THECB Grant to Support Minority Males’ Collegiate Success

The Achievement Initiative for Minority Males (A.I.M.M.) received the Student Success Acceleration Program – Implementation Grant for $250,000 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The goal of the grant is to support students’ persistence in completing credentials of value leading to successful career and labor market outcomes. This year’s focus is on minority males on campus. A.I.M.M. seeks to increase retention, graduation, engagement and overall success of ethnic minority males by providing life-skills training and development for an improved educational experience and quality of life. Students selected to participate will increase their knowledge and skills in the following areas: time management, academic and leadership development, personal and professional branding, mental and physical health, financial literacy and civic responsibility.

With this grant, the University will recruit more males to the program and provide resources, workshops and events to help build the blueprint for this program for all minority males on campus.

Men and Women’s Soccer Make Playo s for First Time in School History

Texas A&M-San Antonio men’s and women’s soccer teams made history, competing in postseason play in just their second year of eligibility. In October, the women’s team fought to a 0-0 draw against Our Lady of the Lake University, earning a spot in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Soccer Tournament.

The men’s soccer team, which defeated Our Lady of the Lake 4-0, also made the RRAC Soccer Tournament.

The women’s team finished 6th and the men’s team finished 4th in the regular season.

Both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at A&M-San Antonio began in 2021.

Three Women’s Soccer Players Receive 2022 Daktronics Scholar

Athlete Award

(Above left to right) Sophomores Maram Abdeljaber, Krystal Goytia and Aleah Montes were named 2022 Daktronics Women’s Soccer ScholarAthletes by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. All three players made great contributions to the success of the Jaguars by appearing in more than 10 matches en route to the program’s first RRAC postseason tournament.

Under the direction of first-year Head Coach Fredy Sanguinetti, the Jaguars improved from 3-8-2, 3-6-2 RRAC to 9-4-3, 6-3-2 RRAC and finished as the sixth seed in the RRAC despite being picked to finish tenth out of 12 teams in the conference Preseason Poll.

Rec Center Construction Begins

A&M-San Antonio has begun construction on its new Student Recreation Center. The 22,322-square-foot recreation center is slated for completion in spring 2024.

Student-Athlete Trailblazers Graduate

It is a privilege to be a student-athlete within an intercollegiate athletic program, but it does not come easy. All student-athletes have to walk a fine line balancing their respective responsibilities. The student-athlete’s ultimate goal is to graduate.

The fall 2022 student-athlete graduates are Yasmine Cuadra, women’s soccer; Caty Rangel, Kameryn Casares, Britney Garcia and Sidney Garza, softball; Jordan Hardin and Ethan Perez, men’s golf; and Victor Villareal, men’s soccer.

These students represent the second group of student-athletes to graduate from A&M-San Antonio. Most are also members of their respective team’s first roster, and each is able to say they helped start athletics at A&M-San Antonio.

In November 2022, The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents approved the construction of the Student Recreation Center. The facility will include three primary large spaces — a gymnasium, a fitness/weight room and a set of locker rooms. The new multipurpose gymnasium will consist of a collegiate competition basketball court and two 84-foot-long recreation basketball courts overlaid as cross courts. A fitness/weight room, approximately 3,400 square feet and one-and-a-half stories high, will be adjacent to the gymnasium.

Many are expected to use the gym and fitness/weight rooms and each will facilitate a myriad of University programs, including strength and conditioning, kinesiology classes, ROTC program drills and exercises, convocations, career fairs, staff council meetings and various campus town halls, among others.