UTRGV Center of the Borderlands

Join us for Borderland Poetics: A Workshop & Reading with Raquel Gutiérrez ✍️

Raquel Gutiérrez is a writer, artist, and educator whose work covers the study of q***r brown life in the Southwest borderlands. Her book Brown Neon was named one of the best books of 2022, and their latest poetry collection, Southwest Reconstruction (2025), continues this powerful work.

Event details:
📍 Edinburg —
Date: April 7, 2026
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: (Shary Room ELIBR 1.206) 📍Brownsville —
Date: April 8, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM
Location: (Salon Cassia BMAIN 2.402)

For accommodations or questions, call (956) 665-3214.

Join us Friday, March 20 at The Caffeine Library as we partner with Mujeres Unidas for an open discussion on building healthy relationships, recognizing red and green flags, and breaking harmful cycles. Let’s continue empowering and supporting one another in a safe and welcoming space.

ℹ️ Plática on Healthy Relationship Traits
📍The Caffeine Library (1518 W University Dr Edinburg, TX 78539)
🕥 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

📞 For special accommodations or questions, please call (956) 665-3214

Come say hi at our info table this week! ✨ Learn about Grad Affiliate opportunities, office hours, and the Pluma Writing Program. Oh, and don’t forget the swag! We will be located right outside the Shary Room from 9AM-4:00 M-TH and 9AM-3:00PM F

Vaqueros, the Holiday Break is approaching! 🎀🕯️🌟

Now’s the time to recharge and enjoy the holidays with your loved ones. Happy Holidays and New Years!

🚨Our NEW hours will be announced soon, stay tuned!

📢 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! 📢

Vaqueros, the Center of the Borderlands and the Center of Bilingual Integration are MOVING to a NEW location on campus‼️

📍 You can now find us in the Library, Shary room (1st floor) stay tuned for our official opening announcement!

ℹ️Our Centers will close on December 10th as we prepare for our move. UTRGV Center for Bilingual Learning & Innovation

The Center of the Borderlands welcomes our newest team member, Itzayana!

We’re truly excited to see the impact she’ll make as she brings her skills, experience, and passion to our work across the region. Before joining the Center of the Borderlands as Program Manager, she worked with UTRGV’s High School Equivalency Program (HEP), a federally funded program that serves migrant and seasonal farmworker communities in the Rio Grande Valley. In that role, she supported recruitment efforts by engaging directly with partner organizations and community members to raise awareness of the program’s free GED classes, resources, and support services. Her work helped connect students to the tools they needed to earn their GED and transition into college, training programs, or better-paying job opportunities that can improve their quality of life.

She now brings that same dedication and understanding of regional needs to the Center of the Borderlands, where her experience, advocacy, and understanding of regional needs will help strengthen our mission and the community we serve.

Please join us in giving her a warm welcome to the Center!
👏💐

The Center of the Borderlands bids Citlally a fond farewell! 🫂

Citlally has worked with the Center of the Borderlands as a Graduate Student Assistant since May 2025. She has shown incredible commitment as an Assistant from start to finish. Helping with the day-to-day activities of the center, managing social media, and creating a safe space for students. We will always cherish the memories we made with Citlally these past few months and will cheer her on her future endeavors as she parts her ways from the center.

May your next journey be full of success and opportunities. Good luck Citlally! 🤗👋

Throwback to last month when we had the Director's from Going Varsity in Mariachi, Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn, as well as Mariachi Oro director Abel Acuña who joined us for an incredible evening celebrating mariachi, filmmaking, and the borderlands storytelling! The screening of Going Varsity in Mariachi reminded us of the power of storytelling and music to unite and inspire.

Thank you to all who attended and we look forward to creating more culturally relevant and meaningful events for our community. Thank you again to the Center for Latin American Arts and UTRGV's Literature & Cultural Studies Department - Mexican American Studies and Film Studies for co-sponsoring this awesome event. ✨🎺

Throwback to last month when we had the Director's from Going Varsity in Mariachi, Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborn visit with classes in both Edinburg and Brownsville. We loved connecting with students and faculty building bridges through conversation, culture, and collaboration, that’s what the Borderlands are all about. Thank you Sam and Alejandra for being so generous and spending so much time to talk with all of our students during and after the visits and event. 💛 And thank you again to .utrgv and UTRGV Department of Literatures and Cultural Studies - UTRGV Mexican American Studies and Film Studies for co-sponsoring this awesome event. ✨🎺