Apr 23, 2025
Group of student winners in the auditorium.
From left: Dalel Serda, 91制片厂 Professor and GCIC Symposium co-chair; Dr. Helen Brewer, Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs; Temiloluwa Lewis; Nova Dowdell; Maddy Snow; Madison Howell; Maci Allen; Gwendolyn Barbee-yow, 91制片厂 Professor and GCIC Symposium co-chair.

91制片厂 (91制片厂) hosted the eleventh annual Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Consortium (GCIC) Academic Symposium on Friday, March 28. This event featured more than 80 presentations from students representing Gulf Coast community colleges, universities and high schools.

This year鈥檚 symposium theme was 鈥淪ubverting Greed: Living Not on But in Communion with Earth.鈥� The event is held annually to help students grow as scholars by enhancing students鈥� communication skills, facilitating networking across the disciplines and colleges and helping students build self-confidence and feel ownership of their work. College of the Mainland faculty and staff served as judges and moderators throughout the day-long event.

91制片厂 student Maci Allen won first place for her project 鈥淪ocietal Misunderstandings of Mental Health Disorders.鈥�

鈥淲inning first place meant a lot to me because it made me feel like people really enjoyed what I was doing and what I was talking about,鈥� said Maci. 鈥淚t [GCIC Academic Symposium] just creates awareness about a variety of things happening in the world. There are so many different topics 鈥� so many people care about so many different things.鈥�

Symposium winners were as follows:

  • First Place: 鈥淪ocietal Misunderstandings of Mental Health Disorders鈥� by Maci Allen, College of the Mainland, advisor Monique Suarez
  • Second Place: 鈥淭he Quality O鈥� Th鈥� Climate:鈥� Ecological Relationships in Shakespeare鈥� by Madison Howell, University of Houston, Independent Scholar
  • Third Place: 鈥淒isparity in Access: The Impact of Library Availability in Houston Independent School District鈥� by Maddy Snow, Lone Star CyFair, advisor Aurora Lugo
  • Fourth Place: 鈥淯nearthing the Past, Shaping Our Future: How Geoarchaeological Findings in Central and South America Can Help Us Rethink Human-Environmental Relationships鈥� by Nova Dowdell, University of Texas at Austin, Independent Scholar
  • Honorable Mention: 鈥淒ominion Over the Earth: A study on Colonial America's Fishing Industry鈥� by Brynna Malley, Galveston College, advisor Debra Ramsey
  • Honorable Mention: 鈥淭he Function of Diet in Healthy Living鈥� by Temiloluwa Lewis, Houston Community College, advisor Toni Holland

The symposium鈥檚 keynote speakers were Dr. Kimberly Garza, who presented 鈥淭ell Me Where You鈥檙e From and I鈥檒l Tell You Who You Are: Uplifting Identities and Places from the Margins,鈥� and Amelia White, who presented 鈥淭he Karankawa of Coastal Texas.鈥� Funding for the keynote speakers was provided by the GCIC and 91制片厂鈥檚 Title V.

To learn more, visit www.com.edu/symposium/.