(June 6, 2019) -- Carmen Tafolla, professor emerita in the UTSA Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and the 2015-2016 Texas Poet Laureate, wrote a poem to celebrate the past and future dreams discovered by the many who call UTSA home. Tafolla read “rippling through these feathers” at the 50th Anniversary Commemoration in front of the Alamo on June 5, 2019. Everyone in attendance received a feather lapel pin to commemorate the significant moment in UTSA history.
Because this poem is not only me
Because this poem is not only you
Because we breathe air breathed out by another
And our atoms are built from the atoms of others
Because we scrape the skin of our dreams
to find inside them the dreams of others
This poem will require that you write it too
That you fill it with
the depth of your meanings
That you soar through its spaces
with the strength of your wings
That the rich tone of colors
rippling through these feathers
sing the various verses
of changing the world 
A plume scratched on white paper Fifty years ago
A feather danced in ceremony Five hundred years ago
A crown of feathers shivered on the bright and prescient mind
Twelve thousand years ago
All witnessed by this ground beneath our toes
and the crumbling huesos of the camposanto within it
They call us here to search horizons
boundless dreams rippling through these feathers
Insert here: Your vision, your moment of highest flight
of happiest reach of things imagined
The coolness of the wind inspiring your breath
each feather a sky strong
All of us move forward, a País of Paisanos
Unique and United, Growing as we Learn
Pride ripples like delicious wind
supports these wings we’ve shaped together
Hope and Power
rippling through these feathers
Audience whisper:
rippling through these feathers
rippling through these feathers
Celebrate UTSA’s 50th Anniversary and share social media posts about the 50th using the hashtag #UTSA50.
Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Each fall and spring semester, students convene at the Main Campus at UTSA with booths, ideas and prototypes. A crowd of judges, local organizations, students, faculty and sponsors walk around and talk to the students about their projects and ask questions. Students get the real-life experience of "pitching" their project with hopes of getting funding or support to move to the next level.
UTSA Convocation Center, Main CampusJoin the doctoral candidates for the Doctoral Conferreal Ceremony and celebrate their accomplishments.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusCelebrate the graduates from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
AlamodomeCelebrate the graduates from the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
AlamodomeThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
