We applaud Rio GrandeValley natives Juliet V. Garcia and Raul Yzaguirre, who were among the first group to receive our nation’s highest civilian honor from President Joe Biden. Biden bestowed the award upon Garcia, Yzaguirre and 15 others during a July 7 ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
The two certainly deserve the award, which is given for “especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” The administration noted that they exemplified the power of possibility and overcoming obstacles to reach impressive accomplishments through hard work, perseverance and faith.
Garcia, a Brownsville native and former president of the University of Texas at Brownsville and TexasSouthmostCollege, was our nation’s first Latina university president. She was head of TSC from 1986 to 1992, and from then until 2014 was president of UTB as well.
Throughout her tenure Garcia worked with officials with the UT System and its board of regents to establish programs that could help make a university education more accessible to students who had the desire and ability but lacked the financial resources.
In addition to her administrative duties running two institutions, Garcia also used her position to serve on the national stage. She served on several presidential commissions and toured the country as an advocate for using education to help escape the clutches of poverty and underachievement. Time magazine named one of the nation’s top 10 college presidents and Fortune listed her among the world’s 50 most influential world leaders.
“She created a culture of excellence, affirmation and intellectual curiosity for generations of students, many the first in their families to go to college and who see their American dream through her and because of her,” President Biden said in his introductory remarks.
While Garcia focused on individual achievement, Yzaguirre is known more for empowerment through group dynamics. In 1974 the San Juan native was named president of the National Council of La Raza, which at the time was a primarily Mexican-American group mired in political infighting and threatened with losing the support of its largest benefactor. Yzaguirre expanded the organization include other Hispanics such as Puerto Ricans and Cubans working as a united front for common goals. Renamed UnidosUS, the organization eventually became a political power, with more than 300 affiliated local groups across the country, with more than 35,000 total members. He stepped down as the group’s president in 2004 after some 30 years of service.
His efforts helped power the drive that brought recognition to Hispanics through establishment of the SmithsonianLatinoCenter and the Museum of the American Latino on the National Mall.
Most recently, he served the Obama administration as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
Through the years, Yzaguirre and Garcia have inspired many Valley residents with their words and actions. It’s equally inspiring to see that they have received the recognition they deserve.
