Pablo Aguilar, service center supervisor for Parking and Transportation Services, hands a UT Rio Grande Valley transportation guide to nursing freshman Italia Gonzalez during an orientation session held Jan. 8 in front of the Student Union in Brownsville. MICHELLE ESPINOZA/ THE RIDER
Dinora Cabadas, a social work junior, is excited about the Week of Welcome and looks forward to the volunteering
opportunities at the MLK Day of Service today.
“I am going to go,” Cabadas said about attending events during the first week of school. “I just need to make time, since I work. I would like to see more [university events] about social work programs that you can do volunteer hours and get experience.”
The Week of Welcome kicks off with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, where there will be more than 1,000 volunteers across the Rio Grande Valley serving in the community.
Patricia Montemayor, UTRGV’s Student Activities program coordinator, said although there is no class today, students on both campuses can volunteer at multiple agencies.
Several events will take place throughout the week on the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses. They include the Toss for Luck, scheduled at noon in the Chapel of the Lord’s Prayer Water Fountain in Edinburg and the Main Water Fountain in Brownsville, and an Involvement Fair that allows students to learn more about organizations on
campus.
Pablo Aguilar, service center supervisor for Parking and Transportation Services, hands a UT Rio Grande Valley transportation guide to nursing freshman Italia Gonzalez during an orientation session held Jan. 8 in front of the Student Union in Brownsville. MICHELLE ESPINOZA/ THE RIDER
Volunteers at Info Depot booths will help students find their classes from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. (outdoors) and from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (indoors) Tuesday and Wednesday.
Student Union Director Edna Zambrano said the union will host the Camp Fire Bash from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Edinburg and expects a few hundred people to attend.
“We wanted to have something … that goes with our theme of Vaquero,” Zambrano said. “We thought a campfire would be fun and we’ll be having some of those small open fire pits that you would have in your house, where the students will be able to make s’mores. We’ll have some other drinks, and we’re still trying to have a band for that. But, hopefully, we’ll have some live music, but it will just be a small event just to kinda kick off the semester.”
For more information on Week of Welcome events, visit utrgv.edu/weekofwelcome.
