Munguia scholarship recipients honored at UTSA Downtown Campus
(May 23, 2003)--The University of Texas at San Antonio recently honored the first recipients of the Ruben Munguia Graduate Scholarship.
Jessie Villareal, a graduate student in public policy, and Derak Berban, a graduate student in political science, received their scholarships at a ceremony attended by members of the Munguia family including former mayor and Munguia nephew Henry Cisneros. Additionally, UTSA President Ricardo Romo announced that UTSA would add $10,000 to the scholarship fund.
Pictured from left to right are Burban, Romo and Villareal in front of a portrait of Ruben Munguia hung in the UTSA Downtown Campus Library.
The scholarship, which benefits graduate students in political science and public administration, was created through the efforts of local dentist Bert Cecconi and UTSA's former Metropolitan Research and Policy Institute. The scholarship is named in honor of the late Munguia in recognition of his many civic contributions. Born in 1919 and a West Side printer for many years, he was well known for the advice he gave career politicians and would-be political leaders.
Although not formally educated, Munguia was considered a learned man and was an avid reader. He embraced the American freedoms and believed that anyone could enhance his education by using libraries and newspapers.
"Although my uncle didn't have a Ph.D., he was a very educated man," said Cisneros.
Munguia's father, Romulo Munguia, was a journalist at La Prensa, the successful San Antonio Spanish-language newspaper, before starting the family print shop during the Great Depression in 1934.
His mother, Carolina Malpica Munguia, was a schoolteacher whom the junior Munguia described as "the first women's libber." She was a pioneering radio personality, who in 1931 became the first to host a local Spanish-language program. "La Hora Estrella," a daily, hour-long program, examined Mexican history and culture on radio station KONO.
Munguia was actively involved in politics for 50 years, heavily promoting his nephew, Cisneros, and the next generation of Mexican American politicians who succeeded locally and nationally in their work to bring equal rights to Hispanics.
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© The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2003