President Renu Khator
October 9, 2024

2024 State of the University

Introduction

Well good morning, everyone. Thank you so much, Dr. Love. Wow, your voice isn’t there, but you’re so brave. I sincerely appreciate your warm introduction. You are such a fabulous teacher and a three-time alumna of the University of Houston! Your passion for the University runs deep, and I know that you’ll do great things for the university during your year as our faculty senate president. Thank you very much.

And to our Concert Chorale, you were wonderful, as usual, though I will say. Thank you, Dr. DeSpain, and thank you, students — your performance was truly superb. It doesn’t matter what happens with my address now. I think we’ve already gotten our time’s worth. Let us give another round of applause to our internationally award-winning Concert Chorale!

It is my sincere honor to welcome you to the annual State of the University address.

It is my 16th address, first called the Fall Address and now renamed the State of the University. I have used it as a forum to celebrate our collective achievements. Each year, I see so many wonderful achievements by our faculty, staff, alumni and students. It is important to take time and appreciate … and to celebrate those achievements … because it is this sense of pride in our collective excellence that creates the energy we need for our future endeavors.

Let’s see if we can capture this year’s collective accomplishments in the next 45 minutes. But before I do that, let’s honor our leaders, our Board of Regents … certainly, I can say that, with all honesty, [they are] one of the most visionary and supportive boards in the nation.

Let me call out the members who are present today. May I request you to kindly stand.

--The Honorable Jack Moore

--The Honorable Durga Agrawal

--The Honorable Gregory King

--Our student regent, the Honorable Tomas Bryan.

Thank you all for your wisdom, time and support.

Very high on my gratitude list are the former board members who have carried this weight and all this responsibility on their shoulders on this journey toward excellence. May I ask all the former board members to please stand?

Also joining us in the audience are the presidents of our three sister universities. Our brand rises and falls together, so their work is deeply appreciated. Please welcome…

--President Loren Blanchard from UH-Downtown,

--And no stranger to you, President Richard Walker from UH-Clear Lake,

--And President Robert Glenn from UH-Victoria is here with us too.

Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to be with us this morning.

As a matter of fact, because of the approaching hurricane in Florida, our grandkids are here today too. And they are here in the audience. So, they will be criticizing my address later on after this whole thing.

Rankings

Let’s begin with national rankings. The University of Houston reached a milestone in the Forbes top colleges list by ranking No. 46 among public universities … and in Texas, behind only the two PUF institutions. The Forbes ranking is relevant because it is based entirely on measures of student success like return on investment, average student debt, graduation outcomes, retention rates and students’ salary after graduation.

Indeed, it is a great milestone to cross … we can pat ourselves on the back, but we cannot stop here or celebrate it too long because we have yet to achieve our goal of becoming a top 50 public university by U.S. News & World Report.

On this scale, we slipped a little but still remained in the top 75 this year. Of course, we could blame it on a number of things, including the students’ learning loss during the pandemic, especially given the demographic makeup of our students. But that would be an excuse, and we are not here to make excuses.

I say kudos to our faculty and staff, once again, for having made the greatest increase of any Texas university in the past, moving up 48 spots as shown in this chart. But we know that we still have more work to do. And we have work to do on helping students persist and graduate.

Let’s look at some more bright spots … congratulations to Bauer College of Business for its MBA program breaking into Fortune magazine’s top 50. Its MBA program now ranks No. 23 among all public universities!

Staying with Bauer College, the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship was named No. 1 in the nation for best undergraduate program. This is the 5th year in a row, creating an absolute dynasty. So, give a hand to the entrepreneurship program! Congratulations to all the hardworking faculty, staff and volunteers.

Another program shining bright is the 46-member Moores School of Music Concert Chorale that you just heard from. The program is ranked No. 10 among the most impressive college choirs in the nation! You all are doing a fabulous job.

UH has 18 programs ranked among the top in the world according to the latest QS World University Rankings. This list includes a wide range of programs from English Language and Literature to Hospitality, from Accounting to Education.

One final ranking I want to talk about came as a pleasant surprise. It is by the AAU, or the Association of American Universities, and it measures faculty’s productivity in book writing. It is a new measure added this year and as you can see, we rank on the top in Texas. On the top. Congratulations to our stellar faculty!

