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Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº Institutions Welcome Sen. John Cornyn to Campuses

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn visited campuses throughout the TTU System to see firsthand how the CARES Act, a coronavirus relief bill, is helping universities battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

 August 25, 2020 | By Montana Chandler

The Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº and its universities hosted and welcomed U.S. Sen. for a visit on Monday (Aug. 17) in San Angelo at Angelo State University (ASU) and Tuesday (Aug. 18) in both Lubbock and Amarillo, including Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº) and Texas Tech University (TTU).

The purpose for the visits was for Sen. Cornyn to see firsthand how the CARES Act, a coronavirus relief bill he supported in March, is helping TTU System institutions combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sen. Cornyn visited the ASU campus on a special occasion for the university — the first day of fall classes and the official announcement of as the 11th president of ASU.

Sen. Cornyn and President Hawkins joined TTU System Chancellor Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., TTU System First Lady Janet Tornelli-Mitchell, M.D., ASU alumnus and TTU System Regent Mickey L. Long and other members of the TTU System and ASU leadership for the campus tour.

ASU received approximately $6.8 million in federal funding from the CARES Act of which $3.2 million was used to support 2,637 ASU students in continuing their education.

Following the campus tour, Chancellor Mitchell, Sen. Cornyn and President Hawkins joined other community leaders, including San Angelo Mayor , Tom Green County Judge and San Angelo Independent School District Superintendent for a joint press conference to discuss the CARES Act funding for the community.

 

Mitchell and Cornyn Cornyn Hawkins and Cornyn
Cornyn Cornyn with ASU students Mitchell and Hawkins
Cornyn Joint press conference Cornyn

 

Tuesday, Sen. Cornyn began the day by visiting Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº in Lubbock where he was welcomed by Chancellor Mitchell, Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº President , TTU President , Lubbock Mayor , UMC Medical System President and CEO , and members of the TTU System and Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº leadership team.

Sen. Cornyn toured a drive-thru COVID-19 testing clinic and was briefed on both telehealth clinical visits and telehealth curriculum for Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº students. Sen. Cornyn was updated on the ways in which CARES Act funding has supported research, innovation and collaboration between TTU and Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº.

 

Joint press conference in Lubbock Cornyn and Mark Funderburk Rice-Spearman and Mitchell
Cornyn and Schovanec Cornyn and Rice-Spearman Cornyn and Mitchell
Cornyn on Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº tour Mitchell and Schovanec Cornyn on Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº tour
Cornyn on Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº tour Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº Cornyn with TTU System leadership

 

Cornyn’s visit was concluded with a visit to Amarillo on Tuesday where Sen. Cornyn toured the viral transport media (VTM) lab where Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûԺ’s team produced VTM testing vials used for COVID testing. The Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº Amarillo tour also included other types of medical equipment that CARES Act funding assisted the university in purchasing to help fight the pandemic.

Sen. Cornyn, Chancellor Mitchell and President Rice-Spearman were then joined by Amarillo Mayor , North West Texas Health System CEO , BSA Health System CEO Bob Williams and Amarillo College President for a joint press conference with the Amarillo media.

TTU benefited from the CARES Act by receiving approximately $27.5 million in federal funding — with $12.8 million used to support TTU students. Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº received approximately $6.4 million in CARES Act funding with more than $897,000 for its student body. Combined, TTU and Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº were able to provide funding to more than 22,000 students.

The day was completed with Sen. Cornyn visiting the construction site of the new TTU School of Veterinary Medicine, which is located on the Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº Amarillo Campus. Sen. Cornyn had a chance to sign a beam from the facility and pose for a photo with TTU System leaders and Mayor Nelson.

 

Cornyn on Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº Amarillo tour Cornyn on Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº Amarillo tour Joint press conference at Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº Amarillo
Cornyn Cornyn on Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº Amarillo tour Cornyn at TTU Veterinary Medicine site

 

About the Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº
Established in 1996 and headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, the is a $2 billion higher education enterprise focused on advancing higher education, health care, research and community outreach. Consisting of four universities – , , and – the TTU System collectively has approximately 55,000 students, 17 campuses statewide and internationally, more than 300,000 alumni and an endowment valued at over $1.3 billion.

During the 86th Texas Legislature under the leadership of , legislative funding and authority was provided to establish a new Texas Tech University veterinary school in Amarillo and a new dental school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. This will be the state’s first veterinary school in more than a century and first dental school in over 50 years. The addition of these two schools makes the Â鶹ÌìÀǸ±ÀûÔº one of only nine in the nation to offer programs for undergraduate, medical, law, nursing, pharmacy, dental and veterinary education, among other academic areas.