KINGSVILLE (November 5, 2024) — When 84-year-old Dr. Mariana Esparza stepped onto the Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) campus to support her granddaughter Celeste Liguez at the 29th Annual McNair Research Symposium she had no idea that by day’s end she would be reunited with a piece of her research she never thought she’d see again.
Esparza was presented with her original doctoral dissertation from 1981 entitled The Impact of Adult Education on Mexican-American Women and was gifted a bound copy by Vice President of Student Affairs & Community Relations Dr. Rito Silva, Interim Dean of the College of Education & Human Performance Dr. Linda Villarreal and Head of Special Collections and Archives Bailey Smith during a ceremony Monday afternoon at the James C. Jernigan Library’s South Texas Archives.
Following the ceremony, she reflected on her dissertation’s subject matter as well as a nearly 60-year career in education.
“This was a big surprise for me and I had no idea,” Esparza said of the unexpected ceremony. “My dissertation was based on the fact that most people need an education to continue. I found out that, for some of them, adult education was the only way to go because they couldn’t go back to start at the beginning. They were able to get their children interested in education and it has been a continuation. I have former students now that have gotten higher positions and I’ve seen how much they work. Maybe, I was a little seed in their lives. I want to thank everyone here who made this possible for me because this was like a dream.”
The idea for the ceremony came from Department of Educational Leadership & Counseling assistant professor Dr. Jeffrey Chernosky after Liguez discovered Esparza’s dissertation in the archives and asked if it was possible to get a bound copy made.
“I spoke with my grandma since I knew she earned her doctorate and it really started when I looked her up and the archives had her dissertation,” Liguez recalled. “I was reading into it and I asked her if she had it and she said she didn’t. I asked my mentor how we could get it bound to give her a copy. It really snowballed from there. Dr. Chernosky did all that work to put all this together.
“This (ceremony) was just beautiful,” Liguez added. “TAMUK has been a big part of my family. I’m a third-generation Javelina. So just to see the archives be used in this way is really heartwarming and seeing my grandma so happy is amazing. I’m happy she could experience this and see an original copy of her dissertation again.”
For Chernosky, it was about honoring a family legacy and educators.
“The impact of one family member changed everything for generations — in their family, our Javelina family, and South Texas,” Chernosky said. As a Javelina, we are called to remember and honor those who forged the way for all of us. In this one moment, I saw an opportunity to honor an educator that opened doors for many like myself.”
Esparza graduated from then-Texas A&I in 1981 with her Doctorate of Education with an emphasis in bilingual education. Prior to that, Esparza became a teacher at age 20 and devoted her life teaching high school and elementary levels before transitioning into administration.
She would serve as a principal, Director of Bilingual Education, a Region One Consultant, and a professor at the then University of Texas-Pan American and TAMUK.
She would retire in 2002 after 42 years, but stayed around education as a substitute teacher and a mentor to students who aspired to transition from teaching to administration.
Now, Liguez, a McNair Scholar who is majoring in education major seeking her certification for core subjects in Grades 4 through 8, is looking to forge a similar path in hopes of becoming middle school teacher.
For Esparza, seeing the next generation, specifically her own granddaughter, recognize the importance of education is what her journey in the field was all about.
“I’m very excited about her continuing down that path, trying to become a teacher and her dedication,” Esparza said. “It’s going to be passed on and that’s what I like to see. I worked all different types of jobs, but it is awesome to see the people that you worked with continue and continue. That’s what it’s all about — passing it on to others.”
