A newsletter for the students, faculty and staff of the Collin County Community College District. Published monthly. For information or submissions, call 972.599.3142. Cougar News welcomes student and faculty submissions. Next deadline: July 10 All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Photos cannot be returned. Text should be e-mailed to mrobinson@ccccd.edu or sent on disk. Please submit copy that is proofed, edited and saved in Word format. Cougar News staff: Lisa Vasquez, director; Mark Robinson, editor; Marcy Cadena-Smith, contributor; Stephanie Hall, student correspondent; Nick Young, photographer; Heather Darrow, special contributor; Luai Bseiso, special contributor.
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LULAC awards Collin siblings
By Stephanie Hall
Student Correspondent
Since high school, this brother and sister team has been actively involved in shaping their community through the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).
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| Pictured are the award-winning LULAC members and advisor Liz Trejo, Lisabeth Lassiter and Eddy Trejo. | Eduardo and Elizabeth Trejo, along with their chapter at Collin, swept most of the awards at a District 3 LULAC award ceremony this past April. Lisabeth Lassiter was named the Advisor of the Year and Collin LULAC was given the Civic/Community Leadership Group Award and named the Volunteer Center of North Texas.
The Trejos have both contributed their success to their family and classmates also with LULAC. Eduardo is 20 years old and likes to be called Eddy. Elizabeth is 21 years old and is known to her friends and family as Liz. The Collin LULAC team attended the District 3 LULAC Convention and was nominated for several awards.
“We were nominated for Young Woman of the Year, Young Man of the Year, Advisor of the Year and Council of the Year," Eddy said.
They competed with other schools in North Texas including community colleges from the area, The University of Texas at Dallas, the University of North Texas, Texas Woman’s University and Texas A&M University-Commerce.
“The hard work that we did this year truly paid off, as we won all of the awards,” he said.
Eddy, who is now the president for LULAC, won the LULAC District 3 Young Adult Man of the Year.
“Winning this award made me feel great because it’s good to know that people are learning about our council and how much we are involved in our community,” he said. “I would like to think of this award as an achievement, not just for me, but for all the males in our council. In our council it’s not just about one person, it’s about us as a whole.”
Liz, who was the past LULAC president, was awarded the District 3 Young Adult Woman of the Year.
“It is a great honor for our council to have won all of these awards,” she said about all the awards. “I truly believe that this particular council has improved tremendously from where we were at this time last year. Our membership has increased tremendously, our community involvement can be greatly seen and the relationships built within our own group will never be forgotten.”
Liz began her involvement in high school because “I needed a place to fit in and do well at the same time. In high school I was not a very outgoing person until my senior year when I was one of the first members of the Allen High School Youth Council,” she said. “While in this council I was able to meet people who believed in the same issues that I did and help out the community.”
Liz was also a major contributing factor to Eddy’s own involvement with LULAC.
“Having my sister by my side really helped me out,” said Eddy. “When I was a freshman, she had already been a part of LULAC for a year, so she introduced me to lots of people and made me feel welcomed at the college. Since I am the newly elected president for our council, it’s nice to have the immediate past president as your sister. She's always helping me out and answers any questions that I might have.”
Both the Trejoes have big plans for the future.
“I am the first person in my family to graduate high school, let alone attend college, but I graduated this May with an associate of arts and then will transfer to Texas State University in San Marcos in the fall,” said Liz.
“I plan on transferring to The University of Texas at Dallas and pursue a business degree, and hopefully become a successful entrepreneur,” said Eddy.
They were both born in Queretaro, Mexico, but their parents brought them to the United States when they were young.
“They brought our family to this country for a better life and I believe we have achieved that,” said Liz.
She said her parents are her inspiration to be involved in her community. “Now I just want to help people who are in this country working for a better life for them and their children, because I have seen how successful my parents have been in raising us and being in LULAC allows me to show others that they too can succeed.”
As the previous president for the 2005-2006 year, Liz is proud of the accomplishments of her LULAC team at Collin.
“I feel extremely proud of how the members have worked so hard to accomplish great things,” she said.
She expects more great things for her team. Her team will go on to the annual LULAC State Convention on June 1 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“During the convention, we have sessions, luncheons and dinners where we get to hear about important issues concerning our state in particular,” she said. “This convention gets us ready for the National Convention on June 28 to July 2 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”
According to its website, LULAC’s mission is to “advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population in the United States.”
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