By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s Southwest Texas College (SWTX) campus extended its facilities to include a resource center to help students with personal and educational needs.
SWTX Values, Identity, Diversity and Advocacy (VIDA) Resource Center was unveiled on Thursday morning at 207 Wildcat Drive, Building K. This new addition on campus will provide resources for students residing in Del Rio and graduates planning on transferring to another university.
Members of the city council, Del Rio Chamber of Commerce and the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District board of trustees attended the ribbon cutting. SWTX President Dr. Hector Gonzales attended the event to express how the resource center is not only important to Del Rio, but to all SWTX campuses.
Gonzales said Del Rio is the first SWTX campus to have a resource center in the state. He said the resource center is important for “student success” and helping students meet their educational goals while overcoming obstacles in their personal lives. Whether it is related to day-to-day jobs or life at home, the resource center has a bit of everything to make a student’s life easier.
“This center here is going to be a central place for a student to come in and have those resources available to them,” Gonzales said. “We can’t give out a $100,000 to every student who has some credit card debt, but we have the ability to counsel them, to find them third party resources within the community to help them get to that next step, to help them get to the finish line,” Gonzales said.
“That is what we’re about. We’re about creating futures and creating opportunities and the more students we get to complete their educational goals, the more success we create . . . We create he ability for them to earn a livable wage to support a family,” Gonzales added.
After the ribbon cutting, guests who attended the unveiling got to explore the building and all its rooms. The entrance takes you to a lobby area where you can find the Zen Recharge Room on the left. The room is designed for students who are going through stress and need a place on campus to relax. The room is dimly lit and has beanbags, couches and pillows to create a cozy atmosphere.
One of the main attractions to the resource center is the Cowboy Pantry. The pantry is designed to provide items for essential living and includes various canned foods and hygiene products for students to take home with them, including green beans, vegetables, tuna, toothpaste, deodorant and body wash.
The other additions to the building include the TRiO Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) and the Student Support Services (SSS). School representatives will be present in these rooms to help upcoming students with completing online applications such as their financial aid documents. A transfer center is also available to help students who are interested in applying to other universities.
A Community Resource Room is also available for visiting social services to use for promoting their local resources, and the Espacio VIDA room will be available for clubs and organizations to use for meetings and group projects. Xaviera Haynes, VIDA project director, was giving a tour of the rooms, and she showed people the Wellness & Support Rooms, which are rooms where people can have one-on-one sessions with counselors, whether in person or though a virtual call. A lactation room is also available for students and staff who have infants.
Gonzales said SWTX is committed to Del Rio and has future plans to expand the campus to include more programs.
