EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 The University of Texas at El Paso celebrated Texas College of Mines (TCM) Day, the longest-running student tradition of events aimed at honoring the University\u2019s roots in mining. <\/p>\n
The daylong series of events included repainting the “M” on the mountain north of Sun Bowl Stadium and the Team Mining Challenge, a campus race that immerses participants in the rigors and challenges faced by past miners. <\/p>\n
In addition, students also gathered to sing for UTEP President Heather Wilson. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a way to build camaraderie at the university, started in 1920,\u201d said Kenith Meissner, dean of engineering at UTEP. \u201cI mean, we are UTEP, and we\u2019re the miners, and we need to maintain that connection to the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
TCM Day, a nearly century-old UTEP tradition tied to the university\u2019s mining roots, is celebrated on campus every March in observance of St. Patrick\u2019s Day. The tradition began in 1920, when UTEP was known as the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy, or TCM.<\/p>\n
The celebration is also described as an annual rite of passage to initiate new student engineers and geologists into the Order of St. Patrick, the patron saint of engineers.<\/p>\n
Maximiliano Matamoros Martinez, a civil engineering junior, said it was his first time taking part. \u201cSo this is my first time here at TCM,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cSo it\u2019s awesome to be participating in this and be the leading guy for all the events.\u201d<\/p>\n
The daylong series of events includes the whitewashing of the \u201cM\u201d on the mountain north of Sun Bowl Stadium, along with the Team Mining Challenge, <\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED: UTEP ranked Texas’ second most affordable college, fifth for education quality in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n