Student Success

Our story has to begin with this year’s record-breaking enrollment making UH home to almost 48,000 students … well nine short but who is counting.

More than 42,000 prospective students applied to be freshman at the University of Houston, an indication of increasing interest in the UH degree.

After several steps of review and acceptance choices on behalf of the university and applicants, our enrolled freshmen class stands at 6,260, larger than ever.

Our commitment to transfer students remains strong as well; however, with the rising reputation of the University and increasing financial aid to freshmen, students seem more inclined to join us straight from high school.

Interest from other countries has been rising impressively as well as you can see, with India being the largest nationality among our international students.

I would like to honor the admissions team for their hard work for reversing the trend that has been there for three years, which is flat or declining enrollment. So, may I ask the admissions team to stand and be recognized?

It is hard for students with limited resources to access college, it is even harder for them to graduate. Our efforts begin on day 1. Staff volunteers set up welcome booths, and offer students bottled water, ice cream, t-shirts and of course help in navigating this large campus.

This year, the move-in day was filled with concierge-like service. A team of professionals — well, I’m not a professional — but, a team of professionals unloaded students’ belongings and delivered them to their rooms, while students and parents stayed in their air-conditioned cars. They were then transported from the parking lots to the residence hall by free pedicabs. Coach Fritz, Provost Chase and I were there for some time to welcome students and their parents. The most common complaint that I heard was, “It wasn’t like this when I came here.”

Now, let’s talk about student success.

The six-year graduation rate stands at 65%, higher than the national and state averages. The coming few years will be challenging because of the cohorts that came during the pandemic and the learning loss that took place during those years. But it is my hope that we can work harder and smarter and serve these students right. Help them to graduate.

The momentum is visible at the graduate level as well. The awarding of graduate degrees has been up. What is more gratifying is to see that a significant portion of this increase is in critical STEM fields.

Our commitment to students from underserved communities also stands strong. Did you know that in comparison to all other research and emerging research universities in the state of Texas, the University of Houston grants the largest number of graduate degrees to students from economically disadvantaged communities?

At the graduate level, we have seen a 56% increase in degrees awarded to minority students in the last ten years alone.

The University of Houston continues to rank high on the scale of social mobility, measuring 36th in the nation. Social mobility is defined by the U.S. News & World Report as a university’s ability to help students from economically disadvantaged categories to persist and graduate. UH is not only a leader among Texas’ Tier One universities, but we are also No. 1, tied with UCF, among our peers in the Big 12 conference. That means we’re moving more students up the economic ladder.

It is gratifying to see that the average student loan for our students at the time of graduation is the lowest among all our peers in Texas.

It is the result of many strategies. For undergraduate students, there has been no increase in tuition for several years. In addition, the Cougar Promise program offers free tuition to all undergraduates whose family income is $65,000 or less per year and guarantees a tuition discount to all those whose family income is less than $125,000 per year.

Thanks to a better advising and course offering system, undergraduates are taking fewer credits to graduate. In 2011, on average, students were taking 153 credits but today, they are taking 134 … 19 credits less, saving each one an average of $13,000.

Another way to look at it is the time they stay in college. On average, a student today takes only 4.7 years to graduate, which is almost a year earlier than what it was in 2011. One year’s average salary, plus the cost of college, equals $71,000, which is the financial benefit of graduating earlier.

But that’s not all. We have also helped students save on third-party costs. The University of Houston has a special program called The Cougar Textbook Access Program, or CTAP, where a student pays one set price for all required textbooks for the semester. Students, in aggregate, have saved $20 million since last fall, in three semesters alone.

Clearly, our faculty and staff have worked tirelessly to raise the bar on students’ learning and support services and it is reflected in the student satisfaction survey. The overall satisfaction score increased by 8% last year alone and the largest gain has come in the areas of food, safety and the sense of belonging. I must say that instruction and academic experience have always been very high, leaving small room for improvement.

Our efforts are paying off in other ways too. Students are excelling nationally and globally. Mielad Ziaee, a senior majoring in psychology and former UH System student regent, was named a 2024 Harry S. Truman Scholar. He is only the third person to be recognized with this honor in the University’s history. Mielad intends to pursue a degree in medicine after graduating. He wanted to be here but couldn’t be here.

