Temple College President Christy Ponce was a featured panelist and speaker Sept. 23 at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. The festival is The Tribune’s signature annual ideas conference featuring some of the biggest names in politics, policy, education and the media. The three-day event, which ran Sept. 22-24, also featured former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Rep.
Dan Crenshaw, U.S. Rep.
Liz Cheney, singer/songwriter Lyle Lovett, former White House Deputy Chief Karl Rove and others.
“There is a national spotlight on post-secondary and higher education right now, and this is the perfect time for community colleges to take the reins of national conversations on affordability, workforce development and preparing the people in our communities for 21st century careers,” Ponce said Ponce also said she was excited for the opportunity to discuss the importance of higher education and highlight the good work happening at Temple College.
Ponce joined the panel discussion “Course Correction” which addressed how community colleges navigated the challenges of the past three years and how they have used that time to innovate and build new programs, partnerships and educational pathways for their service areas. Ponce spoke alongside Dr. Gregory Williams, President of Odessa College, and Todd Williams, Founding Chair and CEO of The Commit Partnership.
“Temple College serves thousands of students representing incredibly diverse rural and urban populations across Central Texas and throughout the state,” Ponce said. “We have the responsibility to help change the lives of individuals and families in the communities we serve, and we are doing that every day by building new programs to meet industry demands and by seeking public and private partnerships to create opportunities for our neighbors.”
