UTRGV Student Activities will kick off its 21st season of the Distinguished Speaker Series with Roy Choi, a Korean-American chef and entrepreneur, at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Performing Arts Complex on the Edinburg campus.
The Distinguished Speaker Series is an annual event that started at legacy institution University of Texas-Pan American and allows students to listen to world-class speakers on various topics and to get inspired by their message, said Cristina Rodriguez, assistant director of Student Activities.
Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in Los Angeles.
In 2008, he opened Kogi BBQ in partnership with entrepreneurs Mark Manguera and Caroline Shin.
Choi is known as one of the “architects” of the modern food truck movement, blending street food culture with social media, according to the website of the food truck company Kogi BBQ, where he works as the executive chef and is the company co-founder.
Choi won a James Beard Award for his TV show “Broken Bread” and co-hosts Netflix’s “The Chef Show” with Jon Favreau.
He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. Choi was named Food and Wine’s Best New Chef in 2010, and his memoir “L.A. Son” became a New York Times bestseller.
In 2016, he was recognized as one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.
When choosing the Distinguished Speaker, there are some criteria that the Distinguished Speaker Series Committee must keep in mind, such as who would be a good fit for the students, Rodriguez said.
The event is free and open to the public with priority seating given to UTRGV students, faculty and staff. Doors will open at 7 p.m. for students, faculty and staff first and IDs will be checked. The doors will open at 7:15 p.m. for the community.
The first 50 Brownsville students to RSVP on V Link get priority seating.
Rodriguez hopes Choi’s story will inspire others.
“It starts with a passion,” she said. “… I really enjoy his work. And so, I think that’s what he can really tell the audience, that you can be an entrepreneur. You can have a lot of opportunities out there and just be very open and honest and candid. And in the process, networking and getting to meet more folks allows you to open more doors.”
Jaime Gloria, a biology sophomore, said he has never heard of the speaker series but would like to attend Choi’s presentation.
In interviews with other news media, Choi described his experience moving to the United States with his parents.
“A lot of people here [in the Rio Grande Valley] are children of immigrants,” Gloria said. “I am a child of immigrants. So, I think it’s a good experience, I guess, to listen to what someone else went through as well.”
Shaliny Nmuthoo-limon, a finance freshman, encourages the UTRGV community to attend the lecture.
“A large population in our school is like, that’s their story and that’s also their parents’ story, so I think it hits home,” Nmuthoo-limon said. “It hits close to home.”
She suggested bringing speakers with experiences similar to those in the Valley would be beneficial for the community.
“People who also had a story similar to many people here,” Nmuthoo-limon said. “… Maybe they are from Mexico or they grew up here in the RGV or close to here, so it would be nice to hear their stories.”
Rodriguez said Student Activities is collaborating with Chartwells to create a “unique” menu featuring Korean-Mexican fusion tacos.
“They’re gonna go ahead and have it at the dining hall and we’re trying to finalize the Brownsville menu right now,” she said. “But that’s something that we’re gonna introduce prior to.”
The lecture will also be viewable via livestream at the PlainsCapital Bank Theater in the Student Union on the Edinburg campus, Rodriguez said.
When registering through V Link, there are the options to attend virtually or in person. Once the event is set up for streaming, the link will be sent to students, faculty and staff who can watch it from the comfort of their home.
Student Activities is planning the next Distinguished Speaker Series event for the spring semester.
Students who want to help select the next speakers may submit a suggestion form on the Distinguished Speaker Series website.