Displaying an equal amount of grit and determination and also planning to go to medical school is Kayce Ekpenike. A sophomore and an entrepreneur, Kayce is a full-time student while owning and operating not just one but two food trucks selling gourmet funnel cakes. I wish you had them out here today. Kayce is here, though. Kayce — will you please stand? And she intends to go to medical school, by the way.

Still on the topic of student success, let’s celebrate the first graduating class from the Fertitta College of Medicine. These students have been trained like no other doctor in America, starting their classes during the peak of COVID. As successful MDs, they are now pursuing their residencies at prestigious programs nationwide.

Not far behind are the inaugural class of DNP or Doctor of Nursing Practice graduating, the first class to graduate again. The DNP program aims to address the shortage of primary care providers, nursing educators and leaders.

As a side note, the University of Houston is not only strong in its doctoral programs, but it is also the largest producer of professional practice degrees like the JD, Doctor of Optometry and Doctor of Pharmacy in the entire state of Texas. We’re the largest producers.

Research and Faculty

While teaching is our passion, research is our obligation because as a research university, we must use our intellectual capital to serve the community and help improve quality of life. Our researchers have reached a new height by building new partnerships and getting transformational projects.

Let’s begin with the $44-million-dollar grant from NIH to establish a regional hub for translational research. In partnership with Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Houston team, consisting of 10 colleges and led by Dr. Bettina Beech, our Chief Population Health Officer, won this grant. This latest CTSA grant will prepare the university to engage in translational research and open doors to many such projects to come to Houston. Let’s congratulate Dr. Beech and the entire team on this great accomplishment. If you’re here, would you please stand? Thank you.

Last month, another UH team led by Dr. Yan Yao from the Cullen College of Engineering was named a member of a $63 million consortium grant to find solutions to battery challenges, one of the most pressing barriers in the nation’s resolve to find sustainable energy. UH is the only Texas university in this consortium and if you look at the list of participants, you can see that we are in great company. I request Dr. Yao and anyone from the team to please stand. Thank you.

This year, we were granted a registered trademark for “THE ENERGY UNIVERSITY®” — meaning no other university in the U.S. can use that title. I say we are living up to our name as we are part of multiple national consortia that together have over a billion dollars in federal funding to advance the energy transition. How about a hand to THE ENERGY UNIVERSITY®?

But research activity is not just about dollars, it is the impact that matters. Dollars help us conduct research and find solutions that make an impact.

Here is an example of a $50 million grant to the Houston Housing Authority where UH is an anchor institution. This transformational grant is aimed at changing lives in Third Ward through community revitalization and also by improving health, education and employment outcomes. UH does not get any funding but adds to the value by in-kind support from faculty and students from five different colleges.

The types of research our faculty are engaged in are diverse and the questions that they are raising through their work are of great public interest. Let’s look at some of these questions:

Can cancer be detected by a simple blood test? Just a blood test. The answer from the lab of Dr. Wei-Chuan Shih in the Cullen College of Engineering is a sound yes and his method is currently detecting cancer from blood tests with 98% accuracy. Once fully approved, it will be a game-changer.

Another question — can we combat climate change with algae? Yes, algae that is available in abundance. Dr. Venkatesh Balan’s lab in the Cullen College of Engineering is proving that it can be a great source.

Can heart failure be treated by altering just one protein inside the heart? Dr. Bradley McConnell and his graduate students from College of Pharmacy have discovered this very promising identifier.

Let’s move on to other questions.

Can electricity be made more affordable? Can trains glide more swiftly without friction? Can medical imaging, like the MRI, become simpler? Can iPhones be charged almost instantly? The affirmative answer to all these questions lies in the labs of our professors like Dr. Xiaojia Chen from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics or Dr. Venkat Selvamanickam of the Cullen College of Engineering or Dr. Paul Chu at the Texas Center for Superconductivity. These and other researchers are unlocking the power of superconductivity. I have a few more questions.

Can long-term effects of myopia be avoided? With 35 active NIH grants, researchers at the College of Optometry have become the national hub for tackling this problem.

Can middle school students overcome cultural and language barriers that prevent them from being interested in science? Professor Jie Zhang of the College of Education is a principal investigator on a $2 million NSF grant to find the solutions that work.

