TSC Trustee Profile
Eduardo A. Campirano

Life has presented Eduardo Campirano several worthy opportunities to give back to the community he calls home. Over the years he has helped with literacy campaigns, with the United Way, and with various economic development efforts.

But he feels few assignments offer as many opportunities for positive change as service on the Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees.

“There are many ways to do good, whether it’s a cause or project or helping someone. But few things have as great a potential for having a significant impact on the entire community,” said Campirano, who was appointed to the board in January and elected in May to fill the vacancy left upon the death of former trustee Prax Orive.

“The college can be such a vital force in our community as an agent of change. The opportunities provided by education are so important to our community. It can make a big, big impact,” Campirano added. “That’s why I was happy to be appointed.”

Campirano, a product of TSC, is assistant general manager for the Public Utilities Board. He joined PUB last year after serving as Area Business Manager for Central Power and Light. He also was general manager for TCI Cablevision of South Texas from 1992-97, and South Padre Island’s city manager before that.

Campirano knows from experience the important role UTB and TSC play in the lives of young people. As a Brownsville High School graduate in the ‘70s and still suffering the recent death of his mother, Campirano preferred to stay close to home for college. Despite scholarship offers to play baseball at other junior colleges, Campirano chose TSC, which at the time had no baseball program.

A pivotal meeting with then TSC president – the late Dr. Arnulfo L. Oliveira -- in which Campirano made a pitch for starting a baseball team at the school – cemented his decision.

“(President Oliveira) listened to us and said, ‘OK Eddie.  I’ll get back to you,” recalled Campirano. “Within two weeks, he’d found a way to start a baseball program.  That told me a lot -- that he listened and cared. That’s the way TSC has always been.”

After two years at TSC, in which his interest in government grew even stronger than his interest in baseball, Campirano finished his degree in 1976 through UT Pan American at Brownsville.

“Sometimes I feel like I graduated from Tandy Room 209, because so many of my classes were there,” said Campirano.  “The campus certainly wasn’t what it is today. It has changed significantly.  Walking the campus today, after having walked it over 25 years ago, there’s a big difference. I’m happy to be part of that.”