Throughout the 2024-25 academic year, TMCC employees and students will be focusing on one thing: making sure that everyone feels welcome here.
The message “You are welcome here” is something visitors may have seen on campus over the past ten years—it’s already in use on campus signage and as a social media hashtag. But when it came time to choose a theme for this year, Pride and Belonging rose to the top.
Seeking to Welcome All
Let’s face it: if you’re taking in-person classes or working on campus, you may spend a lot of time at TMCC. Your “home-away-from-home” should be where you can be yourself, feel supported, and know your contributions are valued. After looking ahead last Spring, the TMCC Leadership Fellows program led discussions about campus culture and the desire to ensure everyone experiences a welcoming atmosphere. Ultimately, they presented the theme to underscore the importance of supporting our students and employees.
“With the things that have been going on the past few years, it is important for students and faculty to feel that they belong somewhere. TMCC offers that through its diverse student and faculty populations and the many resources it offers to help those who need a safe space. This is where the belonging comes from,” said Stephanie Mead, Paramedic Program Director/EMS Coordinator and Leadership Fellow participant.
“I think it is a great step forward that the Fellows Program chose pride and belonging. Wanting to make a campus-wide, unified effort to ensure folks feel they belong is important,” says Student Life Executive Director YeVonne Allen. “It’s pride in our college and belonging as individuals altogether, which is great. So, I think it’s important that we have this connected theme, especially of all years.”
“For me, [the theme] means I take pride in changing lives and being part of a community college that is a Hispanic Serving Institution. It means trying to remove barriers and create more access for all students to be successful,” said Equity, Inclusion and Sustainability Office (EISO) Program Director Juana Reynoza-Gomez. “The sense of belonging means feeling like I belong here, feeling like people contribute to an environment that makes me feel like I want to show up in this space every day.”
Initiatives and Events Focus on Building Belonging
The Student Life Department and EISO have worked with two community-wide initiatives.
TMCC participated in the Northern Nevada Pride festival and parade, celebrating the Pride community earlier this month. As an event sponsor, TMCC visibly showed support with booths at the festival and the fire truck, with many notable TMCC faculty and students on board.
Wizard supported TMCC and Reno's LGBTQIA+ community while celebrating the Northern Nevada Pride Parade.
“This year, the event had about 12,000 participants,” said Allen, also serving as the Pride media and marketing director. “[Participating in the Pride event] ties TMCC to our real community outreach and our community education, showing that we are your firefighters. We are who trains your firefighters. We train your technicians, we train your teachers, we train your nurses. We are your local community.”
TMCC President Karin Hilgersom, mascot Wizard the Lizard, faculty members, and students from the Student Government Association all accompanied the fire truck in the parade. “People get so excited seeing TMCC in the Parade and Festival. You could hear people, you know, yelling, ‘I go there. I graduated from there, like, go TMCC.’ So that was cool,” Allen said.
At the Festival, TMCC’s two booth areas welcomed the community to a bracelet-making table staffed by Counseling Center members, and Recruitment and Access Center members assisted anyone with questions. “It drew in a lot of people to have this interactive, free activity right on the corner of the west side of Wingfield Park,” shared Allen. “And then anyone who had extra questions about TMCC could take two steps to the left and talk to the recruiters.”
EISO seeks to lead celebrations of various cultural heritage affinity months, like Hispanic Heritage Month, that kicked off this week.
“We opened up this week with Latinx Sip and Paint, a collaboration between SGA and EISO,” continued Reynoza-Gomez. “Then, we incorporated the Hispanic heritage into TMCC Spirit Day by bringing Ballet Folklórico Flor De Castilla, and we had the Las Platicas event.”
“Mental health is an essential aspect of a person’s overall well-being, which can greatly influence their sense of belonging. My office is partnering with counseling services to raise awareness about mental health, focusing on fostering dialogue around identity, mental health, and the resources available. We recognize that stigma surrounding mental health persists in many communities, and we’re committed to addressing it.”
Reynoza-Gomez also invites students to visit the Diversity and International Student Center and Office (DISCO) in Red Mountain Building (RDMT) 114.
“We strive to make an environment of belonging for students, a place they want to come and hang out between classes, build community, and use our resources that would contribute to their success,” Reynoza-Gomez said.
Students Take Up the Charge
It’s all about creating spaces for students to feel at home at TMCC, and Reynoza-Gomez is looking forward to working directly with students to expand these conversations around a sense of belonging at TMCC.
“We want to expand collaboration with other departments on campus throughout the year, and SGA has stepped up,” she reports. “[SGA has] expressed interest in providing more student programming related to identity. I welcome and embrace that. So, we look to collaborate on engagement with our students and focus on building community.”
And the students are ready to run with this theme, as well.
“Pride and belonging to me is kind of essentially being at home, being welcomed, feeling like you’re a part of something, feeling like you have an identity,” said Student Government Association President Lisha Allison. “To me, pride and belonging means TMCC. It’s home to me. Growing up in Reno, I experienced so much imposter syndrome, and coming to TMCC has been probably the most welcoming environment in all of Reno, probably more home here than anywhere.”
In that spirit, SGA has already planned additional events, including:
- Kickstart Tailgate Fundraiser, held Saturday, Sept. 21, from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. “This event supports the soccer players at TMCC. We want to foster that unity of people, bringing their families and children, socializing, and having a good time, even during the weekend. So yeah, this week will be a blast,” Allison explained.
- National Coming Out Day, Thursday, Oct. 10, from 1–3 p.m. “Not only is it LGBTQ related, but we also want to make sure it’s inclusive for everyone, not just for one minority group and belonging,” said Allison.
“TMCC doesn’t want to feel like they’re putting people in a box. They accept them for who they are, not trying to peer pressure them, not trying to put societal pressures on them, just accepting them for being the authentic people they are. It’s more having an inclusive, welcoming environment that won’t ridicule you or judge you for whoever you may be, or how unique or authentic, or how out there you are, we accept you for who you are,” continued Allison.
Get Involved with Continuing Initiatives
Throughout the coming academic year, you can expect to see more activities and slogans that reflect the twin ideas of Pride and Belonging.
“We want everyone to feel like they truly belong here as a student or employee,” said Mead. “Also, we should have pride in what we do and who we are. Pride in TMCC and how much it has achieved, and is still achieving, by helping students reach their goals, no matter what they want to do. Pride in our diverse institution as well. As someone who works here, I have pride in my job and feel that I belong here.”
Reynoza-Gomez is already looking ahead as well. “We’ll be having some events in October and November, around Indigenous Peoples Day and Native American History Month. And there are so many things in the Spring, like Black History Month and the Lunar Year. I’m excited.”
“Pride and belonging are essentially feeling like you can be a part of something and deliberately feel welcomed into whatever that may be,” said Allison.
Remember to watch the Calendar of Events for opportunities to get involved.
For more information, please contact the Equity, Inclusion, and Sustainability Office.