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Boyaki Becomes One of Newest Members of Corbin J. Robertson Society
Jan. 26, 2004 HOUSTON - El Paso lawyer and University of Houston double graduate Walter Boyaki will readily admit that he isn't the most athletically blessed person. Nevertheless, that doesn't stop him from being a vital part of the Cougar Athletics Department. "I can't run with a football and I can't throw a football, but I can certainly pay," Boyaki said. A partner in the law firm of Miranda and Boyaki, Attorneys at Law, in El Paso, Boyaki has been a regular donor to the University of Houston since 1986 and recently became one of the newest members of Cougar Pride, joining the Corbin J. Robertson Society. With his current annual donation of $11,108, Boyaki and other Society members help underwrite the cost of one full athletic scholarship. Currently, more than 300 student-athletes benefit from scholarship support. Boyaki was a double UH graduate, earning his bachelor's degree in political science in 1970 and his law degree in 1972. As a student at UH during the playing days of Elvin Hayes in men's basketball and Elmo Wright in football, Boyaki saw Cougar Athletics during its heyday and saw the impact that the Athletics Department made on the entire campus. "I got so much joy out of my years at UH through athletics. It did so much for us and I was able to see that when I was there," Boyaki said. "The Athletics Department is very important for a school. If the Athletics Department does well, it helps the whole picture." The son of a bartender, Boyaki said he and his brother had to share one pair of dress shoes growing up since they had the same size feet. It was that kind of upbringing that helped him relate to the University of Houston and its Athletics programs. "Our family was the epitome of what UH stood for. We were a little upstart with little credentials and little background pushing older programs around," Boyaki said. "If you talk to Cougars from the 1960s and the 1970s, many of them feel the same way." And that's why Boyaki and the entire Cougar Athletics family was thrilled with the hiring of football head coach Art Briles in 2002. "He is doing a wonderful job," Boyaki said. "If they had to pick somebody, I'm glad they picked a Cougar from the 1960 and 1970s."
Living out in west Texas in another time zone, Boyaki said he and his family have difficulty at times returning to Houston for games. Fortunately, he has been lucky enough to attend two home games at John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium with plans to make the Cougars' regular-season finale against Conference USA rival at 4 p.m., Nov. 29.
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