Pictured: Melody Mott—Driver, and NTCC College Liaison for Dual Credit, Emma Mendoza, Ian Mares, Hailey Randall, José Fuentes, and Johnathan Ventura
By: Andrew Yox, Honors Director
On 10 October, five scholars of Honors Northeast presented work at the annual fall meeting of the Walter Prescott Webb Society at the Sheraton Hotel of Georgetown, Texas. The “Webb” is the collegiate auxiliary of the Texas State Historical Association. Emma Mendoza, Ian Mares, Hailey Randall, José Fuentes, and Johnathan Ventura each presented a synopsis of their role in this year’s honors film relating to dueling Mexican-American art associations in San Antonio. Johnathan Ventura, this year’s associate producer of the film, anchored the group discussion with a premiere showing of the new film’s five-minute trailer, narrated by José Fuentes.
The trailer for the film, Chicano Thermidor, represents the fourteenth initiative of honors students at NTCC in as many years to bring an un-filmed legend of the Texas past to life. Emma Mendoza, the director of this year’s film explained to the assembly how the idea for the film was generated after a research trip to San Antonio, and how it was filmed in a single week. Unit Production Director, Hailey Randall covered the film’s organizational initiatives. Ian Mares, and José Fuentes who teamed up in the film as the leaders of the Con Safo, Chicano art association, related to other students present from around the state, what it was like to act.
The 2025 fall Webb meeting, enabled in part by donations on the state level that were funneled through the Texas State Historical Association, was special in many respects. NTCC’s students were able to enjoy excellent accommodations, including a dinner at the Georgetown Sheraton at a reduced cost to the college. In addition, participating students registered for the conference, and its tours for free. Outside of the Webb plenary session and dinner, NTCC students also explored the Williamson Museum, the historic Georgetown courthouse, Southwestern University, and the Inner Space Cavern, a Karst Cave, formed from water-eroded limestone.
The group made the trip thanks to Melody Mott, a NTCC College Liaison for Dual Credit who drove. Mott herself was a Presidential Scholar of NTCC’s honors program, 2015-2017, and won two Webb Awards for her original scholarship on Japanese-Texan relations.
