In January 1999, Gloria Reed and Tina Y. Butler after having attended many Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education (TABPHE) State Conferences. Feeling empowered after their attendance and due to lack of cultural activities on campus, they decided it was time to form. The Del Mar Chapter. Neither one of them wanted to be president so they met with Ms. Lula Hinton, President of the recently formed Black Faculty Council and its members at Del Mar College. Due to the lack of African Americans employed by Del Mar College, Mrs. Reed and Ms. Butler, who were presently soliciting other faculty, support personnel and staff members to form the Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education (TABPHE-Del Mar Chapter), saw no need for two Black organizations on campus. Therefore, discussion began with the Black Faculty Council regarding joining the two groups as one and Ms. Hinton serving as chapter president. Mrs. Lula Hinton served as President. Mrs. Gloria M. Reed served as Secretary. Ms. Tina Y. Butler served as Treasurer and Mrs. Georgia Paris-Ealy served as Membership Chairperson.

 

As a result of numerous phone calls, letters and face-to-face recruiting, twenty-one (21) Faculty, staff and support personnel joined the newly re-formed TABPHE - Del Mar. Their names are as follows: Rufus Avery, Jr., Richard Banks, Dorothy Benson-Brown, Tina Y. Butler, Bennie Clark, John Coats, Antonio David, Stephanie Hawley, Gloria Paris-Ealy, James Ealy, Helen Gurley, Leslie Savoy-Green, Lula Hinton, Sandra Jackson, Charlotte Lawrence, Gloria M. Reed, Joseph Reed, Lisa Welch, Thomas Williams, Erma Wilson, and Regent Beverly Winters.

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On April 23, 1999, TABPHE-Del Mar held its second meeting.  The order of business for the meeting was:  Introduction of New officers, Adoption of TABPHE-Del Mar Bylaws, Discussion of chapter dues, Chapter goals, scholarships, and the Austin 1999 State Conference.  Having no seed money for the organization, it was decided membership dues would be $60 per year, constituting $5 per month for 12 months.  All members paid in full becoming the TABPHE-Del Mar charter members.  In May, 1999, TABPHE-Del Mar opened its first bank account at Value Bank Texas to deposit its seed money.

 

On September 3, 1999, letters were mailed to all African-American students currently enrolled at Del Mar College.  On September 10, 1999, committee members conducted a telephone follow-up to ensure students received their invitation.  On the evening of Sunday, September 19, 1999, from 4 – 6 pm in the Fine Arts Building Patio Area, Del Mar College-East Campus, TABPHE-Del Mar held its first social entitled, “The Village at Del Mar” which was the beginning of a dream come true.  As a result of TABPHE-Del Mar members research, surveying of students, follow-up phone calls, one-on-one conferences with students and parents, “The Village at Del Mar” was born in hopes of filling a void for African-American students at Del Mar College.  As a result of the hard work and efforts made by the Membership Chair, Mrs. Georgia Paris-Ealy, and all charter members, twenty-five (25) African American students joined “The Village at Del Mar”.  

 

The mission of the “The Village at Del Mar” was to serve as a support group for college students, promoting higher education, student enrollment, retention, tutoring and networking for African American students at Del Mar College.  All mentees were assigned to a mentor in their declared major.  Mentees were provided a packet of information to include:  Expectations of the Mentee, Mentee Information Sheet (application), and a Mentor/Mentee Agreement.  All agreements were to be adhered to by both the mentor and the mentee to ensure the students were attending support groups, tutoring sessions, cultural learning activities, resume writing and was provided assistance with interpersonal skill building to help the students reach their educational goal.  All students were eligible to join “The Village at Del Mar” despite ethnicity.

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Prior to “The Village” social, it was decided the logo for the mentoring program would be a picture of a black queen (shown in left margin).  All packets of information, letterhead, thank you cards, etc referring to, “The Village”, would have this logo.  T-shirts were later obtained for students and mentors to wear at each cultural observance, functions and/or meetings promoting “The Village”, announce its birth, and recruit additional students. Mentors met individually with their assigned mentees and quarterly luncheons were held for all participants in “The Village at Del Mar” for updates, announcements, and/or planning of cultural activities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TABPHE’s First Activities

• A Taste of Soul (Community Event)

• “The Village at Del Mar” (Student Mentoring Program) (1999)

• Juneteenth Participation (Community Awareness) (2004)

• TABPHE Business Expo (Community) (2006)

• Miss Black Coastal Bend Pageant (Community) (2007)

• Hosted TABPHE State Conference (Higher Ed & School Districts) (2010)

• Juneteenth for the Crest Festival

• 10 Days of Juneteenth Celebration

 

 

TABPHE –Del Mar College/Corpus Christi Chapter Presidents:

 

          Name                                                   Years in Office                                              Employer

 

Mrs. Helen Gurley                           Called DMC staff together (1997)                       Del Mar College

Ms. Lula Hinton                               1999 – February, 2003                                       Del Mar College

Ms. Tina Y. Butler                            February, 2003 – January, 2011                        Del Mar College

Ms. Evon English                             January, 2011 – September, 2012                     Texas A & M - CC

Mrs. Simone Butler Sanders           September 2012 - January 2018                       Texas General Land Office

Ms. Tina Y Butler                              January 2018 - August 2021                              Del Mar College