Kicking Off the Season of Thanks

TTUHSC El Paso and Borderplex Native Juan Nevarez Announce Gift Benefiting Hunt School of Nursing and Foster School of Medicine Students

$125,000 will go toward scholarships for first-generation medical and nursing students

Juan Nevarez knows how difficult and stressful attending college and working full time can be.

In the early 1990s, Nevarez, a first-generation college student, worked at a grocery store while studying toward his Bachelor of Science in petroleum engineering at Texas Tech University. Working twice as much as others wasn’t new to him.

When the family’s tortilleria business in his hometown of Ciudad Juárez wasn’t making as much money, Nevarez, still in junior high school, decided to help by going to work in a maquiladora factory. He worked nights and then went to school during the day.

At age 15, he came to the U.S. instilled with his family’s strong work ethic. His godmother, Paz Ruiz, encouraged him to pursue education because it would open doors for him. That advice and his motivation to succeed eventually led him to enroll at Texas Tech University.

After touring the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso campus this past spring, he was impressed by the state-of-the-art facilities but floored by the students and their work ethic.

“I talked to first-generation students, and they told me they were struggling and were counting on loans and different programs,” Nevarez said. “I really saw myself in them: They were working hard, they're Hispanic kids, and they were trying to get through medical school like when I was trying to get through my petroleum engineering program.”

Nevarez decided right then he wanted to do something to help first-generation students from the Borderplex. During a special luncheon event on campus Friday, Nov. 4, he announced two major gifts in support of student scholarships. The event was part of TTUHSC El Paso’s “Season of Thanks,” a celebration of community support for the mission of the university, which is home to the Foster School of Medicine, Hunt School of Nursing, Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the Hunt School of Dental Medicine.

Nevarez gifted $50,000 to the Hunt School of Nursing for a scholarship fund named in honor of his late mother, Guadalupe “Lupe” Sanchez De Nevarez. Recipients of this scholarship will be first-generation students from the Borderplex region.

Nevarez also gifted $75,000 for Foster School of Medicine scholarships. The fund, named the Juan J. Nevarez Sanchez Medical Student Scholarship, will also assist first-generation students from the Borderplex with goals of becoming the community's future physicians.

The gift to first-generation students at TTUHSC El Paso will have a resounding impact, changing their life trajectories and those of their families. It also will help to reduce health inequities locally by ensuring students meet their goals, graduate on time and enter the workforce, where they’re needed more than ever.

Currently, El Paso faces a 60% shortage of physicians and a 20% shortage of registered nurses when compared to national averages. In particular, the state of Texas is projected to face a shortfall of nearly 16,000 registered nurses by 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Nevarez’s gift comes at a critical time. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts Hispanics will account for 25% of the U.S. population in 10 years. However, less than 6% of physicians in the U.S. identify as Hispanic. To fill the gap, TTUHSC El Paso is educating future Hispanic health care providers who are bilingual, thanks to required medical Spanish courses for medical and dental students. In 2020-2021, 64% of the university's graduates, including M.D. recipients, identified as Hispanic.

His gift also carries out a legacy of kindness he attributes to his mother.

“This is my way to honor my mother because she was a very caring person who always thought about everybody else,” Nevarez said. “She always looked out for other people, and I think that's what nurses do. They have that giving spirit.”

Humble Beginnings

Nevarez lived from age 5 to 15 in Ciudad Juárez’s Pancho Villa colonia, one of the poorest areas of the city.

“We were fortunate that we had enough to eat,” Nevarez said. “We lived in a two-bedroom house and at one point had six people in the house. You don't realize you're poor when you're that age because you’re surrounded by a close, loving family.”

Nevarez has dedicated over 25 years working in the oil and gas business. Previously, he worked for Texaco, Chevron and other petroleum companies. In 2011, he joined Scout Energy Partners as the vice president of business development, before moving to senior vice president in 2017.

Nevarez serves on the Texas Tech Foundation Board of Directors, the Texas Tech University Petroleum Industry Advisory Executive Board and the Texas Tech College of Engineering Dean’s Council.

Nevarez is senior vice president of business development and exploitation for Dallas-based Scout Energy Partners and serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas Tech Foundation. The Texas Tech Foundation has partnered with the Texas Tech University System to raise, manage and invest private gifts that benefit all of the TTU System’s universities.

Scholarships Crucial in Helping Students

Community leaders and TTUHSC El Paso donors in attendance were also able to meet with scholarship recipients and our Borderplex region's future health care leaders.

Support from the local community has been critical in keeping talented students from the Borderplex close to home as they receive their education. In the past 10 years, donors from the region have stepped in to assist students with financial challenges, relieving the burden of taking on multiple jobs outside of school to pay bills and afford necessities like groceries.

In 2022, 44% of TTUHSC El Paso students received scholarships totaling $2,174,150. Gifts from donors have made it possible for the university to award full tuition for unmet financial need.

El Pasoan Alexia Campos knows how helpful scholarships can be. Campos is enrolled in the Hunt School of Nursing’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and works at a local movie theater to make ends meet. A scholarship from community leaders Bob and Jane Snow has helped lessen the burden on Campos. She is one of the first three students in the school’s history to receive a full-ride scholarship for unmet financial need.

“I didn’t want my family to have to worry about me, and I wanted to be able to provide for myself as much as possible, and the scholarship has helped with that,” Campos said. “I continue to work throughout nursing school, but the scholarship has helped me to cut down on my hours so I can concentrate on my schoolwork.”

Campos, whose father has worked at TTUHSC El Paso for nearly two decades, always knew her health care career would begin at the Hunt School of Nursing. But her tenacity didn’t stop there. She enlisted in the U.S. Navy with goals of serving the country as a nurse and an officer.

“In my heart, I know that becoming a nurse is my ultimate dream,” Campos said. “I always felt a great calling for helping others. That drive has never wavered and being able to make a difference in someone’s life is possible thanks to community supporters who believe in students like me.”

About the Hunt School of Nursing

The Hunt School of Nursing offers R.N. to Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing degree programs. It’s also home to the only accelerated program in the region where students can earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in just 16 months.

Since opening in 2011, more than 1,140 nurses have graduated from the Hunt School of Nursing, with 90% staying in the region. As a result, the number of registered nurses in El Paso County has increased by 45%. Currently, 87% of students from the Hunt School of Nursing are El Paso natives, fulfilling TTUHSC El Paso’s mission to create more educational opportunities for Borderplex residents.

The Hunt School of Nursing has partnerships with every hospital in the El Paso community, which includes both clinical rotation opportunities and job placements post-graduation, helping to fill the critical need for nurses. The school’s curriculum also prepares students for leadership positions in hospitals and clinics.

About the Foster School of Medicine

Since opening in 2009, there have been nearly 800 graduates of the Foster School of Medicine who have become or are on their way to becoming practicing physicians. The school’s faculty trains students in culturally competent care with the goal of keeping future physicians in West Texas to treat patients in metropolitan and rural areas. The school’s graduates have helped reduce local, regional and state-wide physician shortages.

About TTUHSC El Paso

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care leaders, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.

TTUHSC El Paso was established to focus on the unique health care and educational needs of our Borderplex community. In 2023, TTUHSC El Paso will celebrate its 10th anniversary as an autonomous university within the Texas Tech University System. In those 10 years, the university has graduated nearly 2,000 doctors, nurses, researchers and will soon add dentists to its alumni.