The Central Texas Region of Omega Delta Phi moved forward with their plans to host their regional conference earlier this month. Due to the pandemic, the region retooled their conference onto a virtual experience rather than an in-person experience. The conference was hosted on October 3rd, 2020 via Zoom. Over 50 brothers of Omega Delta Phi’s Central Texas Region were able to gather for the annual regional conference. Conference delegates were able to have in-depth discussions on adjusting to the new “normal”, chat about the adversity that both student orgs and individuals are facing with the new virtual education, and the importance of perseverance and purpose during these trying times.
The Central Texas Region consists of chapters at Texas State University (P), University of Texas at Austin (X), University of Texas at San Antonio (AD), University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (AG),Texas A&M Kingsville (AM), Baylor University (AXi), Texas A&M International (AT), Texas A&M University- San Antonio (BT), University of the Incarnate Word (BO), and Texas A&M Corpus Christi (BPi). The region is led by Regional Director Bryan Garcia, alum of the Chi Chapter at UT.
The regional board prepared a full day of presentations, key guest speakers and interactive activities for participants to partake in. The undergraduates had an open forum exchanging ideas and best practices pertaining to recruitment and fundraising. The speakers included CEO/President of Special Olympics of Texas Tim Martin, CTO of Tech Talen Central Dax Moreno, and a Graduate School Panel that included college admissions professionals from Stephen F. Austin University, The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas at San Antonio.
The conference agenda included opening ceremony, State of the Region, ice breakers, breakout group discussions, as well as the revered Omega Ceremony where departed brothers are memorialized and remembered. DJ Maxx, Noel Cruz, regional board member and alum of the Alpha Delta entity was on hand to spin tunes and set the mood for a hype night.
Conference coordinators received the following feedback from conference attendees after listening to the guest speaker.“The discussion was something incredible..” “…to have the opportunity to talk to someone who has struggled, has put in the work, has been real about his mistakes but is now leading with innovation and power was something that I will cherish for a long time…”
“Having Dax as a guest speaker was one of the coolest moments that I’ve shared since I became a brother of Omega Delta Phi..”
UTSA Colony earned top billing as the “Entity of the Year” at the awards ceremony this year. Award recipients featured in the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iL9STdcBOVhRuaTSeLRBmrnVXX4IKhak/view?usp=sharing
“Thank you to the Regional Board for helping make this 1st ever Virtual Regional Conference successful. And a Special Thank you to Felipe Lopez for the program development and recruitment of speakers. We thank Felipe Lopez for his service and dedication to the Central Texas Region for the last 6 years, under two different regional administrations. We wish him success in his professional life”. –Bryan Garcia
Contributing writers:
Emmanuel Quiroz, UTSA Colony