Texan Mosaic

By Noah Lopez/Texan Mosaic Staff

Chris Edens, a member of the Board of Regents for South Plains College, will be representing the college on a bigger stage following a big win last month.  

Edens was elected to the board of directors for the Community College Association of Texas Trustees (CCATT), an organization that advocates for community colleges across the state. 

He will serve a two-year term as a large college representative. He says the organization has broken it up, allowing representation from various sizes of community colleges, some smaller, larger, or similar to SPC. 

Edens served on the legislative committee for CCATT this past year. He says the organization helped get legislation passed to benefit community colleges across the state of Texas. 

“This group was instrumental in helping pass House Bill 8, which is going to tremendously benefit all community colleges,” Edens said. “But especially South Plains College.” 

Edens, an alumnus of SPC, said he is committed to SPC and that he will advocate for the school and wants the college to get the recognition he believes it deserves. 

“I think we need to do what we can to tell our story, to not only people in the state, but within the nation,” Edens said. 

Edens says advocating, networking, and being involved at the state level are good ways to see what other colleges are doing and bring that information back to SPC. 

“I went to a workshop at the conference on sports and some community colleges in East Texas integrated E-Sports into their program,” Edens said “And I’m like, I’m going to tell Dr. Satterwhite [President of SPC] about that.” 

 Edens believes in what community colleges provide for students. While attending SPC, he served on the student government association and was a member of the Livestock Judging Team. Additionally, his wife, DeEtte Edens, has worked at the college for many years and his oldest son, Grady Edens, attended SPC. 

“My son graduated valedictorian of his class and could have received tuition to any college in the state of Texas,” Edens said. “It was no discussion in our house, he was going to SPC.” 

Edens says that SPC is where his “fondest memories are,” and that anything he can do to advocate for SPC, he will do it.  

“We bleed blue and orange in our home and we love the college,” Edens said.