How One Staff Member Has Affected the Lives of Students, Faculty and Campus Cats

Michele Keeler has called the second floor of the W.C. Hogg building at The University of Texas at Austin home for decades. A longtime senior systems analyst for the College of Natural Sciences who’s now partially retired, she’s witnessed UT’s campus and atmosphere transform over the years. 

She has worked alongside campus leaders to find answers to thorny problems; supported faculty and staff members in tracking down important data; and made a behind-the-scenes difference for generations of students. 

As she recently marked 50 years working at UT, Keeler reflected on how she and UT have evolved over her time here, and she offered advice for students and staff new to the school.  

Finding a career (and life partner) at UT

Keeler began her career at UT in 1972 as a degree plan evaluator in the College of Communication responsible for making sure students were on the path to graduation. While she briefly moved back to her hometown of Spokane, Washington in 1975, she returned to UT for good in early 1976 to work for the College of Natural Sciences as a degree-plan evaluator. 

During Keeler’s lunch breaks, she would visit her friends at the College of Communication, where she had a chance meeting with the college’s new computer programmer. 

“I guess I wanted to impress him, but I started taking one course a semester in computer science and management information systems,” Keeler said. 

Keeler, who has a master’s degree in French, found programming to be a whole new world but was fascinated by its applications to her work. 

“I would make the projects I would have to do in class relatable to what we were doing in the office working with student data,” Keeler said. “That made it interesting.”

Eventually, she became a full-time programmer for natural sciences. And the programmer who sparked her interest in computer science? He became her husband.

“It all happened because I met a guy,” Keeler joked. 

These days, Keeler works less directly with students (though she said she still loves helping lost students find their way to class). Most of her role is behind-the-scenes as she helps advisors work more efficiently and provides data to administrators and faculty for projects like determining how students are doing in particular classes. 

Keeler said she struggles with change, but once she found her niche at UT, she was content. 

“When you’re younger, you’re expected to have all these goals and just constantly be reinventing yourself, and it doesn't always work out that way for everyone,” Keeler said. “I liked being on campus. I liked the people I worked with, and I don’t regret staying here at all.”

Changing the campus cat culture 

Students may eagerly search for albino squirrels or cheer at the sight of Bevo, but to Keeler, the campus cats hold a special place in her heart. She reminisced about how she would care for the cats that loitered around W.C. Hogg and the Main Building by feeding them and finding homes for them in the 1990s. However, the cats weren’t viewed favorably by administration, and Keeler would have to place the bowls of food in inconspicuous places to avoid attracting attention. 

“There was a physics professor who was feeding a bunch of cats who was more obvious and had white paper plates with big globs of food,” Keeler said. “Me, I was going under the bushes.”

But during winter break in 1994, exterminators hired by University administration trapped many of the cats and took them to an animal shelter, where 14 of the cats were euthanized. Horrified by the loss of her feline friends, Keeler wrote a letter to The Daily Texan to raise awareness about the situation. 

The letter mobilized a group of employees who created the Campus Cat Coalition and sparked a change in UT’s cat culture. Now, the UT staff and faculty who volunteer for the Coalition take the cats to vets, feed them and ensure they’re cared for.

“The fact that it could be done so out in the open was something beautiful to see, after I had been slinking around like a criminal,” Keeler joked.

Tracking transformation at UT

While Keeler lamented some changes to the Drag, she had plenty of praise for how UT’s campus has evolved over the years.

“All these lovely places for students to lounge and to congregate didn't used to exist,” Keeler said. “The overall atmosphere has improved, and I marvel at the diversity of students talking and walking with each other.”

Keeler encouraged new students and staff to participate in the campus community and take advantage of the enrichment opportunities UT’s facilities offer, from the gyms to the libraries to the museums. 

“Students don't typically want to talk to old people, but try to have more intergenerational interactions,” Keeler advised. “You've got to get out there and interact with others, especially nowadays, when it's so easy to isolate yourself.”

This article is part of a new series of stories about staff in the College of Natural Sciences.