HONORS DAY SPEAKER — U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle, who received her bachelor’s degree from A&M-Commerce, has fond memories of the University. In her speech at the Honors Day Luncheon on April 28, she told the audience that a faculty member here had helped her realize her dream of going to law school.

As the first Hispanic woman to be appointed to a U.S. district judgeship in Texas, Judge Hilda Tagle can thank a former A&M-Commerce faculty member for helping her dream of law school to become a reality.

Tagle of Brownsville received her bachelor’s degree in library science and Spanish from A&M-Commerce in 1969.

After completion of her degree, Tagle went out to follow her career plans in library science. She spent some time working as a librarian in Houston and then returned to Commerce in 1974 to consider the possibility of continuing her education.

Rather than pursue a teaching career, Tagle was considering going to law school. She had to decide which school to go to if admitted. "Money was a big concern obviously. Quitting a job after I had been working for four years made it very difficult to just drop everything and go to law school," Tagle said in her speech at the A&M-Commerce Honors Day Luncheon held in late April.

She recognized one of her teachers, Dr. Orline Clinkscales who chaired the foreign language department, as the person who was responsible for her going to law school. Clinkscales was an associate professor of foreign languages from 1965 to ’71 at A&M-Commerce.

"She saw that I was really committed to it and made the offer to lend me the money to go to law school," Tagle explained.

"She said that if she or I died the debt would be forgiven, but she trusted me to not only complete what I said I wanted to start but also that I would pay her back," Tagle continued. "If I had not come to school here in Commerce, I would never have met her and I might not have had the opportunity that she made possible to me," Tagle said.

Tagle made the most of the juris doctorate she received from the University of Texas School of Law. In 1977, she became on of the few women in Nueces County in Corpus Christi to try cases before a jury. In ’85 she became judge of Nueces County Court at Law No. 3.

Tagle successfully challenged an incumbent state district court judge in 1994. Shortly after taking that office in January of ’95, she began a three-year long process that resulted in her confirmation by the U.S. Senate as a federal judge on March 11, 1998.

She currently presides over the new federal court in Brownsville, established due to the large number of immigration and drug cases in the lower Rio Grande Valley.

Tagle told the Honors Day luncheon audience, "I can assure you that the education you are getting here at this school is providing you a perfect foundation."

"The fact that it is such a small campus compared to other institutions where it is easy to get lost in huge numbers is really fortunate," Tagle said.

"Here, you can have your education on a campus that is small with caring teachers who are really committed to the excellence of your education," she commented.