial Award, an award which, according to a press release by the PSU English and Modern Languages department, is awarded “each year to the author of the best essay on a literary topic published in ‘The Midwest Quarterly,” a journal of essays and poetry published each quarter by PSU.  The title of Sonstegard’s winning essay was “Outing the Midwestern ‘Bachers’ of Garland’s ‘A Little Norsk.” It was published in the fall 2020 issue of “The Midwest Quarterly.”

Sonstegard’s topic was inspired by his recent studies on visual arts and their bearing on literature.

“For a book and about 20 articles I’ve published, I bring the visual arts to bear on literature I teach from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from the original photographs works discuss to the illustrations artists included, and to the ads and distractions that appeared on the margins for nineteenth-century readers,” Sonstegard said. “I think that returning works to their original contexts and restoring their visual dimensions in their original time periods enlivens literature and sets up our ability to analyze our own publishing contexts today, from print media to e-readers to cinematic and interactive adaptations, as contexts that themselves lend meaning to the literary content.  My publishing and lecturing follow from my teaching approaches, in which I try to get my audiences to profit from both visual and verbal, vocal representations of American literary culture.”

Celia Patterson, chair of the department of English and modern languages said she feels that Sonstegard’s interpretation of the novel might “expand her thoughts” about the large number of images she noticed in the novel during her last reading.

“It’s been a very long time since I read ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court’…but I do remember it having images throughout the text. The fact that there are, I think, eleven film versions of the book testifies to its graphic nature.  I expect to learn a lot about this aspect of the novel from Dr. Sonstegard’s lecture.”

According to the English department press release, both the Victor J. Emmett Jr. Memorial Award and the annual Victor J. Emmett Memorial Lecture are sponsored by the Emmett family, the PSU English department, and The Midwest Quarterly. Both the award and the lecture were created to honor Victor J. Emmett Jr., who was an English professor at PSU for twenty-three years.

Driving on I-95 in the late summer, I feel something tugging me back to College Hill. As I stroll past University Hall, the Rock and the Ratty, I get wistful. Why didn’t I make the most of those undergrad years? What if I knew then what I know now?

More than four decades have passed, but I keep wishing someone had cornered the 18-year-old me and shared wisdom. As classes start for thousands of students at Brown and across the country, I want to offer several bits of advice.

1. Rethink the boundaries of  “campus.” Brown University is your campus, but so is Providence. So is Boston, New York … even Pawtucket. Yes, Pawtucket: I walked through American history one weekend while wandering around the Slater Mill, which flailed in the late 1700s until an immigrant fixed its textile machines. I developed an appreciation for neoclassical architecture by taking off a couple of afternoons to explore the Rhode Island State House (“fourth largest self-supported marble dome in the world!”). And okay, my non-credit music classes came at 2 a.m., watching bands play on the beer-stained floors of Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel.

2. Talk less, listen more. This is my take on Aaron Burr’s quip in “Hamilton”: “Talk less, smile more.” The bigger the difference in your backgrounds, the more you should listen to the other person: 99% of the time, this person can teach you something about society. Or life. Or love.

A corollary: Get to know not just the faculty but the workers who surround you. Listen actively, listen acutely. You’ll be surprised by their experiences and pick up something you’d never be able to find in a classroom.

3. Remember that your education doesn’t stop when you earn a degree. This should take some pressure off students who, like me, feel they need to cram in every class, every club, every opportunity in four years. It took me a while to understand that one goal of a college education is to cultivate lifelong curiosity. Long after that bachelor’s or master’s or Ph.D., you’ll dabble in provocative classes.

A few words about that third pointer: Yes, I loved Brown; I even enjoyed a fellowship at (ugh!) Harvard. But the pinnacle of my education came in South Florida at a cinder block community college, now called Palm Beach State College. After working dayshifts as a newspaper reporter, I studied Spanish at night alongside electricians, plumbers and long-haul truck drivers.

Those language lessons — more than anything I learned on two Ivy League campuses — let me realize my dream. Soon after, I became a foreign correspondent. I spent a decade living in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.

I’m not asking you to hear my advice alone. As I struggled to decide what I would tell the shy, gawky 18-year-old me and as the deadline for this piece neared, I did what any writer does when thinking Really Big Thoughts: I sent out my buddies a slew of texts, emails and WhatsApp messages (this is formally known as “intensive research”).

