SUMMER 2018
Making Headlines
Tigers go on to launch startups, fill high-powered executive positions, and become media mainstays
Trish DeBerry ’87 Bachelor of Arts in Communication Founder and CEO, the DeBerry Group Former KENS-TV Anchor, Reporter and Producer
I do a lot of hard work behind the scenes—whether it’s crisis communications, public relations or campaign work— and from a strategy standpoint, that’s what I really love about my job. At Trinity, whether it was my advertising and marketing classes, or writing and working for KRTU— the whole liberal arts experience helped me identify multiple interests I had in the field of communications. That really propelled me into what I do today, because my firm, the DeBerry Group, is a full-service agency that does so many things under the umbrella of strategic communications: crisis communications, public relations, marketing, graphic design. The exposure to all of those things at Trinity helped me realize that you may want to pursue one field, but within that field, you can be good at many different things.
The Trinity Perspective magazine is produced quarterly. Through these pages, explore the many facets of life at Trinity University and get to know the students, faculty, and staff that call Trinity home. With the vibrant city of San Antonio as a backdrop, discover the many benefits and opportunities our community has to offer. Oh, and we may throw in our favorite restaurants around town for you to check out while visiting our 125-acre campus.
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ABOUT TRINITY Trinity University is a private, residential, co-educational institution with an undergraduate focus. So, what does that mean? It means that we are here to focus on YOU. We connect you with the best possible resources, caring and engaged faculty members, committed staff members, and world-class students destined to have a positive impact on our community.
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Cut Them a Break International Trinity startup Coldeclara helps Colombians navigate their country’s challenging tax system
By Jeremy Gerlach
Trinity entrepreneur Emilio Vernaza ’17 doesn’t mince words about the tax system in his native Colombia. “It’s a pain in the a--,” Vernaza grimaces. “And I want to make it less painful.” Vernaza, along with his brother Joaquin, is the co-founder of Coldeclara, one of the first online tax preparation platforms in the nation of Colombia. The business, started at Trinity University in fall 2016, helped more than 100 clients file their income taxes in 2017 and has
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its sights set on a massive expansion this coming fall. “In the U.S., everybody knows about ‘Uncle Sam,’” Vernaza says. “But in Colombia, our government doesn’t do a good job educating the public on all the documents you need to pay taxes. We even have famous athletes saying they didn’t know they have to pay.” Colombian income taxes work differently from the U.S. system. While the U.S. tax season typically runs during the spring through April 15,
the Colombian government splits up the “due dates” for different groups of citizens in order to keep the amount of tax information it needs to process from overwhelming the country’s stilldeveloping technological capabilities. This process can be a confusing one for Colombians, many of whom may have a hard time finding out what their “due date” is. “And it’s not like in the U.S., where you just have TurboTax and a dozen other websites that do everything for you,” Vernaza adds.
In Colombia, our government doesn’t do a good job educating the public on all the documents you need to pay taxes. We even have famous athletes saying they didn’t know they have to pay.
“It’s stressful.” Vernaza gained a unique perspective on stress during his time as a Trinity undergraduate. In addition to his accounting major, Vernaza also volunteered with the the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA), which helps taxpayers with limited English-language skills, disabilities, or lower incomes learn about financial literacy and tax filing.
After his VITA internship, Vernaza wondered if there was a way to bring a tax platform to Colombia that both prepares taxes and educates its clients. Trinity’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship had an answer. Vernaza, along with Joaquin, created a basic business plan for the platform that would become Coldeclara, and then approached Luis Martinez, Trinity’s entrepreneurship director, with the idea. “Dr. Martinez was brutally honest with us— he told us this was going to be hard,” Vernaza says. “But he also told us it was possible. That’s the biggest thing about Trinity: You can validate your business model here to see if you’re actually going to be sustainable.” Along with Trinity’s academic resources, the Vernaza brothers also benefited from capital opportunities such as the University’s annual Stumberg Venture competition, where Coldeclara competed against dozens of other Trinity startups in a two-part, pitch-style contest. The group won $5,000 in the preliminary round of the competition in spring 2017, and then won another $5,000 share of the event’s $25,000 grand prize, along with co-champions RADD (an outdoor camping and lifestyle company), in the final round in October 2017.
