To educate students about cultural differences, economics and political factors in the Rio Grande Valley, the Civic Engagement Alliance will host the annual State of the RGV Conference from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday.
โItโs more on the educational side of civic engagement, so we try to get different panelists or speakers that we think students might want to hear from,โ said Melanie Gutierrez, secretary of education for the Civic Engagement Alliance.
The four panelists, Remi Garza, Cameron County elections administrator; Ronnie Garcia, associate director of employer relations for the UTRGV Career Center; Alex Stehn, co-founder of RGV Puede; and Veronica De La Garza, from the Office of Governmental and Community Relations; will speak during the event.
Each speaker will have 45 minutes during the event, which will take place in the Main Building Salรณn Cassia on the Brownsville campus.
โThis year, we have a speaker from the Cameron County Elections Department, someone from [the] UTRGV Office of Community and Governmental Relations to talk about legislative updates in the Texas Legislature,โ Gutierrez said. โWe have a nonprofit called RGV Puede to talk about โฆ UTRGV [as] a B3 institution, as well as someone from the Career Center to talk more about employment opportunities.โ
Garcia said attending the event is important for two reasons.
โOne, itโs important to be aware of issues and opportunities that are happening in the Rio Grande Valley and to be able to participate and actively engage in areas of service that interest them,โ Garcia said. โI also feel itโs an opportunity for students to learn about how government entities work and figure out if, possibly, they want to work in a government entity to better service the community.โ
Stehn, a philosophy professor at UTRGV, said he wants to raise awareness of the group and its objective to support schools that develop bilingualism, biculturalism and biliteracy in students from Pre-K through high school.
โI want anybody whoโs a student in the audience to know that we exist and that if this is something theyโre excited about, that they could contribute,โ Stehn said. โThey wouldnโt have to become an intern. โฆ We want the community to know that if you believe that bilingualism and biculturalism and biliteracy are good things, then RGV Puede exists.โ
Cristina Rodriguez, assistant director of Student Activities, said the university hopes the event will inspire students to get involved.
โWe would like the UTRGV community to be aware of whatโs going on and how they can be involved,โ Rodriguez said. โIt takes one to make a change and by attending, we hope to bring awareness, educate and inspire opportunities to get involved.โ
Admission is free for UTRGV students. There will be food and opportunities to win prizes.
For more information or accommodations, contact cea@utrgv.edu.
