This semester, Ron Nirenberg, former mayor of San Antonio, is joining the Trinity faculty as the Calgaard Distinguished Professor of Practice in the department of communication. His class will focus on how the city of San Antonio functions.
The general education class will feature other mayors and multiple city facilities like the San Antonio City Hall, San Antonio River Authority and San Antonio Water System’s Steven M. Clouse Plant. Students will have the opportunity to learn about facilities that other individuals might overlook, while also building connections through Professor Nirenberg. Taking a look at these facilities will provide current students with a much deeper understanding of the city of San Antonio, Nirenberg said.
Nirenburg said that his love for the city of San Antonio developed as he attended Trinity. Originally from Boston, Nirenberg enrolled at Trinity in 1995. While he was a student, he said, he ventured out and explored San Antonio, and this exploration made him fall in love with the city. His interest in public service did not appear during his time at Trinity; it came after the birth of his son. He said he wanted to find a way that he could spend his whole day working towards making the city the kind of place where his son would experience it the way he did.
During his time in office as mayor, he focused on enhancing the city of San Antonio through understanding and building a relationship with its people. He said he not only became a part of the city but also understood its diverse and rich background. The same values he held while in office are the same values that he hopes to pass on to his students, he said.“My hope is that I can impart the experience that I’ve had in my career to encourage them to pursue their own passions as it relates to public service,” Nirenberg said.
Margaret Johnson, junior international studies and political science double-major, is a current student in Nirenberg’s class and new to the city of San Antonio. She has started expressing her love for the city the same way Nirenberg has.
“It’s a really great way to get hands-on experience from an expert, and if not an expert in all the specific things, someone who knew experts in those areas. So I guess I was really drawn to the hands-on aspect of the course and just the fact that it was taught by someone who has that wealth of knowledge,” Johnson said.
Alynn Jimenéz Miranda, junior political science and international studies doublemajor, is another student in Nirenberg’s class, was drawn to the class after seeing that an alum turned politician was coming back to teach a class at Trinity. Her personal interest and advocacy for public policy is also what led her to take an interest in the class.
“Having someone as the former mayor of San Antonio teaching a class at Trinity is something that you don’t see every day. This is definitely a huge opportunity to learn from his leadership, and from someone who has real experience managing a city,” Jiménez Miranda said.
Jiménez Miranda said that she was told about the class by a coworker who knew of her interest in public service and suggested that the class would be ideal for her. She then later took the advice and did a bit more digging on what the class entailed, automatically liking it.
“I feel like just having him as a professor is a reminder for us that the kind of education we’re getting at this institution can have a real impact outside the classroom, and also how as alumni, we can go out and create all these amazing things,” Jimenéz Miranda said.
Nirenberg and his students discuss the value of a Trinity education. Nirenberg and Jiménez Miranda both mention the class size as an advantage when it comes to a Trinity education. The advantage of having smaller class sizes and a community allows for better opportunities and connections, said Nirenberg.
“I think if Trinity University remains focused on cultivating students’ interests in the world around them, and their unique passions about service, which it has been doing for as long as I can remember, it will be a place where leadership is nurtured,” Nirenberg said.
Seeing Nirenberg return to the place that molded him into the person he is today is something that stands out to his current students, like Jiménez Miranda. For students like Johnson and Jiménez Miranda, seeing a successful alum who has dedicated themselves to the community serves as a role model and evidence that the outcome after Trinity will only be positive and impactful, according to them.