Vernaza took away invaluable feedback from the competitive process. “Trinity gave us a safe space to fail,” Vernaza says. “We learned that we needed to sharpen our focus and corner a manageable segment of the marketplace that we can really dominate. And it’s better to learn that while you’re still in school… than to learn it when you’re on your own.” Coldeclara took this lesson to heart, transitioning from a “one-stop-shop” into a focused enterprise that caters to young professionals filing taxes for the first time. “Dr. Martinez showed us how to identify that niche,” Vernaza says. “Now, we’re going to take our business and delight that niche.” Now, Coldeclara is gearing up for the 2018 tax season as a computerized accounting platform that has automated about 95 percent of the filing process, Vernaza explains. Where the business retained an initial 100 paying clients in 2017, Vernaza says he has leads on retaining 5,000 clients in 2018. “With our automation, we’re confident that we’re going to be able to scale our business up, no problem,” Vernaza says. “But with that other ‘5 percent’ of the process, we’re checking everything for our clients—they want an actual human accountant making sure everything is correct.” Vernaza says this is where Coldeclara has true value: extending a helping hand to Colombian taxpayers when they need someone to trust. “That goes back to what we learned at Trinity,” Vernaza says. “Joaquin and I still talk with Dr. Martinez, he still helps us with questions we have, and we’re not even in the same country anymore. That’s what I love about this place.”
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SEIZING MOMENT
THE
In the midst of #MeToo, Maya Raghu ’95 serves as an expert voice for change across all media By Jeremy Gerlach
You’ve seen her on “PBS NewsHour,” you’ve heard her on talk radio, and you’ve read her words on websites such as The Huffington Post. Maya Raghu ’95, an attorney-turnedadvocate for gender equality and workplace justice, isn’t letting this moment slip away. Raghu is the director of workplace equality and senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) in Washington, D.C., and has become a visible, clear voice across all media for change in the era of movements such as #MeToo, a hashtag highlighting
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experiences of sexual assault. “The hashtag #MeToo may have taken off last year, but this movement is not new,” Raghu says. “For many people, fighting against gender-based violence is their life’s work. We (at NWLC) feel a lot of responsibility to make sure that we don’t lose this momentum, and that the bravery of the people who came forward with their experiences of harassment and assault results in real and lasting change.” At NWLC, a 45-year-old nonprofit that promotes rights and opportunities for women
and girls, Raghu is part of a team of legal and policy experts that focuses on “workplace justice”—issues of job quality, such as raising the minimum wage and ensuring access to paid leave, and anti-discrimination, which includes sexual harassment. In D.C., Raghu and her team of advocates and attorneys keep their fingers directly on the nation’s political and institutional pulse. NWLC works with members of Congress, federal agencies, state-level representatives, and other advocacy organizations to shape policy related
to workplace justice, education, reproductive rights and health, and income security for women and girls, while also helping the general public understand the impact of political and legal policies on the lives of women and families. Call her an attorney, an advocate—and now, a media presence. “Having a platform that you can use to reach thousands of people, it’s been exciting,” Raghu says. “This is an incredible opportunity.” Raghu certainly didn’t plan to become a public figure during her Trinity days, but she’s always had her sights set on advocating for vulnerable members of society. “Halfway through my time at Trinity, I decided I wanted to go to law school,” says Raghu, a political science and Spanish double major. “I had a very idealistic view of lawyers and how they could be agents of social change and social justice.” Trinity, Raghu continues, was where her interests in international affairs, the role of government in society, and how culture and the law shape each other “began to crystallize.” “Being at a school like Trinity gives you a chance to really engage with your classmates and professors on these issues, and that might not be possible at a larger school,” Raghu notes. After graduating from Trinity and earning her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1998, she worked as a law clerk for a federal judge in Houston and for a law firm in New York City, seeing a variety of cases at the trial level. Eventually, she made the jump from litigation into the advocacy world and worked for nonprofits in NYC and Washington, D.C. But continuing that jump into the court of televised public opinion “was terrifying at first,” Raghu says. “I’d done radio before, I’d spoken to print journalists, but being on TV is very, very
What I am optimistic about is that in the last couple of years, there has been a renewed, incredible energy among people, especially young women, to shape where this country is going. And that gives me hope.
