Students crowned Spirit of the Roadrunner during Homecoming game

Melyna Perez and Alondra Castillo are this year's Spirit of the Roadrunner recipients.

OCTOBER 30, 2023 — UTSA students Alondra Castillo and Melyna Perez were named Spirit of the Roadrunner during this year’s Homecoming halftime show on Saturday, October 28, at the Alamodome.

Sponsored by the UTSA Office of Student Activities and the university’s Homecoming Committee, the honor recognizes students who strive for academic achievement, campus involvement and community service. Additionally, each Spirit of the Roadrunner demonstrates the Roadrunner Creed in their daily actions and serves as an ambassador of the university at events throughout the year.

After candidates completed an application process, the students voted last week to select the recipients of the honor.

Castillo, a senior psychology and biology double major, is from San Antonio. She is the current president of the Volunteer Organization Involving Community Education and Service (VOICES), a student organization that leads community service projects at UTSA. She is also an involvement ambassador, a resident assistant with UTSA Housing and Residential Life, and a member of the Student Psychology Association, the Pre-Medical Society and Roadrunner Productions.

Her past experiences include serving as a peer mentor with the First-Generation and Transfer Student Programs. Castillo has studied abroad and was a 2023 recipient of the Jane Findling Award, a University Life Award honor recognizing excellence in leadership and service to UTSA.

Her Rowdy Wellness platform focuses on encouraging students to engage with the health services on campus. She stated that this could be done through a week-long experience hosted in the Student Union Paseo where students can get free health screenings, engage in outdoor yoga, sign up for appointments at Wellness 360 and engage with the Recreation Wellness Center. Participants could conclude the week with a 5k at UTSA. Castillo’s goal is to promote student health and to make health care processes and services more accessible to students by bringing wellness care closer to campus.

SGA President Zachary Nepote stands with 2023 Spirit of the Roadrunner honorees Alondra Castillo and Melyna Perez and Senior Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students LT Robinson.

Perez, a senior criminal justice major, is also from San Antonio and is a current sports programs field assistant in Campus RecreationShe brought the First-Generation Runners and HER Campus—a lifestyle collegiate publication—back to UTSA following the pandemic. She is also a member the Alpha Phi Sigma Criminal Justice Honor Society, Women in Medicine, Women of Honor, the Premedical Society, the Najim Ecosystem, Professional Business Women and the Clay Fusion student organizations. Additionally, Perez is a member of PERIOD, an organization dedicated to making menstrual hygiene more accessible to UTSA’s female students.

Perez’s platform, Change Champions, provides students the opportunity to engage in advocacy and leadership roles that will help develop them in their personal and professional lives. This program would provide students with a variety of options for impacting the campus, whether through sustainability efforts, wellness and mental health, cultural and social activities, community engagement, safety and security, or arts and culture initiatives. Her goal is to improve students’ involvement toward creating new ideas and implementing them in society, thereby allowing students to actively engage in their dreams and realize better performance success rates.

Castillo and Perez will spend the next year implementing their platforms and representing UTSA at a campus and San Antonio community events.

— Analicia Gonzales