Benavidez
RIO GRANDE CITY — South Texas College Board of Trustees Chair Rose Benavidez was lauded last week for being named chair of the Association of Community College Trustees Board, the first Latina to do so in the organization’s 50-plus year history.
Benavidez was named chair of the nonprofit educational organization’s board last Saturday and will serve for a year, working with national leadership while advocating for higher education and students from the Rio Grande Valley, according to a news release.
“We have national attention, and we must ensure we address our needs, highlight our successes and the transformational impact we are having in our communities across the RGV,” Benavidez wrote.
During her tenure with the nonprofit so far, Benavidez has advocated for increased federal funds for higher education, aligning skills training with wage employment and the promotion of student success.
Benavidez is following in her late father’s footsteps, the release said. Manuel Benavidez was a founding STC board trustee and a chair of the Association of Community College Trustees diversity committee who was selected as regional Trustee of the Year for his service with the group.
“I knew of my dad’s efforts and leadership growing up and admire everything he accomplished,” Benavidez wrote. “Being elected to the STC board made his vision clear and helped me establish a foundation to strengthen my resolve to expand access and create opportunities in our community.”
On Friday, Benavidez got a glimpse of the legacy she may leave with her own service in higher education when the Starr-Camargo Bridge Company donated $100,000 to the South Texas College Foundation, a release said.
Funds will go toward scholarships for deserving students under the Rose First Star Fund.
“Where this came from is the fact that Rose (Benavidez) has been an important fixture in my life for a long time … so this brought me to thinking how to honor a person who has been outstanding in my life,” company president Sam Vale wrote.
“This is why we came up with the concept of the Rose First Starr Fund that will add an additional $100,000 to be spent over the next 10 years and will be focused on how we help people get through their final college degree.”
Benavidez, a Starr County native and president of the Starr County Industrial Foundation, commented on the importance of educational opportunities.
“As I walked into this room, I immediately felt all of this wonderful energy not just about celebrating me but the fact that we all understand the importance of having representation of ensuring that we recognize when those opportunities are around for us to be able to share with others,” she wrote in the release. “We all share in the vision of continuing to transform this community. I decided a long time ago that this was not about accolades or recognition, but responsibility — that I needed to do more to make certain that this community becomes a better place.”
