UTEP Celebrates Texas College of Mines Day
Longest-running student tradition celebrates mining, engineering legacy
El Paso, Texas (March 10, 2025) – The University of Texas at El Paso celebrated Texas College of Mines (TCM) Day, its longest-running student tradition, on Friday. The daylong series of events paid tribute to the University’s roots in mining and included the whitewashing of the “M” on the mountain north of Sun Bowl Stadium and the Team Mining Challenge, an on-campus race that immerses participants in the rigors and challenges faced by past miners.
“This year’s TCM Day was a resounding success, bringing together over 175 students, alumni and members of the UTEP community,” said Assistant Dean for Engineering Student Success and the organizer of TCM Day, Gabby Gandara. “The leadership and dedication of students from several student organizations created a day filled with energy, smiles and lasting memories.”
The tradition is celebrated on campus every March in observance of St. Patrick’s Day. When it began in 1920, UTEP was known as the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy, or TCM. TCM Day evolved into an annual rite of passage to initiate new student engineers and geologists into the Order of St. Patrick, the patron saint of engineers.
Mariana Sigala was elected to serve as this year’s “St. Pat” and guide her fellow students through the festivities. Sigala is a senior studying electrical engineering, a tutor in the Advancement Center for Engineering Students (ACES) — a peer-to-peer tutoring program — and finance chair of the Engineering Student Leadership Council. This was her fourth year participating in TCM Day.
“It was awesome. I’m glad that a lot of people showed up,” Sigala said. “I had a lot of fun and was honored to lead us in remembering our mining roots and celebrating UTEP’s TCM Day traditions.”
Sigala explained that, in addition to painting the “M” on the Mountain, the students take part in an mining-themed obstacle course. This year, teams of students raced each other while sitting in hand-pulled coal carts, did lunges around Centennial Plaza while carrying mining tools like sandbags and shovels, and ran through mud in the arroyo while searching for metal and ore “samples.”
Students also serenaded UTEP President Heather Wilson in front of her office building and participated in awards ceremony and a “bean feed” (aka lunch).
About The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 25,000 students are Hispanic, and more than half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 171 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.
Last Updated on March 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM | Originally published March 10, 2025
By MC Staff UTEP Marketing and Communications
