Robert Ray Valadez '00
Member Spotlight
(November 2, 2018) -- When Robert Ray Valadez ’00 reflects about his time serving the nation in the U.S. Army Reserves and his time as a college student at The University of Texas at San Antonio, only one word comes to mind – family.
“Upon graduating from boot camp I accepted the military as my second extended family,” he said. “When I graduated from UTSA, I accepted my fellow Roadrunners as a third extended family, something I am proud to be a part of.”
After separating from active duty in 1994, Valadez initially attended classes at Palo Alto Junior College but made his way to UTSA in 1998 to major in history. The university appealed to him because it was local, the campus was spacious and mostly, “I loved the mascot, our Roadrunner!”
During his time on campus, he mentioned his professors would work with him when his military commitments would interfere with his classroom time, something he was grateful for. Three years after his graduation Valadez deployed to Kuwait and supported additional missions through Kuwait to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom in 2003-2004. He would return to Iraq in 2008-2009 for another year-long deployment.
Valadez retired as a master sergeant in 2017 after nearly 38 years of total service between the U.S. Marine Corps from 1978 to 1981 and the U.S. Army from 1981 to 2017.
Although he’d worn his dress uniform for various occasions, it was during the Roadrunners inaugural football season that Valadez decided to wear it for the Veterans Day observation – and he’s been doing it every year since. During the 2015 Veterans Day commemoration, he was pulled aside for a unique honor.
“I entered the Dome (Alamodome) and went down to the field level and was given the UTSA Alumni Association flag,” Valadez said. “I ran out with the cheer squad with the individual U-T-S-A flags and the big Roadrunner flag. And that was a great day in my life to be able to run with a symbol of who I belong to, the lifetime alumni of The University of Texas at San Antonio.”
For Valadez becoming a Life Member was a personal example of his commitment to future UTSA programs and scholarships, preserve and pass on university traditions to future Roadrunners, and affirm his support to his UTSA family.
“Because for Now and Forever, I am UTSA! And I will forever be a Roadrunner!”