Hinojosa: Harter returns with clear conscience and rightful place in UTPA Hall of Fame

EDINBURG — Reid Harter was the most popular man at Saturday’s University of Texas-Pan American Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony. The Broncs’ former cross country/track and field coach posed for plenty of pictures with his former athletes.

It was a well-deserved honor for Harter, who led the Broncs’ women’s cross country team to five conference championships. In addition, he had four athletes advance to nationals as individuals. With more than 20 of his former pupils there, it was a happy day, for sure.

“I’m overwhelmed in a positive way,” Harter said. “I’m emotionally drained. For me to see my athletes again and my colleagues is great. I feel very at home here.”

Rewind the clock 16 years, and it was a different story.

Harter was practically run out of town and forced to leave coaching — the only profession he had ever known at that time. In August 1996, Harter, along with his wife Portia and their son, Eamonn and daughter Kersti, left the Valley and moved to Boise, Idaho. Harter had no connection to Boise outside the fact that he had once spent a week there when he accompanied Delilah Johnson to the NCAA nationals in 1994. It just seemed like a nice place to live, he said. He also didn’t have a job lined up there.

“The most difficult decision I’ve ever made was to resign from my position,” Harter said. “But, it was time to chase other dreams. … It was time to chase my dream, and that dream was centered on spending more time with my family.”

There were other reasons, too. Outside of his loyal athletes and a small band of colleagues, Harter’s name was mud at UTPA when he left.

Why?

It was because he had the gall to do his job.

During his nine-year tenure at UTPA, Harter also served as the university’s NCAA compliance officer. His job was to ensure the athletic department adhered to NCAA rules.

In the early 1990s, Harter notified the NCAA of possible rules violations in men’s basketball during Kevin Wall’s tenure. The Broncs were placed on probation as a result. Harter was removed as the department’s compliance officer when the job became a full-time position. Although he was no longer the officer, it didn’t stop him from submitting a letter to the NCAA that outlined possible violations in men’s basketball during the Mark Adams era in the mid 1990s. That letter led to an NCAA investigation and further sanctions against the Broncs. Once again, the department was placed on probation. The Broncs’ athletic department is still feeling the effects from that era.

The one person who shouldn’t be blamed for this is Harter.

“It was one of those ethical dilemmas — either you chose to speak up, or you choose to turn the other way,” Harter said. “I chose to speak up. That’s me.”

The easiest thing Harter could have done was to turn the other cheek. He said he was urged to do so by those he had accused of wrongdoing. Harter had become a polarizing figure within UTPA athletics, and going to work each day became difficult. Yes, turning the other way would have been easier.

“It would have been better for my coaching career,” Harter said.

How much of an emotional toll did it take? How’s this for a revelation: Harter admitted that he may have made a different decision now, as a 61-year-old edging close to retirement, than the strong-willed 40-something he was then.

“I don’t know if I would have done it the same way now,” Harter said. “Maybe you just want to leave it to somebody else. Maybe you just get tired of fighting all the battles.”

He may wonder about those things the rest of his life. But he should never feel badly about following his conscience. Leaving his athletes was another matter. While he’s found success as a financial planner in Boise where he and his partner manage about $110 million in accounts, the coach in him has never left. He said he has a recurring dream that he returns to UTPA to coach again.

“When I decided to leave, I felt kind of guilty about it,” Harter said. “In this dream, I’m coming back and trying to get the program going again. I’m not sure what it means.”

Maybe it means that a part of him will always be here.

“When I left here, I had spent a quarter of my life in the Valley and half of my working career in the Valley,” Harter said. “I don’t think those things will ever leave you.”

David Hinojosa’s column appears in The Monitor every Sunday. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442 or via email at dhinojosa@themonitor.com