CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A special ceremony was held on Del Mar College's Heritage campus Thursday to honor late English professor Mike Anzaldua.
Officials were on hand to name the Plaza in the center of its General Academic Music Building after him.
Multiple public officials were in attendance, including Senior U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas and lifelong friend to Anzaldua, Hilda Tagle.
"He was a great influence on my life and I know that these quotations and his spirit are going to be wonderful influences on the lives of the students that come through here," Tagle said.
Family members in attendance offered a special gift to commemorate him. And the plaza serves a purpose to commemorate what was most important to him.
"He loved his students," Tagle said. "He definitely is being honored in a very appropriate way with this plaza, that encourages students and faculty to meet and converse about work, and about life."
The new plaza was originally scheduled to be dedicated in 2020, but COVID-19 delayed it until now. The project is something DMC said was important to add to its more than $45 million GAMB Phase II project on its Heritage Campus.
"Mike embodied that nurturing spirit and soul that really embodied support, care and love for our students," said DMC President Mark Escamilla. "So to be able to name this plaza in his honor was a tremendous honor for us."
The additions to the Heritage Campus comes as DMC continues its construction of its new Oso Creek Campus, scheduled to open in a limited capacity in late summer, early fall.
"There too is another fantastic commitment of our community to our students and for the generations to come," Escamilla said. "That's what this is about. This is about multiple generations, for generations into the future. It'll outlive us all."
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