UTSA marks first anniversary of historic Westside Community Center

August 21, 2020

UTSA Today

 In the year since its inception was announced, UTSA’s Westside Community Center has made great strides in fostering meaningful relationships with residents and business owners in its San Antonio neighborhood in an effort to spark educational excellence, economic opportunity and vital research partnerships in the community.

“We are learning so much from our West Side community, which is culturally rich in resources and achievements, and is a true asset for this city,” said Elvira Leal, assistant vice president for community relations at UTSA.

The Downtown Campus and the historic near West Side share a ZIP code, 78207, where residents are largely low-income and Hispanic. Citywide partnerships are necessary to tackle the community’s concerns over housing, poverty, low educational attainment and lack of internet access. The Westside Community Center was created in August 2019 to bring city stakeholders together and serve as a hub for community-based research, while additionally providing educational and cultural services and career development and training opportunities.

Its creation also aligned with President Taylor Eighmy’s vision to expand the Downtown Campus over the next decade and his commitment to be informed and influenced by the West Side’s historical and cultural context. “Our goal is to balance our growth with the preservation of community assets, such as the heritage, artistic legacies, social movements and the working-class landscape that shape San Antonio’s West Side,” Leal explained.

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