History of UNAM San Antonio: A Cultural Bridge

On September 15, 1944, the National Autonomous University of Mexico began offering courses at the San Antonio Vocational School. The first courses offered were Spanish, Mexican Literature, Mexican History, International Law, and Social Economy; the session lasted four weeks. The following year the program was moved to Los Angeles, California, but in 1946 returned to San Antonio. In 1952 Francisco Monterde was director of the summer school. That year El Patronato, an organization mostly of Mexican-Americans, was established to support the school. In 1971 the municipal government of San Antonio authorized the UNAM to use a building located in Hemisfair Plaza, and the Permanent Extension School of the UNAM was founded; it is the only Mexican university outside of Mexico and the only foreign university in the United States. With the devaluation of the peso in 1982, cuts in staff and faculty were made. Administration personnel was reduced from eleven to three and faculty from twelve to four. In 1984 enrollment averaged 950. In October 1986 new facilities of the Permanent Extension School were opened at Plaza Mexico, where the Mexican Cultural Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also located. UNAM promotes cultural events to offer a general panorama of the art and history of Mexico, as well as a view of contemporary Mexican society. In 1988 a program of binational studies and the study of bilateral relations began. Since 1987 UNAM San Antonio has cooperated with the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Texas at Austin, Trinity University, the Mexican Cultural Institute, the University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to produce forty-six events related to Mexican studies.