LAST DAY to send Cactus Comments; Dr. Garza sent his, have you?

Today is the last day that UT VP for Student Affairs Juan González will accept “written feedback and creative ideas from the Board, student groups and community members”, after which he “will review all submitted materials and make a final decision promptly thereafter.”

Below is the letter that UT Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor and recent Union Board member Thomas Garza, Ed.D. sent to Dr. González.

Please send your comments now!

Dr. Juan C. Gonzalez
Vice President for Student Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin
VP-Student Affairs
PO Box 7699
Austin, TX 78713

May 5, 2010

Dear Juan,

I am deeply appreciative of the time, effort, and concern that you have devoted to the issue of the future of the Cactus Café this year. Indeed, this issue has been on the agenda of many of us over the past year, but no one more than you has felt the weight of the historical, fiscal, practical, and emotional arguments leveled in defense of our Cactus Café. For that we are all most grateful. Since I just finished my term on the Texas Union Board, I write you now as a “private citizen,” a twenty-year faculty member at UT with extensive ties to student organizations and events, a three-term member of the Faculty Council, a two term department chair and center director, and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers and Regents’ Distinguished Teachers. I am also a frequent visitor to and strong supporter of the Cactus Café in its current operational configuration. Your have, no doubt, already received numerous versions of the most obvious reasons to keep this beloved venue in its current mode; so I will enumerate only a few of the issues that I have found most compelling in the course of this year’s conversation about its future.

First, I want to address the frequently raised issue of the constituency of the Cactus – or any part of the Texas Union, for that matter. It has been argued that the Cactus must be a venue primarily for the undergraduate population at large. This contention is a red herring. The Union has no such mandate and, indeed, does not operate in that manner. There is no imperative for the Cactus or any Union venue to be everything for everyone. The Union bowling alley is perhaps the most glaring example of a venue that certainly does not cater to all undergraduate students, but is allowed to be part of the diverse array of entertainments and services for the diverse and varied members of and visitors to the University community. Vegetarians would be hard pressed to eat at Chik-fil-a, non-coffee drinkers might not like Starbucks, and so on. The Union tires to provide something for everyone, and the Cactus falls beautifully within this mission. In my many visits to the Cactus – where I have held office hours, conducted some of my graduate seminars, and enjoyed innumerable concerts – I have seen faculty, graduate students, fans from the Austin area, and, yes, numerous undergraduates enjoying the venue and its varied offerings.

Second, like you, I have had the privilege of visiting numerous of our peer institutions for conferences, symposia, etc., and have been able to observe student and faculty life at these locales. I cannot emphasize enough how fortunate we are at the University of Texas at Austin to enjoy such a robust and collegial “town and gown” relationship. I am convinced that this special affinity is the direct result of the numerous opportunities the University presents to the community-at-large to take advantage of the facilities and offerings on campus. From Explore UT to the offerings at the Performing Arts Center, from the collection at the HRC to the concerts at the Cactus, we invite the public to our space, to experience our lives and works, to develop mutually beneficial relations with our clients, our students’ parents, and our real and potential donors. I have been perturbed by the cries from a few students on campus that many of the letters coming in to you are “from Longhorns form the ’90s or even the ’80s.” I would contend that some are from the ’70s and even before, and that is terrific! These are precisely the constituency that the University consistently tries to court to help us in times of financial need – like now. The Cactus Café has been a crucial link in this chain of on-campus venues that ensure a positive experience for our off campus friends. Changing the operation of the Cactus is tampering with a well-oiled machine that caters not only to the UT community, but to one of our most loyal and necessary patrons: locals.

Third, while I am both a member and a daily listener of KUT radio, and I firmly believe that it does what it does very well, I am not at all convinced that expanding its reaching into the unfamiliar and quite distinct business terrain of booking talent and putting on live in house performances is the best use of their resources. To cite the recent years’ revenues of the Cactus in the current economic climate is a bit unfair; if the University were compelled to close all entities that lost money in the past several years, then the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, and Education would have to be closed. We must of course be cautions not to act reflexively in harsh economic climate and makes cuts, changes, or alterations that will be difficult or impossible to reverse later. I urge to let the Cactus find its own fiscal voice in these difficult times, with the help of its current management and the numerous student and faculty resources on campus willing to help. I and many other supporters are confident that the Cactus Café can be a money-making venture without losing its integrity as a provider of quality local music and entertainment that will continue to bring in packed houses for many generations to come.

Juan, I applaud you for your role in taking the proposition to close the Cactus off of the table; now I urge you to give this UT, Austin, and Texas landmark a chance to continue to do what it does best. Please do not change the face of this unique venue that makes the University of Texas at Austin even more special as a community. While I seriously doubt that – as you have asserted – the Cactus will ever be “the hottest ticket in town,” – given the growth at UT and in Austin of the entertainment offered -- it certainly has been and remains one of the most enjoyed and beloved venues in town. Please let the Cactus Café continued place as the jewel in the crown of UT’s many attributes be your legacy at the University.

Many thanks for your time and consideration in making this very important decision, Juan. If you have any question for me at all, I would be delighted to address them. Best of luck to you, and I am confident that I will see you at the Cactus in the future.

All the very best,
/ss/
Thomas Jesús Garza
University Distinguished Teaching
Associate Professor and Director