University community remembers founding professor

“Dr. Alfredo Supervielle was one of the kindest, most considerate, courtly men I have ever known,” said TAMIU President Ray Keck.Supervielle, one of the six founding faculty members of the university, died earlier this month. He played an important part in the establishment of the university, but that’s only part of his eventful life.”His [life] story deserves at least one good book,” stated Keck about the founding father.”Dr. Super,” as he was known, was a lawyer in his homeland of Cuba. According to the Laredo Morning Times, he received a law degree and obtained the highest degree possible at the University of Havana.However, prior to coming to the U.S. in the 1970s, he was tortured and left his home with only five dollars in his pocket, explained Keck.”He never expressed resentment or regret at his fate as a political refugee [and] penniless arrival in a foreign country,” said Keck.When he first arrived to the U.S. he worked as a parking attendant and then took a job as a chauffeur, reported the Times. However, with the help of his wife, who worked in order to send him to school, he received his degree at Florida State University and later came to Laredo.While at Florida State, Supevielle met Dr. Manuel Pacheco, who would later become a TAMIU president, explained Dr. Lem Railsback, a professor for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. They and others would later pursue a vision that would grow into TAMIU.”It was an adventurous eight to ten years,” said Railsback. “Everyone helped everyone else. It was some of the best times because it was new ground. People were hungry for education.”As the university grew, more and more students and faculty became part of the vision. One of those professors, Dr. Frances Rhodes, Associate Professor for the Language and Literature Department, recollects Supervielle’s character.”One of his strengths was his ability to make any woman feel beautiful without any improperness,” said Rhodes. “This ability was his courtly manner and appreciation of others. He was very respectful.”Keck also noted Supervielle’s kind nature.”He was generous, modest, brilliant, warm, kind, unassuming, unbending but in an utterly appealing, non-threatening way,” stated Keck. “He warmly supported students and colleagues.”In 1996, Supervielle completed 25 years with the university and would stay on a few more years and then retire.”Even though he was frail physically, he never lost his spirit of life,” expressed Rhodes.It was the same spirit that aided in the creation of TAMIU.”We never envisioned this. We never dreamed of something this big. When Zaffirini got funding, it bloomed. It really is a unique place and occurrence in Texas,” expressed Railsback. “He said many times that if his own suffering as a refugee helped pave the way for a better day for [others], he would happily accept his own fate,” said Keck.