EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – UTEP is set to join the Mountain West Conference ahead of the 2026-2027 academic school year. Accepting the official invitation back in October, the conference commissioner visited UTEP for the first time today since announcing the move.
After getting boots on the ground in El Paso, talking with officials and seeing Miner nation in action- Gloria Nevarez calls the unification between UTEP and the MW something that just, ‘made sense.’
“There’s geographic proximity, but also the public large institution,” said conference commissioner Nevarez. “There’s a grit and blue collar ethos that we have in the Mountain West, and I feel really has a synergy here. We a lot of our schools pride themselves on offering education to first generation, accessible education and being involved in the fabric of the community. And you can feel that here. UTEP is El Paso and El Paso is UTEP.”
Nevarez was officially introduced to the community at an event held at the Larry K. Durham Center on Friday. Herself along side Athletic Director Jim Senter celebrated the ‘Climb Higher,’ campaign which was created to help with the transition.
The campaign aims to help moving costs from Conference USA to the Mountain West, improve athlete experiences, help sport budgeting and assist capital improvements. ‘Climb Higher,’ has reached $7.2 million of its $10 million dollar goal. Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation and the Paul L. Foster Family Foundation committing $2.5 million each.
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