New Agreement Strengthens Collaboration With Mexico
Last Updated on July 10, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Originally published July 10, 2017
By Lauren Macias-Cervantes
UTEP Communications
The University of Texas at El Paso made its partnership official with the Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense, A.C., or FECHAC, by publicly signing a letter of intent for collaboration on educational activities. UTEP President Diana Natalicio and Gilberto Cueva Pizarro, president of the Board of Directors of the Juárez chapter of FECHAC, signed the agreement July 6, 2017.
FECHAC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent and autonomous grant-making foundation used by more than 34,000 corporations in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico to support their communities. The organization also is a member of Education USA, a partnership between the U.S. Department of State through the U.S. Consulate in Juárez, which supports students from Mexico in their postsecondary education in the United States.
Through the agreement, both institutions will promote educational programs to deepen the understanding of the economic, cultural and social issues environment of the region.
“What we are celebrating is the mutual commitment that we’ve made to work to create opportunities on both sides of the border,” President Natalicio said. “We hope very much that this partnership will open up new ways to become a greater source of opportunity for young people throughout this region.”
While this is the initial agreement with FECHAC, UTEP has other agreements in place with entities and universities in Mexico.
“We are dedicated to the human and economic development of the surrounding region, that’s why we are here,” President Natalicio continued. “We are a public university with responsibility to create opportunities for this region by enhancing its educational opportunities and quality of life. We don’t believe that you can do that by focusing on only one side of the border; this is a bi-national community. UTEP’s efforts to reach into Ciudad Juárez and Mexico are an earnest effort to positively impact the prosperity and quality of life of the entire region we serve.”