What, I asked, didn’t we know back when we should’ve known it? The responses flooded in. Brown alums are hardly reserved when it comes to proffering opinions. Once again, I realized that four years on College Hill gave me a gift: A dazzling array of friends, colleagues and empathic strangers who share a connection to Brown.

Here are three pieces of their wisdom, along with their brief biographies:

“Failing a class for the first time in your life may be the best thing that ever happens to you; it will teach you resilience.” — Chris Rebholz ’82, who has an electrical engineering undergrad degree from Brown plus a doctorate in clinical psychology and now works as a clinical and forensic psychologist.

“Set a goal of being able to craft a good essay, write code and author a business plan, even if you are a music major.” — José Estabil ’84 ScB., ’88 ScM, who helps entrepreneurs improve society through Latinos in Bio, MIT Deshpande Center and Harvard Business School Field X.

“For any decision that does not involve your personal safety, say “yes” to the offers you are initially inclined to say “no” to.” — Jonathan Eig ’84, who was about to go to law school when he realized he could not stay awake long enough to get through the readings. So instead, he taught film in Washington, D.C. for 25 years before retiring to pursue his own writing projects.

Now that I write this, I fear that my pointers will seem pointless. My own kids scoff when I utter what I believe are incredibly savvy insights. So, a final bit of advice: As you go to your classes, your clubs, your workouts … look into the future to imagine what guidance you should get from an older version of you.

David L. Marcus traveled the world as a journalist and wrote two books about education, Acceptance and What it Takes to Pull Me Through. He is now senior editorial manager of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program.

“Shang-Chi”’s Box Office Success Signifies Rising Asian Cinema

The record-breaking opening weekend for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” or “Shang-Chi,” garnered the best showing of any Labor Day weekend film ever at $94 million domestically. Within just a few days, according to gross receipts worldwide, it has already made back its $150 million budget.

But beyond this impressive performance, there are many cultural and political implications to the success of this film with an all-Asian cast.

The success is nostalgic, harkening back to Bruce Lee’s Hollywood breakthrough and Jackie Chan’s mainstream U.S. success. We are in a period where age-old stereotypes have finally been overcome, and so we are able to reflect on more sensitive and intersectional issues.

I caught up with my good friend, Filipino American YouTube pop culture commentator Mitch Lozada, who contributed his thoughts on the cultural footprint the movie has already made in just a few days.

We both agreed that the Marvel movie made a concerted effort to avoid stereotypes while tastefully honoring Asian culture with strong character arcs. The writing was so poignant that,   while main leads Simu Liu and Awkwafina both gave strong performances, they could have been replaced and the movie would have stayed as engaging, a testament to the strength of the screenplay. The film also stayed true to Marvel’s branding and to “Shang-Chi”’s comic book origins, which should please most longtime fans.

The first stereotype the movie overcame was in its casting of Awkwafina as a valet driver who actually drove well, instead of making the age-old joke about Asian women and their poor driving.

Stereotypes such as the Asian nerd and the “tiger mom” were also avoided, though homage was paid to the high expectations of Asian fathers. In fact, the story’s focus on the overcompensating father training his son to become an assassin is powerfully Asian.

The film is almost an updated version of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” making “Shang-Chi” the perfect movie to return the martial arts genre into mainstream consciousness. Marrying this with the Marvel superhero format is yet another level of genius. This is manifested in the movie’s good urban sequences and in its incorporation of newer and different styles of fighting, moving it past old Asian movie cliches.

The main character, Shang-Chi, was the focus of the film, and his growth from overcoming his childhood issues to becoming a hero easily put him on par with the rest of the Avengers.

The lack of “woke” lecturing and political commentary also make this movie stand out, and the audience clearly rewarded this with major box office success. Funny how a good story that doesn’t tell you how to think can capture the hearts of millions.

“Shang-Chi”’s success sees the beginning of people returning to theaters, giving confidence that the film industry, which took a major hit during COVID-19, can revive. Labor Day is not typically the top-performing box office weekend, but “Shang-Chi” made 2021 an exception.

There are other atypical firsts for “Shang-Chi.” This is one of the first blockbuster films with a real Asian American lead. This is one of the only Hollywood movies overcoming the typical “invisible” Asian man or the hypersexualized Asian woman stereotypes, simultaneously proving those who question the marketability of Asian males wrong. A movie with a strong Asian male lead can clearly sell just as well as — if not better than — other films.

