On Monday, April 10, university students and members of the San Antonio community mingled at the Pearl Stable in anticipation of The Contemporary’s first civic engagement symposium. The student-run public affairs journal brought together five San Antonio thought leaders for a panel discussion moderated by The Rivard Report’s Robert Rivard. Panelists included Marisa B. Perez, Texas State Board of Education member – District 3; Drew Galloway, executive director of Move SA; Jason Stanford, communications director for Austin Mayor Steve Adler; George Rodriguez, former Reagan and Bush White House appointee; and Juany Torres, founder of Organize SA. The panelists discussed the importance of voter turnout, civic education, and their personal daily motivators.
Benjamin Collinger ’19, executive director of The Contemporary, opened the symposium by speaking about the organization’s mission to “empower collegiate journalists to seek truth.”
“We began reaching out to college campuses and publications across the country to bring the best minds together,” said Collinger. “We have now collaborated with students and publications from over 20 universities in the United States and one in the United Kingdom.”
Columnists for The Contemporary attend universities such as Pomona College, Macalester College, University of St. Andrews, Bates College, University of Connecticut, University of Missouri, Trinity University, and others. Zabdi Salazar ’19, director of business operations for The Contemporary, says the symposium was also a great chance to recruit potential columnists from UTSA, University of the Incarnate Word, and St. Mary’s University.
“We want to let students know that this organization is also for them,” said Salazar. “We founded this organization because we thought there needed to be a publication that unified university public affairs journals from college campuses that were too separate and insular.”
The Contemporary was founded through Trinity’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the mentorship of Luis Martinez ’91, director of entrepreneurship. The journal published its inaugural edition in January/February 2016 and earned $5,000 in seed funding through Trinity’s Stumberg Competition in March 2016.
To learn more, follow The Contemporary on social media at @TUContemporary and facebook.com/thecontemporarytu. Students of all majors are encouraged to write for the publication and can email thecontemporaryjournal@gmail.com with article ideas.
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