Keshav Rajagopalan (B.S. ’10) continues to be a champion of The University of Texas at Austin.
While a Communication Studies and Plan II Honors student in the mid-2000s, he was vice president and cannon crew with the Texas Cowboys, president of Student Government in 2008 and a member of the Friar Society. So, after graduation and continuing his career and education in New York, he knew he wanted to find a way to give back.
But it was his wife, Cary Hines, and her lived experiences as an educator that inspired them both to understand where and how they could make an impact.
When Cary and I were thinking about ways to give and ways to get involved, we thought this was a fun way for our interests to come together — mine for UT and hers for education,
Rajagopalan said.
During a visit to Austin in 2022, the pair, who are both originally from Houston, decided to give back by supporting the College of Education’s efforts to help early-career teachers through initiatives like Texas Education THRIVE.
Now, the Cary Hines and Keshav Rajagopalan Endowed Teaching Innovation Fund supports THRIVE and college initiatives that aid early-career educators and increase teacher preparation and retention through professional development, mentorship and other resources.
The Staying Power of Education
Because they had a small wedding due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they commemorated their first wedding anniversary with a celebration and, in lieu of gifts, the couple invited friends, family and UT alumni to support teachers by making a gift to their endowment.
Though he was never a student at the College of Education, Rajagopalan said he always had a deep respect for and an understanding of COE’s mission, programs and impact. During his tenure as student body president, he spent time getting to know former COE Dean Manuel Justiz, now a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy.
Although I wasn’t an education student, I was very familiar with the programs and the college,
Rajagopalan said. I knew what the college was doing and the importance of it, not only to students but obviously to the community. I also spent some time volunteering at UT Elementary, so I understood the fabric of the College of Education.
Meanwhile, Hines always had a passion for teaching. Upon graduating, she began teaching first in Houston, then in Denver and finally in the South Bronx area of New York City. She taught in charter schools, driven by a mission to support underserved communities.
Though she stopped teaching three years ago to raise their child, it was her nine years of teaching which inspired her and Rajagopalan to give back to educators who were giving so much of themselves to local communities against great odds and challenges.
The mission of charter schools is near and dear to my heart because of the focus on underserved communities,
Hines said. I knew teaching was my calling and I recognize we grew up with so much opportunity and privilege given the school we were able to attend. Recreating that type of opportunity for others is what drove me to work in charter schools and really focus on underserved communities.
Supporting Early-Career Teachers Through THRIVE
Hines and her colleagues struggled during the pandemic with balancing the already existing challenges of early-career teaching with the additional obstacles of keeping themselves and students healthy, transitioning to virtual education and then in-person socially distant classrooms.
While many of us have the flexibility of Zoom these days, others still don’t have it,
Rajagopalan said. It is so important what teachers do for the community. Giving was not just crossing our interests, but it was inspired by Cary’s lived experience of being a relatively new teacher when the pandemic began and providing teachers with development and support can help retain high quality teachers.
As she continued teaching through the pandemic, Hines’ experience highlighted the daunting yet significant task that educators face every day to educate the future leaders of our communities. Reflecting on the impact of the pandemic, Rajagopalan emphasized the emotional and professional support early career-teachers need.
What we saw was a need for teachers to be seen and heard,
Rajagopalan said. The pandemic helped all of us to realize that those on the frontlines are so important. Sadly, you have to lose your trash or recycling pick-up, your doctor or nurse, or your teacher to understand the critical role they play in the community.
According to Rajagopalan, the pandemic also highlighted the need to retain high-quality educators and the important role that the College of Education plays through programs like THRIVE in the education ecosystem by graduating future teachers and providing a resource and support system for current educators.
When we heard about THRIVE, its effects and how much it has grown to support more teachers, we knew it was exactly what was needed to retain high-quality teachers,
Rajagopalan said. This program says to teachers ‘we see you, we hear you, and we want to be there for you in your current and future development needs.’
Now, Rajagopalan said their hope is that teachers will feel increasingly supported and be able to show up as their best selves to support their students.
If you help the teacher, and the teacher is able to be their best self, that has a positive outcome for students in our communities,
Rajagopalan said. It really is about UT having that butterfly effect beyond the Forty Acres and helping people in our communities to educate the future leaders of Texas. That is the epitome of ‘What Starts Here Changes the World.’
