Established in 2013, Mariachi Los Matadores is directed by Dr. Lauryn Salazar. As an academic mariachi program, the group focuses on a wide variety of styles within the mariachi tradition and is heavily influenced by the music and work of the oldest and most influential mariachi group in the United States, the Grammy-Award Winning Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano. Through a close association with Jesus “Chuy” Guzman, the director of Mariachi Los Camperos, students in the program learn the traditional repertoire along with more contemporary practice as Mr. Guzman coaches the group twice a year. The students in the group represent a wide-variety of majors and demonstrates the importance of a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) approach to learning. Additionally, the group comprises students from Lubbock High School, South Plains College, as well as Texas Tech students’ ranging from freshman to doctoral students. It is the aim that this program represents a true pipeline in which mariachi music is a pathway to higher education through recruitment and retention.