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Inside an auditorium with floor-to-ceiling windows and views of rolling hills, university and political leaders welcomed a crowd of people to the Oct. 22 grand opening of Tarleton Fort Worth’s second building on the city’s southwestern prairie. “It didn’t seem like it was very long ago that we were standing on this hill. There was absolutely nothing here except a lot of wind,” said Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, standing in the light-filled auditorium. Tarleton State University is part of the Texas A&M University System. “You knew what was fixin’ to happen in this neck of the woods. And I will tell you, if this is not the golden age of Tarleton State University, I don’t know what the hell is.” Sharp was talking inside Tarleton State University Fort Worth’s 100,000-square-foot Interprofessional Education Building, which first opened for students this August. The $66 million building has both lab space and classrooms, primarily for students in the university’s College of Health Science and the College of Education. “If you stop and think for a moment, the amount of investment that Texas A&M is making in the city of Fort Worth, in North Texas, and Tarrant County specifically, it is truly awe-inspiring,” said Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, who has a bachelor’s degree from University of Texas at Austin and a law degree from Texas A&M University School of Law. “It really is a special time to be a part of this city, and higher education is at the center of that.”University President James Hurley speaks during the Tarleton State University’s Fort Worth campus grand opening of the Interprofessional Education Building on Oct. 22, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)“The true winners are our students who are benefiting from this best-in-class facility during their educational journey,” said Tarleton State University President James Hurley. “Our goal is to be the — not one of, but the — leading provider of comprehensive health care practitioners to Fort Worth and its neighboring communities.”Jonathan Alexander, one of the students at the Fort Worth campus, said he’s expanded his ideas at Tarleton and learned different ways to give back. Alexander listed how his family pursued advanced degrees to further their careers and their lives.“And, yes, everyone — I’m next,” said Alexander, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business. “You’re next. There are adults and there are children in your community who are next.”Rachael Capua, the dean of Tarleton Fort Worth who oversees the Fort Worth campus, emceed the event. She expressed gratitude for the community members who came together to make the campus, and its expansion plans, a reality. For her, the event was about more than just “windows and railings.” Opening the building, and Tarleton’s offerings, to the public means increasing opportunity for those who may not have had access to it.Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus. Contact her at shomial.ahmad@fortworthreport.org.At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.