Mark Young
myoung@foghornnews.com
More than 100 Del Mar College students will stress the importance of community colleges to state legislators this month as they hit the Texas Capitol for Community College Day.
Del Mar will participate in the biennial event held in Austin by the Texas Association of Community Colleges. Beverly Cage, director of Student Leadership & Campus Life, will lead over 100 students at the event, which aims to show the impact and importance of community colleges across Texas. The day will not only feature multiple talks from Texas legislators, but will also give attendees a chance to speak at length with key policymakers and community college leaders.
Payton Jones, an education major, plans to attend to talk to legislators face to face.
“I went two years ago and met people like Todd Hunter and Abel Herrero, whose choices have real impacts on community colleges in Texas,” Jones said. Hunter and Herrero represent the Coastal Bend in the Texas House of Representatives.
John Beauford, a business administration major who will also attend, says he “wants to bring the issues of non-traditional students like myself to the forefront. I’m 50 years old and because community colleges offer affordable and accessible ways of learning, I get opportunities that people at my age haven’t had before.”
Cage said that by going to the event “we hope that legislators see that community colleges are vital and have a positive impact on Texas.”