Alamo Colleges District opens applications for board vacancy

The Alamo Colleges District Board of Trustees held a special meeting on Tuesday in which they officially accepted the resignation of Gloria Ray, who represented the constituents of District 2 and set a process to fill the now vacant position. The district announced Ray’s resignation on Oct. 29 , with it taking effect as of Oct. 25. Her seat was immediately vacated and the board started the board meeting with a legal briefing in executive session to discuss the legal process of replacing her. Immediately after the meeting, Alamo Colleges officials opened the application on the board’s webpage, which will close on Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. These applications will then be reviewed by the board to appoint a trustee that will serve until the next regular trustee election in May 2028. Applicants must currently reside within District 2 and have lived there for at least 6 months prior to applying. They must also agree to serve until May of 2028. In Ray’s resignation there was no mention of why the trustee decided to step down, but she expressed full confidence in the current board’s ability to achieve their goals. “Throughout my service, I have been inspired by the dedication of those who support student success across the district,” Ray states in her letter. “I take great pride in the accomplishments achieved during my tenure and remain confident that the board will continue to build upon its mission of excellence, access, and opportunity for all students.” Ray was elected to the board in November 2020 and served for six years, and prior to that she volunteered on the District Citizens Capital Improvement Advisory Committee for 13 years. In 2020, Alamo Colleges served about 68,000 students. This year, the district surpassed 100,000 students enrolled across its five colleges — San Antonio College, St. Philip’s College, Palo Alto College, Northwest Vista College and Northeast Lakeview College. Ray was described by her fellow trustees as having a tremendous amount of influence in the success of the district’s growth as well as a lively, outgoing personality that could both delight a room and scold it if needed. At Tuesday’s meeting, Chancellor Mike Flores reflected on the Alamo Colleges District’s Moonshot, their goal to end poverty through education and training, and Ray’s contributions to a more complete vision of how they could achieve it. “The Moonshot only had, ‘changing lives through education,’ and Ms. Ray added ‘training’ to that,” Flores said. “She uplifted who we are and raised both our line of sight and eyes up and eyes out.” St. Philip’s College President Adena Williams Loston also took to the microphone to remember the trustee’s impact not only on St. Philip’s College, which the trustee represented and where her husband attended, but across district lines. “Whatever we had going on the college campus, not only at St. Philip’s College, but wherever she was to support us… she was not there incognito,” Loston said. “When she arrived,everybody understood that Gloria Ray was in the room, and she made it known about her passion for students, about her passion for her commitment to the board.” Applications for the District 2 board seat must be submitted in person or mailed to the district’s elections administrator, Roxella Cavazos at the Alamo Colleges District Center for Excellence and Student Success, 2222 N. Alamo St., and these must arrive by 5 p.m. on Dec. 9. The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. READ MORE Alamo Colleges District opens applications for board vacancy by Danya Pérez State finds no evidence of wrongdoing after investigating Judson ISD Board President Monica Ryan by Xochilt Garcia More from San Antonio Report Alamo Colleges District opens applications for board vacancy by Danya Pérez Why 2 San Antonio financial firms are focusing on Y’all Street by Jasper Kenzo Sundeen The Boring Company starts work on underground inclusion tunnel at Morgan’s Wonderland by Shari Biediger