A BRIEF HISTORY OF OUR STUDENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAM
Leadership comes in many different forms. For the College of Media & Communication (CoMC), leadership is represented by a chosen group of students known as the Dean's Student Ambassadors (DSA). These handselected students are the face of the CoMC, representing seven different majors and nearly 2,300 students.
Background of DSA
The DSA was preceded by the Dean's Student Council, a group of students organized by CoMC's inaugural dean Jerry Hudson with the goal of providing a student's perspectives to the operations of the college. Meanwhile, the DSA was only a small team spearheading recruitment efforts within the college.
Because of the responsibility overlap, former director of DSA, Emily Balke, and former dean David Perlmutter, Ph.D., decided to merge the two organizations.
“[We] wanted to have one focused student service group that would not only be able to help us with so many aspects of the success of the college but also be a place where we could do some terrific leadership training that would radiate and help all CoMC students,” Perlmutter said.
Julia Heard Witt, senior director of advising, has seen the organization's exponential growth and efforts to provide students with real-world experience.
“[We] noted that we wanted to grow the program and make it more professional,” Heard Witt said. “We recognized the time students give to us in that program and how they can benefit from it. I feel like this is a great organization for students to be able to give back to the college they love but, in return, also get access to alumni to really build their networking and professional skills.”
Face of CoMC
Being a part of DSA means representing CoMC and Texas Tech's values whether in the classroom, at local high schools, and even outside Lubbock. Today, they are led by Brooke Galvan, unit manager for recruiting—and a former DSA herself.
“Ambassadors help other students connect with the community, and they represent who CoMC is and what we do,” said Galvan.
DSA students work around the college in many facets, such as giving tours to prospective students and their families, helping current students during the “pop-in” advising appointments, and building their own network at various alumni events.
Each year, student ambassadors receive a scholarship of $1,000 for their contribution to the College of Media & Communication.
“[The] scholarship is a huge piece that former dean Perlmutter was extremely supportive of when it first evolved,” Galvan said. “He found value in supporting students financially. As much as the students put in, we want to be able to also give them that scholarship piece.”
National Advisory Board
Alongside their many day-to-day responsibilities, DSAs assume a frontline role in CoMC's largest annual event.
Every spring, CoMC hosts its National Advisory Board (NAB) meeting, an event that connects board members to ambassadors and vice versa. Matt Wilson, the current president of the NAB and the senior vice president for sports for the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau, said his favorite part of these meetings is giving back to students and helping them ease their nerves about finding a job after graduation.
“For our students to be involved with the National Advisory Board means they have instant connections to tenured professionals – people who have been doing their job for a long time and know a lot of people,” Wilson said. “The more involved you are with the advisory board and the more you're involved with our alumni, the better off you're going to be because you're going to have more connections which leads to more opportunities.”
Leah Doherty, a former DSA in 2017 and current sports anchor at WOIO in Cleveland, said the skills she learned while part of the organization are incomparable, and the experience she had helped her grow into the professional she is today.
“I thought participating in the NAB meeting was such a huge advantage,” Doherty said. “Being part of the day and meeting people who are at the top in their industry and being able to pick their brains and talk to them was invaluable.”
DSA Leadership Dinner
Once a month, CoMC alumni working across the nation are brought back to Lubbock to connect with current DSA students during a professional dinner setting. During these dinners, ambassadors can ask alumni questions about their path to success, learning about the good, the bad and the reality of today's workforce.
Galvan noted the worth of student ambassadors participating in the monthly dinners.
“Leadership dinners are a huge value, just being able to network with our faculty here,” Galvan said. “They get a little bit more face time with department chairs and faculty members than probably most students do.”
Ana DeLano, the Lubbock regional manager for Reliant Energy spoke about her journey into the professrional world, describing her untraditional path to success to students and how they can learn from her experiences.
“I was encouraged by how bright their futures were, I was impressed because they probably have it more together than I did at that age,” DeLano said. “It was nice to know that I could offer them some advice that maybe they hadn't heard before.”
Chyna Vargas has attended nearly 20 dinners in her two years with the organization. The 2024 journalism graduate said seeing the variety of CoMC alumni succeed in diverse industries is invaluable. “I enjoy hearing the different perspectives and pathways alumni take after graduating from our college,” Vargas said. “It truly makes me believe in ‘any industry, anywhere.' While I don't always relate to every alumnus, I can take a lesson they have learned and apply it to my own college experience. Making those connections and networking is crucial for future endeavors. For that, I'm thankful the organization coordinates these for the DSA.”
Past to Present: Where are they now?