And finally, why do diabetic women from underrepresented communities face higher risk of developing dementia? Professor Stacey Gorniak from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences is focused on solving this puzzle with the help of a $1.4 million grant from NIH.

May I ask any of these researchers I mentioned — your work is of so much importance and public interest — may I ask that you please stand, if you are in the audience?

These are only a few examples of the marvelous work going on at the University of Houston. Our research portfolio continues to expand and now with the state’s new endowment, it will grow even further.

With such excellence in teaching and research, it is no wonder that UH faculty are winning global and national recognition.

This year, at the top of my list, is the winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize, Professor Cristina Rivera Garza from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Super! She won the prize for her memoir, “Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice.” I have read your book, Cristina, and all I can say is that it is one of the most provocative and moving accounts of a country’s political and social fabric that I have encountered in a long, long time. Congratulations, Cristina! I don’t know if you were able to come, but if you’re here would you please stand? Thank you.

Jericho Brown, a UH alum from the Creative Writing Program, has won the 2024 MacArthur Fellow, which is also known as the "Genius Grant." It is worth noting that Jericho won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020, and he is currently serving as the Director of the Creative Writing Program at Emory University.

Also making waves is Dr. Omolola Adepoju in the Fertitta College of Medicine who has been awarded the prestigious Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship to support high-caliber research and education projects. She was also recently named director of the Humana Integrated Health System Sciences Institute. Dr. Adepoju, if you are here would you please stand?

On that note, let me introduce the new Vice President of Health Affairs and Dean of the Fertitta College of Medicine who has just joined us, Dr. Jon McCullers.

Five faculty members were honored with the Fulbright Scholar Award this year. They are traveling to Australia, United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan and Tanzania to conduct research. Please know that 14 UH students are also in different parts of the world with the Fulbright Fellowship. What a banner year of global recognition for the University of Houston!

Facilities

As our enrollment grows, as technology becomes more sophisticated and as hurricanes become more frequent visitors to Houston, the need for functional spaces also becomes acute.

The infrastructure of our many aging buildings is and has been a cause for concern. Recognizing this need, we had allocated $100 million to retrofit the most problematic infrastructure in the core of the campus, while also upgrading classrooms and offices in those buildings. At this point, the work on three of the core buildings has been completed and work on three other buildings continues.

Science and Research 1, and McElhinney will be completed by summer of 2025. Work on Agnes Arnold continues. Last year, we added $38 million to ensure that the needs of the Agnes Arnold building were met.

One new building to open this year was the Retail Auxiliary and Dining Center also known as the RAD. At 41,000 sq ft., this fabulous modern food hall offers new and popular dining options, including The Burger Joint, Taco Stand, Paper Lantern, Absurd Bird and the Nook Cafe. If you haven’t been there, you must visit that place.

We also broke ground on the new home for the Cullen College of Engineering’s technology programs at our Sugar Land location. Spanning 75,000 square feet at the cost of $65 million, funded primarily by the Texas Legislature, this building will open in 2025.

Already on dazzling display and holding bragging rights as one of the largest in the Big 12, and the country, is the TDECU stadium’s new 7,200-square-foot video board. This video board is a part of the Memorial Hermann Football Operations Center project, a 105,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility, which will be home to the Cougar football team and provide additional premium stadium seating. The project is funded entirely by philanthropic or auxiliary dollars.

Our building in the Texas Medical Center, the new home to UH Population Health, began renovations this fall and will be ready for occupancy by 2026.

Planning for the Innovation Hub, a 70,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility, is complete. The project should break ground in the spring and will be home to everything that inspires innovation — a makerspace, the Energy Transition Institute, the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship and many, many more.

Next to break ground this year will be a 42,000-square-foot building for the Hobby School of Public Affairs. This modern structure will provide cutting-edge teaching and collaborative environments, enhancing the academic experience for students, faculty and staff alike. The project will be completed by 2027.

We will also begin to see work on the $40 million Centennial Project, including the construction and upgrade of Wilhemina’s Grove in the Arts District and demolition of Farrish Hall.

