Thursday, October 24, 2024
Around Campus
By Victoria Brito Morales
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – OCT. 24, 2024 – Anthony John Dragun, the University of Texas System student regent, recently made a trip to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley as part of of his one-year appointment on the Board of Regents, the UT System governing body.
A fourth-year medical student at UT Southwestern, Dragun was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the position in June 2024. As a student regent, he is tasked with visiting UT System campuses across the state. He visited UTRGV on Oct. 17.
One thing that stood out to Dragun, who is a Midland, Texas native, was the friendliness of students, staff, and faculty on campus.
“From the moment I was greeted at the airport, I have just been overwhelmed by how welcoming and proud people are of the Valley and being from here and going to school here,” he said.
His day began in McAllen where he met with UTRGV executive leadership and student leaders over breakfast. He then toured the Edinburg campus, including the Medical Education Building, where he was greeted by UTRGV School of Medicine representatives.
In Brownsville, he met up with student leaders and toured the campus, concluding his day in Harlingen at the UTRGV School of Medicine Institute of Neuroscience facility.
The goal of his visit was to understand UTRGV’s experience within the UT System.
“I think every campus has its own set of issues, its own set of opportunities, its own set of things that are being done really well,” Dragun said. “Hearing from the students, and not just assuming you know what's going on, is important. I think, at UTRGV specifically, supporting international students is a big thing and supporting students who work while they're in school also seems to be important.”
Ismael Amaya, UTRGV dean of students, who hosted Dragun, highlighted the value of these types of visits and the importance of having student’s voices heard by a peer representative on the UT System Board of Regents.
“By connecting directly with students on campus and across our educational sites, the regent can better represent our students’ interests,” Amaya said. “The Board of Regents make many important decisions that can have an impact on the university and students for years to come, and it is important that those decisions consider the student perspective.”
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.