This movie has revolutionized mainstream Asian films going forward in the U.S. While Asians may be tired of being pinned as martial artists, the superhero component gives “Shang-Chi”’s concept a new twist. “Shang-Chi” honors Asian culture while simultaneously providing range.

After decades of invisibility despite the fame of those such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, leading Asian males have finally come back with a bang.

This is the opportunity for Asian males and for the rest of the Asian community to not fall back into the stereotypical roles Hollywood previously put us in. “Shang-Chi” has not only given us permission to leave the mold, but it has also inspired us to muster up that warrior spirit and conquer the Hollywood frontier formerly closed-off to our community. 

Welcome to a new generation of leading Asian men.

Marc Ang is President of Orange County’s Chinese American Citizens Alliance.

The Daily Californian

Renu Khator called the work the UH administration put in to receive a Big 12 invite a “village effort.” | Andy Yanez/The Cougar

Athletic director Chris Pezman remembers well the day UH was left in the dust when the Southwest Conference dissolved in 1996.

“Wow, that sucks,” he remembered thinking as he sat in the old Fouke Athletic Building.

From that point on, UH made it its mission to get into one of the college athletics’ power conferences. But this proved to be difficult as the lasting effects from Southwest Conference break up forced UH athletics to take a major leap backward, leaving the University and its fans with little hope for the future.

“There’s a lot of scars on a lot of alumni at the University of Houston from what happened in the early ’90s,” Pezman said.

As the Power Five rose to prominence, UH was continuously overlooked and forced to wander the mid-majors while looking for any way to squeeze its foot in the door of one of the autonomous conferences.

Despite many disappointments along the way, the administration stayed the course, believing the day would come when UH finally got the opportunity to gain a foothold in a power conference.

When Renu Khator took over as UH president in 2008, she entered with a simple philosophy.

“I always say dream big,” Khator said. “There’s no point in dreaming small.” 

As a result, the University’s search of finding a more permanent home in a conference allowing UH athletics to compete at the highest level possible ramped up.

“This journey did not start a month ago or a week ago or even five years ago,” Khator said. “This has been in the making for quite some time as our community, fans, boosters, faculty, staff  and students supported investing in athletics.”

Tilman Fertitta furthered the push when he was appointed to the UH System Board of Regents in 2009, believing great rivalries were what made college sports so special and the Cougars just weren’t able to establish a tradition of high-level rivalries in Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference.

Fertitta said he would consider his time on the board a failure and would have not been able to deal with himself if UH didn’t join a Power Five conference under his watch.

When Pezman took over as the UH athletic director in December 2018, his eyes were already set on making Khator and Fertitta’s vision a reality.

A window of opportunity opened for UH over the summer when Texas and Oklahoma announced their intentions to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC by 2025.

Khator, Pezman and Fertitta thought openings in the Big 12 presented a chance for UH to finally realize its long-awaited dream of joining a power conference.

“Trust me when I say we fired every bullet,” Pezman said. “This was not an opportunity we were going to allow to pass us by.”

Together, the three worked tirelessly behind the scenes, paving the way for UH to be in the best position to receive an invitation to join the Big 12. 

The Big 12 could not pass up on an opportunity to extend an invitation to UH, knowing the school’s rich history of athletics and the market Houston would bring to the conference, especially in football.

“There isn’t a question that the Cougars raise the bar in every sport and in every way,” said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby. “They live and reside in arguably the best recruiting county in the United States for football.”

Baylor, Texas Tech and TCU, the Big 12’s other Texas schools, were all on board with adding UH to the conference and excited for the in-state rivalries across a variety of sports that will ensue.

“There was no reservations on behalf of (the other Big 12) Texas institutions,” said Texas Tech president and Big 12 board chair Lawrence Schovanec. “We saw this as strengthening the state of collegiate athletics in the state of Texas as well as it being a benefit to the league as a whole.”

Sept. 10 marks a historic day for UH, signifying everything the University has gone through the past 25 years has been worth it, Khator said.

But joining the Big 12 is not UH’s end all be all, rather Pezman believes this is just the beginning of greater things to come.

“We’re not backing into this,” Pezman said. “We’re running into this. We’re going there to win across the board.”

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Staying the course: UH and its journey to the Big 12” was originally posted on The Cougar