Keeping the Familia Alive: How One Organization is Finding New Ways to Thrive After Funding Cuts

By Triniti Ybarra-Burnias

Reporting Texas

Slime, laughs, and a little bit of nostalgia—what seemed like another fun campus event was actually a way for one group to keep their organization alive and bring Rio Grande Valley students together.

RGV Familia, a student organization at UT Austin, hosted its first wellness event of the semester on Oct. 2 to give Valley students a chance to unwind from a busy semester—and to help keep the organization thriving. The event’s slime theme was created by RGV Familia’s Vice President, Katia Lui.

The organization started in 2019 after a group of students from the RGV realized they didn’t feel represented on campus. Lui said their mission has always been to provide a safe space where students from the Valley can connect, share their culture, and support one another.

“We want to bring Valley students together, have events and kind of continue to feel like a ‘home away from home,’” she said. 

Since the program’s beginning, the organization received partial funding from UT and worked with a program coordinator who helped manage events and secure resources. After changes to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies last year, along with budget cuts this summer, UT decided to stop funding RGV Familia, leaving the student officers to run everything themselves.

Lui said she thought the organization was done for good, but realized the setback was actually a “blessing in disguise.”

“It made all of us, all the officers, come together and realize that we want RGV Familia to continue growing,” she said.

Carlos Montes, RGV Familia’s finance officer, said that without funding from UT, the group now has to be more careful about how they budget for events. 

“It is a little harder now that we don’t have secure funding from UT, but I think our mission is still the same with money or not,” Montes said. 

Despite the challenges, the group has found ways to keep going. They now run as a social student organization, increasing their social media outreach, and running events like slime parties and T-shirt fundraisers to bring in new members and keep their community strong on campus.

“We want to have something for [RGV students] and spread the awareness that there is an RGV Familia here on campus,” said Montes. 

For RGV students like UT freshman Andrea Ambriz, who’s from Brownsville, events like these make a difference. 

“It does feel like a community because I know that we have the same background,” she said. “It reminds me that there are people like me here.”

RGV Familia is focused on making events that stand out from other student organizations on campus. They hope to provide more opportunities for RGV students to explore Austin. 

“Making the little events, not exactly academic focused but mostly social focused, helps our Valley students feel like, even though we’re not living in the Valley anymore, here in Austin we still have our fam,” said Lui.

Moving forward, the organization plans to reach more students back in the Valley, connect with alumni, and continue creating opportunities for current students at UT. Their goal is to continue growing RGV Familia while also maintaining its culture, support, and sense of belonging.

RGV Familia is also now hosting a T-shirt design contest through October 23. Students can submit their designs to the RGV Familia email ([email protected]), and the winning design will become the group’s merchandise this year. Find out more about the contest on their Instagram, @rgvfamilia.ut.