NOVEMBER 30, 2020 — Editor’s note: The following message was sent via email today from Dean Lynne Cossman of the College for Health, Community and Policy to the college’s faculty and staff:
It is with a heavy heart that I let you know HCaP has lost a member of our community to COVID.
Gidget Vasquez spent the last eight years managing the office in the Department of Demography. Gidget was an incredibly devoted and dedicated member of the department.
In chatting with members of the department this morning, it became clear Gidget was so much more than an administrative assistant. She was the glue for the department—she celebrated its members’ successes and milestones with them. Faculty birthdays were celebrated with cake. Holidays were honored with door decorations. She coordinated a department Thanksgiving lunch every year.
Graduate student defenses were as nerve-racking for her as they were for the students.
She did these things because she cared deeply for the demography faculty and students as a part of her family.
In this season of Thanksgiving, we are cognizant of all the things for which we are grateful. Clearly faculty, staff and students of the Department of Demography are immensely grateful for Gidget’s many contributions.
COVID has made these incredibly difficult times and her death has brought this home to us. This is the first time for many of us the pandemic has been so personal.
COVID and its effects on our society and our communities emphasizes the critical importance of our HCaP mission: focusing on the health and well-being of all. Please lean on each other as we mourn Gidget’s death, celebrate her life, and withstand this pandemic.
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This event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
