UT announced the closure of the Division of Campus and Community Engagement (formerly the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement) last April. The division included the DCCE Global Leadership and Social Impact program (GLSI), which has taken students abroad since 2013 to Costa Rica, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Japan.
Despite the DCCE’s shutdown, study abroad programs focusing on diversifying global education did not. This year, 43 students traveled to Japan and 40 students to the UAE with World Walker, a program started by alumnus and former director of GLSI Devin Walker.
“We had the biggest (study abroad) programs every single year,” Walker said. “I was actually quite surprised that DCCE Global got caught up in SB 17. While I knew (it) worked in the division of diversity, there was nothing specifically about that organization that was exclusively for students of color.”
Walker said that after the passing of SB 17 in 2023, his wife considered a job at UT. However, he said the pair decided to leave with the passing of the bill. Walker then started his own organization, World Walker, to continue where DCCE Global left off.
“I feel like SB 17 came in and did what it did because the programs were working,” Walker said. “They were creating equity, they were creating access, they were creating opportunity.”
Though Walker left his official position at UT in 2023, his organization partnered with DCCE Global to run a trip to Japan for the spring break of 2024. Shortly after, the news came that the DCCE would be shut down.
Corporate communications senior Irma Guzman said the news broke when she returned with the group from the Japan trip last year.
“We all expected that the shutdown was gonna happen,” Guzman said. “(Walker) had already started (World Walker), but then after all that happened, he really picked it up into high gear and was like, ‘You know what? I still think this should be something that students should be able to participate in, whether that be with the University or not … ‘We’re still going to do these trips.’”
Computer science sophomore Aaron Johnson went on both trips. This year, the trip to the UAE went to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
“I was amped when I saw that the trips were coming back,” Johnson said. “It’s been really nice to see that there’s still a community there for people that want to go abroad.”
Guzman said she has looked forward to going on the DCCE trips since her freshman year. She also went on the UAE trip over spring break.
“Being able to come back this time around, there was a lot more reflecting,” Guzman said. “We know what happened, and we know what can happen now, especially going forward. Knowing that these trips are available to people on campus, advocating and sharing our stories is something that can change someone’s perspective on how they view the world.”
