RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Early on Friday morning at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's (UTRGV) Edinburg campus, a large group gathered by the student union to participate in a campus clean-up event. 
 
Student-athletes from 15 teams and coaches from many, along with athletic administrators and staff members, gave up their morning to roam across campus and pick up trash and debris. They split into groups with trash bags and gloves to cover every part of the university and leave it better than they found it. 
 
"Our student-athletes do such a great job giving back to the Rio Grande Valley and to all the communities that support us, but it starts right here at the university and on our campuses," UTRGV Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said. "It's been a neat tradition. It's awesome to see all our young people be out here together this morning. We're blessed to have a beautiful campus and we want to do our part to continue to keep up our home." 
 
Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Services Julia Perez played a big part in coordinating the event and oversees the community service efforts for the Vaqueros. In past years, this event was planned in accordance with National Cleanup Day, which fell on Sept. 21 this year. Perez chose to delay it to ensure more student-athletes could participate. 
 
Three teams in-season were either on the road or holding a gameday practice during the event, so they were excused. But student-athletes from other teams rushed over after practice to participate. 
 
"They probably gave up on a little bit of extra sleep this morning, and a few of them just ran over from early morning practice, so it means a lot that they care about our university," Conque said. "It's really a neat culture that we've built. Our student-athletes and our coaches feel so blessed by the support that we get from so many, and this is a great example of paying it forward any way we can."  
 
Perez not only praised the student-athletes for showing up, but also expressed how important it was to see administrators such as Conque and Deputy Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator Molly Castner there, too. Dedicating their time early in the morning to keep campus beautiful was one of many ways UTRGV Athletics shows its commitment to #RallyTheValley and #RISEup. 
 
"It really preaches the 18 sports, one team. It starts from the top down, and seeing our AD Chasse Conque out here, our SWA Molly Castner, all the coaches, the student-athletes see that and they follow their leadership," Perez said. "Having everybody out here together also builds camaraderie between the athletic department and the student-athletes." 

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