Corpus Christi neighborhood under attack

“We don’t allow other people to speak to who we are. We speak, we define who we are, and we are a neighborhood.” Longtime Hillcrest resident Henry Williams Hillcrest, a historically African American neighborhood first established in the Jim Crow-era, is no stranger to the industrialization of Corpus Christi, with refineries prominently located in their backyards.   It’s an ongoing issue, accounting for the dwindling number of residents in the neighborhood over the years, and one the remaining residents figured had been settled when the federal government stepped in and offered a housing buyout back in 2015, after a Title VI…

Cast shares their thoughts on upcoming show

The drama department’s upcoming musical performance, “The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee,” excites more than just the cast according to its various student performers. “This is the kind of show where there’s no real fourth wall, so if you’re sitting in the audience, you’ve come to the spelling bee and I’m going to look at you and I’m going to talk to you because I can and do see you,” cast member Mia Dobbins explained. She also mentioned the musical’s built-in audience participation moments as one of her most favorite aspects.  Dobbins plays the role of Olive Ostrovsky, who she…

Providing a helping hand for others

In 10 years where do you see yourself? Is it rich and famous? Becoming the parent you always wanted? Paying off all your student debt?  For Del Mar College student and drama major, Ethan Sullivan it’s just the matter of being happy.  “For me that doesn’t mean being the number one movie star that you see in every movie, I don’t want to be in every movie,” Sullivan said. “I don’t want to be a broadway star that you see in every musical either, I can barely sing.”  “The way that I live my life is I do what is…

Student Spotlight: Finding focus and clarity through weightlifting

What sport teaches discipline, routine, commitment and healthy eating habits all at once? According to Del Mar College student and respiratory therapy major, Javier Salas, powerlifting does just that which is why he decided to pursue it even after receiving his high school diploma. “I really enjoy seeing kids lift not only on a team but just in general,” said Salas’s former London High School powerlifting coach, Tony Ramon. “Javi was definitely an asset to the team from just his freshman year. He may have not thought so, but just from working his numbers all the way to his senior…

Student spotlight: Female welder breaks generational curse

What’s your definition of the American dream? Maybe it’s a nice house, maybe it’s having your own sky view office, or maybe it’s all of the above. But for Del Mar College welding student, Joanna Tello, it’s a matter of breaking her generational curse of poor education. A dream made possible, as she put it, through the help of Del Mar College. According to DMC welding instructor, Richard Lugo, he estimates a total of 10-15 female students throughout the whole program, Tello included. An unfortunate occurrence as Lugo describes the opinion of many instructors on their female welding students.  “Honestly…

Student spotlight: From NFL dreams to healing hands

Everyone has goals, everyone has dreams, but not everyone has the opportunity to make them a reality. For Del Mar College student and kinesiology major Ace Navarijo, this statement became his untimely truth after enduring a Friday night high school football game that forever altered his path. A path, according to Navarijo, that had been set in stone for him since he could remember. “My biggest dream growing up, I wanted to play in the NFL,” Navarijo said. “I felt that that was my only way of providing back to my parents and every penny that they used on me…

Author D.A. Lockhart to speak at literary festival

Knowledge is all about bearing a global perspective, according to keynote speaker of the People’s Literary Festival and Canadian Indigenous author, Daniel Lockhart. Lockhart, best known by his author name of D.A. Lockhart, has authored seven books so far, comprising both short fiction and poetry, mostly focusing on the overarching theme of preserving the traditions of Indigenous peoples. Along with his work, Lockhart has also been nominated for and received numerous literary awards, including the Raymond Souster Award, Indiana Author’s Awards, First Nations Communities READ Award, and was a finalist for the ReLit Award. “A good chunk of it is…

Poetry Festival takes on a new name

The People’s Poetry Festival will now become the People’s Literary Festival in its 9th year as the newly appointed chair, Assistant Professor of English, Sarah Lenz revealed. The three day long interactive festival will begin on February 22 at Del Mar College’s Reading Lab on Heritage campus. The 23 will be hosted at A&M Corpus Christi, and the 24, the All Saints Episcopal Church. “We have 19 readings and those are panels of three to four people reading on the same theme,” said Lenz. “We also have eight different writing classes where people will learn aspects of writing craft and…

Latest news on construction for Heritage Campus library

A new year brings new updates on DMC construction, and possibly new project announcements as well. As far as the highly anticipated new White Library on Heritage Campus, Cody Gregg, dean of learning resources, said he hopes the renovated building will open this summer. “We would like to be able to open the library up by June/July, bet there are a few things that are going on with construction that may delay this,” Gregg said. According to Gregg, one of the top priorities of the library is to move things back in, which is also delaying the opening. “The reason…

Recent graduate a quarterfinalist in baking contest

Rebecca Farias began as 1 of 50,000 competitors Rebecca Farias is a mom, recent DMC paralegal graduate, business owner and, now, quarterfinalist in the Greatest Baker competition. The national online baking contest awards the winner a grand prize of a feature in “Bake from Scratch” magazine, $10,000 and a meeting with Buddy Valastro from the TV show “Cake Boss.” “I had seen it on a couple different bakers’ posts that I was following on Instagram, ” Farias said as she brought up how she first heard of the competition. “You had to apply, so I submitted some pictures, applied, got…