different, and requires a different set of skills. It was terrifying the second time, and the third time. But you start to get used to it, and you eventually are able to relax and just have a conversation with the interviewer.” Now, Raghu has found a comfort zone under the spotlight, to the point where she says
Maya Raghu (center) addresses the media at a #MeToo press conference alongside Rep. Jackie Speier in November 2017.
her friends and family “joke about how I’m becoming ‘famous.’” “Maybe I’m ‘PBS-famous’ at best,” Raghu laughs. “I never thought I was going to have this much of a public presence; it’s wild to have all of these people on Twitter start following you or send you letters because they saw you on TV.” Beyond the terror and excitement of televised appearances, Raghu is maintaining a focus on the path ahead in the nationwide battle against gender-based violence and discrimination. “It isn’t easy to be doing this work in this current political environment,” Raghu says. “We’re fighting hard to make sure we’re not losing critical rights that we already have.” Despite the obstacles, Raghu has another message for those struggling against gender discrimination and harassment, especially in light of the #MeToo movement. “What I am optimistic about is that in the last couple of years, there has been a renewed, incredible energy among people, especially young women, to engage in their communities, to be agents of change, and to shape where this country is going,” Raghu says. “And that gives me hope.”
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A Major Pitch for the Minor Leagues
Alumna applies digital skills to increase attendance at professional baseball games By Mary Denny
Katie Davison ’04 would like to take everyone out to the ball game. Well, not everyone, but she does want to increase attendance at Minor League Baseball games and events by about eight million people to reach 50 million in attendance by 2026. That’s a lot of peanuts and crackerjacks and a mighty tall order, but one that has her “incredibly excited about the future.” As senior vice president of digital strategy and business development for Minor League Baseball, she knows that digital, mobile, and social platforms will play a crucial role in reaching that goal. Her role includes leading those digital platforms to create the right environment in
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which to foster attendance growth and fan engagement. The inspiration for Davison’s career in digital marketing came from Trinity business administration professor Charlene Davis, who “lit the spark and opened [her] eyes to what marketing really meant: much more than dreaming up catchy slogans and producing fancy TV commercials.” Much of Davison’s work is ultimately rooted in marketing and designing around consumer and fan behavior—the fundamentals of which she learned at Trinity as a business administration and political science double major. She also credits two influential political science professors, Tucker Gibson and David Crockett, with teaching her critical thinking, a lifelong skill that has served her well. No stranger to hard and hands-on work, Davison grew up on a small farm in Oregon on land that had been in the family for generations. “I was raised to roll up my sleeves and make a measurable impact,” she explains. Although she ultimately chose a different career path than agriculture, she says, “Those same skills I
It’s about community both on and off the field of play. Working in an industry that so many people are passionate about is incredibly rewarding. was taught at a young age have aided me in a career where you simply must get involved to understand this rapidly changing business.” While San Antonio, its culture, and “especially the climate” initially came as “quite a shock for a kid from a farming community in Oregon,” Davison stayed in the Alamo City after graduation and began her career with Gray Digital Group. A move to New York led to her involvement in the sports industry and included stints with the Madison Square Garden Company and later Learfield Sports, a diverse media enterprise anchored by a core collegiate business managing multimedia rights and sponsorship initiatives for nearly 130 institutions, conferences, and arenas nationwide. She joined Minor League Baseball in August 2017 and says, “I truly am living the dream. I’m honored to be part of this amazing organization
and able to work in the world of sports.” To Davison, sport is much more than entertainment. “It’s about community,” she says, “both on and off the field of play. Working in an industry that so many people are passionate about is incredibly rewarding.” Self-described as “a creator at heart,” Davison enjoys creating through art, crafts, cooking, and the like and she says the opportunity for creativity has been the draw to digital for her. “Starting in this business before the explosion of mobile and social, before apps and personalized shopping, back when not all businesses even had a website, I’ve had an amazing opportunity to grow, learn, and contribute throughout my career,” she says. “This industry has allowed me to balance my day between the logical, analytical side of running a business and the opportunity to imagine, design, test, and build that creating brings. I feel so blessed to have found a career
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A Step Ahead
5
graduate programs
100%
job placement rate for Master’s in Accounting
100%
job placement rate for Master’s in Health Care Administration (Class of 2017)
100%
job placement rate for Master’s in Teaching
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A graduate degree from Trinity University allows you to achieve your ambitious career goals and make a serious impact on your profession. Trinity has five first-rate programs that integrate conceptual and experiential learning. Master of Science in Accounting
Master of Arts in School Psychology
The Master of Science in Accounting program prepares students to take the national CPA exam and to pursue a lifetime of professional development.
