BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Dr. Jesús Roberto Rodríguez, president of Texas Southmost College, recently gave a powerpoint and video presentation to state lawmakers about the history and achievements of his college.
The lawmakers were in Brownsville as part of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership’s 2023 Valley Legislative Tour.
In his 45-minute presentation, Rodríguez showed examples of how TSC is outperforming the statewide average for community colleges in various categories. But he also showed a specific slide that reflected how well community colleges are doing as a whole. The statistic contained in the slide was later praised by Glenn Hamer, president of Texas Association of Business, in an interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.
“This slide is a reflection of the good work community colleges are doing throughout the state of Texas. If you look at that, 93 percent of CTE (Career & Technical Education) certificates are coming from community colleges,” Rodríguez said.
Rodríguez said that while universities take the top ten percent of students, community colleges take the top 100 percent.
“I always tell this story to my students when I do presentations. I tell them, raise your hand if you’re a trust baby. If you don’t know what that is, you’re not. (I tell the students) my last name is Rodríguez. I work for my money. You will too so you better learn a trade or a skill that people are willing to pay for. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re keeping it simple. We’re keeping it real here at Texas Southmost College.”
Here is a video of part of Dr. Rodríguez’s presentation to the state lawmakers:
Video
Editor’s Note: The above news story is one in a series about the recent Rio Grande Valley Partnership 2023 Valley Legislative Tour.
Editor’s Note: The main image accompanying the above video story shows Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez, TSC Chairwoman Adela Garza, and TSC President Jesús Roberto Rodríguez during the RGV Partnership’s 2023 Valley Legislative Tour.
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