Former president, Diana Natalicio announced she was retiring in early 2018; UTEP has been working to find a replacement and has recently come up with a finalist, former New Mexico Congressmember and U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.

May 31 will be Wilson’s last day as Air Force Secretary, a position appointed to her by President Trump.

She received praise from President Trump in a tweet acknowledging her new position at UTEP and the great things she will accomplish.

In his tweet, President Trump said, “Congratulations to Heather Wilson, who is the sole finalist to become the next President of University of Texas at El Paso effective September 1, 2019. Heather has done an absolutely fantastic job as Secretary of the Air Force, and I know she will be equally great in the very important world of higher education. A strong thank you to Heather for her service.”

Diana Natalicio was the president of UTEP for 30 years, this is the longest tenure of any public university president in the United States; she was also the first female president of UTEP in its 104 year history.

In a great deal of controversy over Wilson’s selection; this is because of her relationship with President Trump and her views on the LGBTQ community.

El Paso is a very diverse city with mostly liberal views and this choice of her as president has upset many people; many students are unhappy about this decision.

Petitions have gone around the UTEP campus and protests at the campus have taken place because of this.

Wilson is going to have large shoes to fill after Natalicio, and it looks like it is going to be harder than she thought because so far there does not seem to be a warm welcome awaiting her.