Galvan started her college career as a student assistant to Balke and became a DSA while pursuing her degree in public relations. Balke first met Galvan at a high school leadership camp and remembered her enthusiasm and passion, a quality that has never wavered.
Now, Galvan leads the organization with eagerness and devotion, sharing the knowledge she has gained with students whose shoes she has been in.
Hunter Johnston, a public relations graduate from CoMC, said she credits what she learned while a DSA to helping her land an internship with Josh Abbott Band's charity.
“DSA definitely prepared me for my future career,” Johnston said. “It really showed me how to be professional with my communication and work with others to bring insight into what was more important. I think DSA taught me how to have professional communication with peers. It really gave me an opportunity to learn the best ways to communicate with people in order to establish yourself in your role.”
Johnston has utilized what she learned as a DSA and Red Raider to her current role working as the senior marketing specialist for Cinemark movie theaters.
Kayla Barnhart said the Red Raider network and DSA connections helped her land her current role as a brand manager for TRG in Dallas. She recommends all students get involved in the college to help them in the future.
“DSA was the best thing I did for myself, and I think it really benefited me when I graduated,” Barnhart said. “There are so many opportunities to talk to so many different alumni in DSA, and they're so willing to provide help.”
Current DSA, excited for the future
In May of 2023, CoMC saw 11 ambassadors walk across the commencement stage to tackle diverse careers and opportunities.
Dain Denham, a recent DSA and creative media industries graduate, now works as a communications coordinator at the Texas House of Representatives. He said giving tours at CoMC has helped him in his current role at the Texas Capitol and his leadership style flourished while a part of DSA.
“For me, being an ambassador was one of the first ways I could start to be a leader because we were all leaders in a big group of ambassadors and we're all going to talk about our leadership styles,” Denham said. “I think DSA was a great opportunity to learn how to be my own type of leader.”
Current junior Averi Rice is in Houston working as a client legal contracts coordinator for a property management firm. Rice, a newly selected DSA, applied because of her desire to connect to the online Red Raider network.
“I saw a really great opportunity to help close that void between distance students and on-campus activities,” Rice said. “I wanted to get that help, participate and make a difference for students who might be in a similar position as me.”
Rice, studying digital media and professional communication, said she is honored to be chosen as DSA and hopes to connect with other nontraditional students and show them that, despite the distance or online barrier, everyone is a Red Raider.
“As a Dean's Student Ambassador, I hope this position allows me to help close the gap and make people more comfortable with the online formatting of things. That way, online students can participate just as much as traditional students,” Rice said.
Vargas, who served as a journalism intern at NASA, was named a team captain to the DSA squad in 2023. Through the various organizations she is involved in, including DSA, she has developed her leadership style.
“I believe one of the most important skills to have as a leader is being able to work well with others,” Vargas said. “Whether I was team captain or not, I would have to be part of a team whose goal is to represent the college to the best of our abilities. The same goes for a job. Individuals represent who they work for and must collaborate with others for the best outcomes. DSA emulates those scenarios for future professional experiences.”
No matter the year, the leadership of CoMC, or the degrees earned, the DSAs stand as a pillar among the energetic current flowing through the doors, standing alongside their fellow students as examples of what hard work and generosity can provide to the community.
Casey Buscher, a familiar face in the sports media industry, has developed content as the team reporter and director of digital and social media for the Dallas Wings, the lone Texas WNBA team, along with the Panther City Lacrosse Club.
Buscher graduated from CoMC in electronic communication, now known as creative media industries, with a minor in public relations, and was a Dean's Student Ambassador during her undergraduate years.
“DSA helped me become a better leader overall. And it taught me how to connect with people and the industry that I want to be in and how to build good communication skills. And just overall, build a career in media. I think with DSA I was surrounded by a lot of people who were very driven. And that helped me a lot with my career down the line, just being able to be inspired by my peers around me within DSA.”
Buscher reminisced and said her favorite part about being a DSA was being the face of the college, helping new students feel at home.
“It was easy to be involved with whatever I wanted to be because I was very well informed (about the college) by being in DSA. So I think that was my favorite thing, being very plugged into the college, and it helped me grow,” Buscher said.
Buscher said she is still in contact with her former DSA colleagues with several of them working in the television industry and still feels plugged into the Texas Tech network. The Dallas native has a long list of sportsrelated positions on her resume that have led her to her current role with companies like NCAA, ESPN, Texas Rangers, and Texas Tech Athletics.
“I'm really happy that I went to Tech because there's so much opportunity at Texas Tech to get involved with really whatever you want to do. It has everything so looking back I'm very happy that I went there.”