Introducing the 2024 Texas Community College Student Advisory Council

The Council’s student members are a diverse group, including first-generation college students, student-parents, student government leaders, and individuals from various races, ethnicities, ages, and backgrounds.

newspaper May 01, 2024 by Ed Trust
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Join us in welcoming the 2024 Texas Community College Student Advisory Council (SAC)! The Council’s student members are a diverse group, including first-generation college students, student-parents, student government leaders, and individuals from various races, ethnicities, ages, and backgrounds. The Council is supported by Young Invincibles, EdTrust in Texas, and Breakthrough Central Texas, and empowers student leaders to advocate for policy change in community college education.

This year’s group follows the successful inaugural SAC, which helped advocate for important reforms to higher education policy in Texas.

The members of the 2024 Student Advisory Council are:

Dane Adams, Trinity Valley Community College and Tyler Junior College  (alumni), The University of Texas at Tyler (current)

Joannette Casias, Palo Alto College

Desteny Espinoza, San Antonio College

Colton Grahmann, Odessa College

Sofia Jimenez, Del Mar College

Skye Kern, Odessa College

Myles “MLC” Lopez-Cepero, Austin Community College

Igor Lucic, Houston Community College

Courtney Paige, Dallas College (alumna), Fisk University (current)

Chrischen Thompson, Lone Star College (alumni), University of Texas at Austin (current)

Montoya “Toya” Thomas, Lone Star College (alumna)

As part of a paid fellowship, they’ll convene regularly throughout the year to deepen their policy knowledge and advocacy skills to improve student success at their respective colleges and statewide.

“Members of the Student Advisory Council played a pivotal role shaping the student-centered recommendations of the Commission on Community College Finance and supporting passage of House Bill 8,” said Jonathan Feinstein, State Director for EdTrust in Texas. “Continued student leadership remains essential to ensure this transformational legislation has its intended impact: to support more Texans in completing the credentials to pursue their dreams and seize the kind of employment opportunities that will allow them to provide for themselves and their families.”

To learn more about the SAC and its new members, visit younginvincibles.org/texas-pace-student-advisory-council/.