The Master of Arts in School Psychology program has earned approval by the National Association of School Psychologists and offers immediate school experience as an important part of the educational experience.
Master of Science in Health Care Administration The program in Health Care Administration has achieved an outstanding national reputation, and its alumni have attained key leadership positions in health care organizations throughout the U.S.
Master of Arts in Teaching The Master of Arts in Teaching program is certified by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and provides extensive assistance to graduates in obtaining teaching positions upon graduation.
Master of Education in School Leadership The Master of Education in School Leadership program is an innovative and intensive 14-month program that leads to a Master of Arts in School Leadership and a State of Texas Principal certificate. It prepares a select cohort of educators to take on the challenges of urban school leadership in the greater San Antonio community.
Interested in becoming a Tiger?
Apply Early! Applications open for first-year students applying for the Class of 2023 on July 1, 2018 via Apply Texas or the Coalition Application, and on Aug. 1, 2018 via the Common Application.
Open House Events
Visit Campus It’s important to take the time to visit the college campuses you’re interested in. There’s no better way to get a true sense of what it’s like to be a student. We encourage you and your family to visit Trinity University—meet the people, try the food, see the sights, and explore our beautiful campus and sunny San Antonio. The Office of Admissions is open Monday through Friday (excluding major holidays) for tours and information sessions. We’re also open most Saturdays during the academic year and have some special visit programs throughout the year. Register for all visits at gotu.us/visit.
The College Search An experience for the whole family The college search is a fun and exciting time for students and families. Students get to celebrate their academic and co-
The Trinity in Focus programs are open to all prospective students and their families. These programs are an excellent way to discover the many opportunities available to students who study and live at Trinity University.
Summer Visits
Monday - Friday beginning May 1, 2018 Information session & campus tours from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
UPCOMING DATES June 30, 2018 Sept. 22, 2018 Nov. 10, 2018 Jan. 26, 2019
curricular accomplishments and reflect upon their experiences as they chart their journeys forward. Here at Trinity, we appreciate the significance of the college search experience, and it centers on you. Throughout this process, we encourage future Tigers to discover new interests, grow existing passions, and become empowered citizens of the global community. Seek support from your
friends, family, and parents along the way. They can help you with your essays, be another set of eyes, ears, or taste buds on a campus visit, and guide you through the tough decisions that come along with the many opportunities in your future. Resources for parents and families are available online at gotu.us/parents.
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9:1 student-to-
QUICK FACTS
faculty ratio
125 acre campus
located in a residential neighborhood
100% hold doctoral or terminal degrees
Private, residential, co-educational, undergraduate-focused Founded in 1869 10 minutes from San Antonio International Airport Located in America’s 7th largest city
2,430
undergraduates from 48 states and 65 countries 10% international students
77% live on
A D M I T T E D S T U DE N T P ROF IL E Fall 2017 Entry Term
campus
7
minutes from downtown San Antonio
Have a question for a current Tiger? Get the inside scoop on student life at Trinity! Email AskATiger@trinity.edu Use #AskATiger on Twitter or Facebook Add us on Snapchat and ask LeeRoy himself!
www.trinity.edu
3.63
30.2
1360
A- grade average
28-33 mid 50%
1280-1450 mid 50%
average GPA
average ACT
average SAT