Special to Clickitsa.com

In an effort to engage students to become more aware of their personal and social responsibility in civic participation, a forum will be held 6:30 p.m. Nov.13 at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA)’s 1604 campus in Room JPL 4.03.08. The forum will be held by Student Voices by MATT.org, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Mexico Center, the UTSA Department of Political Science and Geography and UTSA Hispanic Student Association and is entitled “Making your voice heard: elections and civic participation looking ahead to 2008”. 

The roundtable is designed to open up discussion among students from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The roundtable panel will include 10 students representing the UTSA, St. Mary’s University (St. Mary’s), the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW), Our Lady of the Lake University and Trinity University. Students participating in the roundtable forum are from Mexico and the U.S.

“This roundtable is important to understand where Mexicans and Americans come from and where we want to go as a community,” says Cesar de Leon Zendejas, president of the student government association at St. Mary's. The impact of past Student Voices by MATT.org events has been overwhelming. Humberto Gonzalez, a senior at UIW said of a previous panel, "There have been few events in my life that have influenced me so much that they have actually changed me. Such was the pioneering event dedicated to exactly what this organization stands for.”

According to Pearson Education, 84 percent of college freshmen volunteer for public service, yet in the last three presidential elections, the average turnout of Americans under 25-years of age was only 40 percent.

“The UTSA Mexico Center is proud to collaborate with the MATT.org Student Voices Project,” says Dr. Harriett Romo, director of the UTSA Mexico Center. “This initiative is exciting because it brings together student leaders to discuss political issues and generate ideas about how students can make a difference. This is an important way to engage students in civic concerns, which is a major goal of the UTSA Mexico Center.  Students are our future decision makers and will play an important role in national and global politics. They are critical in creating bi-national dialogue. Their solutions and bilateral policy recommendations can enhance civic participation to address problems on both sides of the border.”

With students from various backgrounds and cultures, the forum roundtable will certainly provoke ideas and opinions on how all students, regardless of their status can engage their ethical responsibilities to self and others and to bring to the forefront their responsibilities as citizens in a diverse democracy.

 “These students are the leaders who will carry us into the future. Through events like this, Student Voices is creating dialogue to prepare students today to lead together tomorrow,” said Student Voices by MATT.org director, Marissa Gabrysch.

Making introductory remarks to the students and attendees will be MATT.org Foundation founder, Lionel Sosa and director of the UTSA Mexico Center, Dr. Harriet Romo. The Student Voices by MATT.org forum roundtable is free and open to the public.  Parking is available on the roof area of the UTSA parking garage. For more information, call 416-0418.