Recognitions
Distinguished Community Engagement Partner Award
2019 Distinguished Community Engagement Partner Award
The recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Community Engagement Partner Award was recognized on April 12, 2019, at The Engaged Scholarship Symposium in Edinburg.
Recipient:
Marcos Silva - South Texas Ideas Festival (STXi)
One of the community partners that has been champion in ensuring that UTRGV students engage in conversations around culture, community and their own identity is the South Texas Ideas (STXi) Festival organization. The South Texas Ideas Festival is an organization that primarily focuses on ensuring that young adults within our Rio Grande Valley take pride in who they are, what they believe and where they live. They do this through coordinating a yearly STXi Festival that provides a platform for students across our region to have a conversation surrounding culture, identity and community.
At the festival, the organization welcomes local and nationwide leaders to lead conversations that are impacting our nation and the Rio Grande Valley, such as immigration, the border wall, education, and mental health.
Most importantly, the festival is led and coordinated by high school students from IDEA Quest High School and are provided oversight by Marcos Silva, the Co-Founder of STXi and Educator at IDEA Quest. This ensures that the topics and leaders that are selected for the festival most resonates with the experiences and concerns that young adults in the region may have.
Marcos Silva is the first in his family to graduate from college. He is a TED-Ed Innovative Educator at IDEA Quest High School in Edinburg, Co-Founder of Border Kids, and Co-Founder of South Texas Ideas Festival.
2018 Distinguished Community Engagement Partner Award
Recipient:
Esther G. Herrera - La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE)
2017 Distinguished Community Engagement Partner Award
Recipients:
Jeanette Ahlenius – United Way of South Texas
Jessica Belschner – United Way of Northern Cameron County
Ramiro L. Gomez – City of Edinburg Solid Waste Management
Traci Wickett – United Way of Southern Cameron County
Faculty Excellence Award
Dr. Sarah Rowe
Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development
A unit of the Division of Governmental & Community Relations
Engaged Scholarship and Learning
A unit of the Division of Student Success
Office of Faculty Success and Diversity