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ANRS & Rodeo Exes
129 Ringneck Drive
Sanger, Texas 76266
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The ANRS & Rodeo Exes Association is an independent non-profit, charitable organization recognized
by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as an eligible 501(c)(3) entity. The mission of the Association
is to promote Sul Ross State University and to raise funds to be disbursed to deserving Agricultural
students and rodeo participants by the University. Neither the Board, nor the membership, of the
Association has any part in the selection of scholarship recipients. Membership to the Association
is open to all individuals interested in the mission and activities of the Association.
Membership is $50 annually. New or renewal memberships can be sent to:
ANRS & Rodeo Exes Treasurer
129 Ringneck Drive
Sanger, Texas 76266
Additional information regarding the Association can be obtained from the same address.
Hank Finger came to Sul Ross in the fall of 1946 from Alvin, Texas. He had spent two years in the Navy and had attended Texas A&M prior to his arrival. He quickly became a leader on the Sul Ross campus, working in the Clip-N-Brand, Veterans Club and the Rodeo Club.
Among his wins in the college rodeo include winning the bareback competition at the University of Arizona in March 1948, 2nd in saddle bronc at Hardin Simmons, April 1948, and was on Sul Ross’ First National Championship Team at the Cow Palace in 1949 where he scored points.
Hank Finger was a leader in organizing the NIRA in 1948-49. A President of the Bar-SR-Bar Rodeo club at Sul Ross, he chaired an informal meeting of the students from ten colleges and universities who were contestants in the Sul Ross Intercollegiate rodeo in November, 1948. They discussed the need for standard rules and requirements for college rodeos and teams and for criteria to determine National Championships. An organizational meeting was scheduled for the following January in Dallas.
During November and December, Hank contacted college rodeo clubs all over the western and Midwestern United States, informing them of the Dallas meeting and asking for sample constitutions for such an organization. He compiled the information he received and presented it at the Dallas meeting where he again served as chairman.
Representatives from thirteen colleges wrote out a constitution for the new organization and took it back to their schools to be approved by their clubs and college administrations. All the institutions accepted the document, and the NIRA was born.
Finger continued to work tirelessly to promote the NIRA. He helped negotiate a contract for the First National Intercollegiate Championship Rodeo, which was held at the Cow Palace in San Francisco in April 1949, and to arrange for the First Official Convention in Denver the following week. By the end of the Spring Term, twenty-eight college rodeo clubs had joined NIRA.
Induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor which can be bestowed on an individual by the ANRS & Rodeo Exes Association. This honor is for ANRS graduates or friends and recognizes those who have represented the Association, the ANRS Department, or Sul Ross State University with distinction through their personal and/or professional achievements which brought honor to our University. Nominations may be submitted by any member at any time. The ANRS & Rodeo Exes Board of Directors will periodically review nominations and determines inductees into the Hall of Fame. Inductions are not necessarily held annually, but rather when a sufficient pool of inductees is obtained. The induction ceremony is at the Annual Reunion held the last weekend of July in Alpine.
Make a nomination for a deserving individual for induction into the ANRS & Rodeo Exes Hall of Fame!
There is certainly room among these fine individuals for additional honorees. Please give some consideration to nominating a deserving individual for induction into the Hall of Fame.
