Happy Birds

President Eighmy welcomes Roadrunners with a “Bird’s up!” salute at the annual Howdy Rowdy Bash, one of the events rounding off Roadrunner Days, a nine-day celebration that welcomes ’Runners to a new academic year. This year the bash moved from its usual home on Main Campus to Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

In an email message to students on their first day of class Eighmy shared a few words of wisdom to carry them into the semester: “Make the most of your time at UTSA. Your professors are rooting for you, and so am I. Be bold, think big, and dream on.”

Creative Retreat

In her studio space on the fourth floor of the Arts Building graduate fine arts student Emily Verkamp ’17 looks over four of her photographs, which have a “decaying” composition created by her unique use of emulsion and chemical processes.

Each semester the Department of Art and Art History provides studio space to graduate students pursuing a master’s in fine arts so that they can fully focus on developing their bodies of work without interruption or having to pack up their tools and artwork in progress at the end of each day.

Check out our photo essay on Verkamp and other M.F.A. students as they work in the studios and talk about their projects in painting, photography, sculpture, woodworking, and more.

He’s Top Dog

Not long after his move to San Antonio last fall, this little guy started making regular appearances on our Main Campus. He was always accompanied, of course, by his dad, President Taylor Eighmy. Yes, this is Finbarr the First Dog. (You might’ve heard about him in our interview with Dr. Eighmy in Sombrilla Magazine last year.)

Ever since he started visiting UTSA, the dachshund has become an appreciated break from busy schedules for students and any employee who is out and about campus. So if you see this fella on a stroll through Sombrilla Plaza, don’t hesitate to stop for a belly rub or a chin wag. (Belly rubs are for Finbarr, naturally. The chats are good for both Finbarr and Dr. Eighmy, who appreciates attention from ’Runners too.)

Slackers Welcome

There’s no surprise that students have returned to campus still wearing lightweight clothing and shorts. Yes, it might be a new fall semester at UTSA, but the heat isn’t behind us yet in South Texas. It’s a great time to catch people spending time outdoors, particularly those who are participating in any number of club and recreational sports.

One of the more intriguing activities is slacklining, which you can catch Andrew Lucas and other participants (who call themselves “slackers”) from the UTSA Slackers Association working at. Slacklining involves people working their way across a rope or ribbon-like expanse that’s generally stretched between two trees.

Luckily, they work only a few feet off the ground, so if you’re squeamish about heights, this could still be a sport for you.