We are slated to break ground on a new freshmen residence hall, a $179 million investment that will add 1,000 beds to our campus. Scheduled for completion by summer 2027, this project will expand on-campus living capacity to 9,400 students. That will be second largest in the state of Texas, by the way, among all public and private universities. I don’t keep count, but, you know sometimes … sometimes.

Another project under active programming is the Medical Research Building next to the Fertitta College of Medicine. The building is a $78 million project funded primarily by the Texas Legislature. The building will break ground next year.

And finally, scheduled to be completed by 2027 is the Dining Commons, an additional dining option. The 71,000-square-foot facility will cost $64 million.

Before we leave this topic, I want to highlight an extremely important project and that is the Safety and Security project. At the cost of $18 million, this project will revamp the entire campus lighting by adding new light poles, upgrading old ones, adding parking lot kiosks, and more security cameras and emergency call boxes. The project is being done in several phases. The first phase, which focused on the residential district, is mostly complete. The second phase will upgrade the professional, arts and athletics districts, followed by the third phase, which will cover the central district. It should make our campus brighter, safer and more modern.

Athletics

Now I turn to athletics. Thanks to our coaches and student-athletes, the Cougar family traveled, even though via television, to the Summer Olympics in Paris. Six of our athletes participated and two brought medals home. It was a proud moment for Cougars to watch Coach Carl Lewis, the nine-time Olympic gold medal winner, carry the Olympic torch and Shaun Maswanganyi and Louie Hinchliffe win silver and bronze medals, respectively. Congratulations to Coach Lewis and our medal winners. If you are in attendance, please stand. Wow, thank you!

By the way, that medal is very heavy. I tried it.

Eleven of the 17 UH teams advanced to the NCAA post-season this year. Our Men’s Basketball team won the Big 12 conference championship in its inaugural year in the conference! Unbelievable…but then nothing should be unbelievable with Coach Sampson. Watch out for the Cougars this year!

After fumbling at the season opener, Houston Cougars reclaimed the Bayou Bucket in style and almost stole the show against Oklahoma in Norman. Their road win against TCU last Friday gave us a glimpse of what’s to come. Coach Fritz, in his first building year, has been successful in securing one of the top recruiting classes in Big 12. No doubt, the future is bright with Houston Cougars Football. That was a sweet win against TCU, I must say.

The landscape of athletics has changed at a dizzying pace in the last two or three years, but even bigger changes and challenges are on the horizon. These include settlements on several lawsuits, restructuring of NIL and reshaping of college football playoffs. To add to the uncertainty, analysts predict that we will see more conference alignments in the not-so-distant future. No matter what happens, our goal is simple and it remains the same: to be nationally competitive. I am pleased that our new Athletic Director, Mr. Eddie Nuñez, is here to lead us forward. And I can leave all my problems to him now. Mr. Nunez, will you please stand?

Donors

None of this – our progress in teaching, research or athletics — is possible without the generosity of the donors who are just so special to the University. Let me highlight a few.

I am pleased to announce for the first time today that the Cemo Family Foundation has made a generous gift of $10 million to enhance the student-athlete experience in TDECU stadium. This gift builds on a legacy of support from Mike and Becky Cemo who have previously given in so many ways, including the Cemo Hall in the Bauer College of Business. Mr. Cemo served as a UH System Regent for 6 years and I had the honor of working under his guidance. His children, Stephanie and Jason, are in attendance today…will you please stand and let us recognize you? Thank you so much for making the trip and being here with us.

An anonymous donor has made a planned gift of $5 million split between Business, Engineering and Athletics.

After establishing several scholarships before, the William Brookshire Foundation has made a $3-million gift specifically benefitting working students in the colleges or Business and Engineering.

Elaine Finger has established a $2 million endowed chair in Business and Healthcare Innovation.

It is notable that donors are interested in helping build excellence across disciplines. They are giving gifts to multiple colleges and multiple areas.

A very special shout out to philanthropists among us for making million-dollar-plus gifts to the university…yes, I am talking about our own faculty and staff.

The latest gift of $1.4 million has come from Paul Chu and his wife May Chern to advance scientific research. Thank you, Paul and May so much. We really appreciate your generosity.

This adds to the list of other donors:

Lisa and Nick Holdeman’s gift of $1 million to the College of Medicine.

