Category: Features

Campus, Featured, Features

Journalism professor receives Creighton Award

Layla Fonseca

Journalism professor Robert Muilenburg is the 2026 Dr. Aileen Creighton Award for Teaching Excellence, and the 24th award recipient since its creation. The Creighton Award is the highest faculty honor given at Del Mar College and was established in 2002. The award is named for Dr. Aileen Creighton, late Dean Emeritus of Arts and Sciences and English Professor and is presented annually through a series of peer applications and committee nominations to recognize those who have made a strong impact on campus and the community. At Del Mar College’s annual fall convocation, history professor and 2025 winner Dr. Mark Robbins…

Community, Featured, Features, South Texas Stories, Texas

Beyond Sex : Coastal Bend Kink Weekend

Victor Herrera

A three-day convention held in Corpus Christi this summer sought to educate, entertain and create shared community around one central unifier: kink. The event, Coastal Bend Kink Weekend, took place August 14-16 as a safe space for like-minded individuals to engage with a variety of kinks, attend educational lectures, and see physical demonstrations on how to best practice a particular kink safely and consensually. The evening hours featured entertainment and the Play Space, a dungeon area where people could engage in their kinks openly, though with strict rules: no cell phones, no one under 21 years of age, and perhaps…

Campus, Features

How gender roles shaped early American space program

Samantha Bentancourt

Men pushed American technology to new limits during the early years of the space race. But women were excluded from major parts of that program. Del Mar History Professor Erinn McComb examines this theme in her new book “Gender and the Race for Space: Masculinity and the American Astronaut,” published by Anthem Press. “These were some pretty badass Americans,” McComb said of Margaret Hamilton, the woman who created the computer code that was used in the Apollo mission to the moon. Hamilton coined the term “software engineer” after her work. “There are people who think women aren’t capable of doing…

Features

Decades of Del Mar art on display in Cain Gallery

Lola Ponce Gamboa

Guests gathered at the Cain Gallery on DMC’s Heritage Campus for the opening reception of “Selections from the Permanent Collection,” part of the 2025 CAIN National Art Show.  The evening featured a curated selection of works from the college’s permanent art collection highlighting a diverse range of artistic voices and styles. Attendees enjoyed a lively atmosphere with a cash bar, free hors d’oeuvres from Citrus Bistro, and the opportunity to connect with artists, students, faculty and members of the local arts community.  Assistant Professor of the Art department, Elena Rodriguez found the art in those boxes fascinating and was amazed…

Features

New bachelor’s degree in architecture coming in 2026

Mia Ortiz

Del Mar College and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi have announced a collaboration to create two Bachelor of Arts degrees available for architecture students beginning in Fall 2026. The four-year program in Science and Architecture and the five-year program in Architecture will allow students to continue their studies in Corpus Christi and prepare them to earn their licensure to practice architecture in Texas. Passed by the Texas A&M System Board of Regents on Aug. 28, the program will be available through TAMU-CC and located at Del Mar’s Oso Creek Campus as a satellite program, along with Del Mar’s A.A. in Architecture.…

Features

Help these local food pantries fight hunger

Micaela Stewart

For many students, Valdar’s Market is more than just a place to receive food assistance, it’s a lifeline.  “I was hesitant to sign up at first because I didn’t want anyone to judge me at what felt like the lowest, but all that went away when I walked in”, says Victoria Blanco, a student and full-time single mom to a little boy with special needs.  According to Feeding Texas, 1 in 6 Texans experience food insecurity, and that reality extends to college campuses, where 38% of students at two-year colleges struggle to access enough food. Hunger isn’t something that happens…

Campus, Features

A look at Del Mar’s own mariachi group

Carlye Villarreal

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon, the Richardson Performance Hall is filled with Del Mar’s mariachi ensemble. The mariachi group has grown over time, and it’s thriving as a proud part of campus life. Today, it gives students a chance to express their heritage, grow musically, and share the spirit of mariachi with the community. Del Mar’s mariachi program originally began in the early ‘90s and quickly gained attention after placing in the Mariachi Extravaganza in 1999 which was very meaningful to the program. But after a few strong years, the group went inactive until 2014. Del Mar brought the…

Features

Texas farm workers history explored in presentation at Heritage campus

Lola Ponce Gamboa

Texas Standard digital media producer and Del Mar alumnus Raul Alonzo gave a deep dive into the history of the Texas Farm Workers Union that captivated attendees at the Heritage campus. The event, “Searching for the History of the Texas Farm Workers Union,” sparked an insightful discussion on the role of farm workers in shaping Texas and American society, as well as the labor movement led by figures like Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. Growing up in a family of migrant farm workers, Alonzo held a deep-seated passion for uncovering the often-overlooked history of the union. His research…

Community, Features

Activism on display at local Women’s March

Arianna Rios

More than 250 participants gathered in Corpus Christi’s Cole Park for the Woman’s March for Equality to express their solidarity and support local activism. The event took place on International Woman’s Day, March 8, and was organized by local advocate Ellison Powers Rhea.   Organizers counted 270 participants, including District 2 City Council Member Sylvia Campos. Campos emphasized the importance of standing in solidarity with younger generations in the fight against equality by showing up and speaking out. “You’re not alone, and you’re not crazy. There’s other’s that think just like we do,” said Campos on defending women’s right to…

Features

Students learn about impacts of race and inequalities

Mia Ortiz

Attendees learned the history of desegregation at Del Mar College in the 1950s along with other discussions of racial issues at the “Race Matters: An Afternoon on the Subject of Race” symposium hosted by the Social Sciences Department. The symposium held Feb. 26 featured five professors who each spoke on topics about race, including a timeline of the college’s personal history with integration presented by History Professor Mark Robbins. Robbins explained Corpus Christi’s period of segregation and how it impacted “the day-to-day actions in everybody’s lives to, also, the hallmarks of where we get our opportunity educationally, culturally, or even…