Tom and Laura Shu’s $1 million gift to Civil and Environmental Engineering, and

Randy Thummel’s $1.1 million gift to Chemistry.

Each and every gift has made a difference, whether for students, researchers or community members. We thank you on behalf of all our students and all who will come and benefit from your generosity.

Conclusion

This last year has not been an easy one, given that we had our share of controversies, disruptions and natural disasters. However, the pace of our progress neither retreated nor paused, which proves that we have both momentum and time on our side. Our goal remains the same: becoming a top 50 public university in the nation and, once again, that is only possible if we further increase our six-year graduation rate and double our research profile.

To continue our progress, we have to invest in our talent, both faculty and staff. During the 89th Legislative Session, which will begin in January, our number one priority is an increase in the base funding to allow us to do just that, to invest in our people. We are also asking the legislature to increase Texas Grants to give more financial aid to fulfill the unmet need of our students.

As we march toward a momentous occasion in 2027, our centennial, I am even more optimistic that we can build on our momentum.

We will officially launch the centennial in October 2026, exactly two years from today. We are preparing plans in three areas: campus transformation, academic discourse and comprehensive engagement. Let’s look at each one of them.

The plan for a $40 million campus transformation was completed and then approved by the Board of Regents last year. The objective is to create a tree-covered, pedestrian-friendly vibrant campus with outdoor gathering places surrounded by art and offering serenity. The plan also includes new and bold entrances to the campus, as well as a central plaza for large gatherings.

I am pleased to announce that Provost Chase is appointing a committee to plan academic programs during the centennial year. The committee will invite proposals to organize conferences, symposiums, panels and speakers to mark the occasion. It is my sincere hope that every college and every department would be able to participate during the year-long celebration. The provost will have funds available to support academic programming.

The third and final part of the centennial and this whole planning involves going to our roots and engaging the city, the community and our alumni. As we reflect on our past, we must challenge ourselves to think about our obligation to the founders of this great University … our obligation to the city we call our home…to alumni we call our family … and to students we call our future. It is not enough to think of what we could do — the question is what we must do. Because we are the University of Houston…and being in Houston we can do things that others can’t even think about.

We must build on our momentum and continue the journey of excellence into the next chapter of the university’s story. The pursuit of excellence rests on two things: leadership, which you have shown … yes, each and every one of you is a leader because you have a sphere that you can influence. But the pursuit of excellence also requires resources, and we must work for that.

With this in mind, I am announcing today that in celebration of our 100 years, let’s plan to raise…

--100 million dollars, that’s extra from today onwards, for student impact scholarships

--100 graduate and professional program scholarships, including in medicine

--100 million dollars for academic and research programs from arts and humanities to sciences and engineering

--100% increase in support for student-athletes

--100 centennial innovation awards for staff … yes, we will look for 100 staff members who have innovative ways to combat bureaucracy to help save time or money.

--100 gifts for campus transformation

By now, you may be thinking “Are we starting another capital campaign?” Well, you may not be entirely wrong. We have been in the quiet phase of a capital campaign since we concluded the last one.

As you can see, we have raised $580 million in the quiet phase and are thus in a position today to announce our formal campaign in honor of the centennial.

If we complete everything I listed earlier, we would have completed a successful campaign of $1 billion.

Is it about numbers? I must admit that I do like the number with a “b,” but numbers are only good to keep us focused. It is truly about impact. Student scholarships transform not just one life but an entire generation.

Endowed chairs do not just add a faculty member; they help us find a cure for cancer, a clean energy future, or keys to achieving equity and parity in our society.

Endowed academic programs in the arts and humanities inspire students to find a voice within and become Pulitzer Prize winners and MacArthur Geniuses.

Physical spaces are not just buildings, they provide the means to start conversations and discourse.

Student-athlete well-being ensure that they don’t just win games but have wins in life.

We must dream big … if we don’t dream big, we are not living up to our potential; neither are we fulfilling our obligation.

I challenge us to rise to the occasion…to reflect on what a blessed place this university is…and to promise that we will become the force that propels us into the next century.

Because we can’t stop now…

We can’t stop here…

We are on a roll…

Can’t stop Houston!

Can’t stop us!

Thank you and Go Coogs!

Thank you! And now I am proud to introduce our video to launch the new campaign, Can’t Stop Houston.