Saile Aranda
Photo Editor
“What would you do?”
Sound familiar? John Quiñones, the reality tv show host and longtime journalist who coined the phrase, repeated the slogan several times as he spoke to a room full of Texas A&M University-San Antonio students and community members Sept. 18.
The first of the “Distinguished Lecture Series” hosted by the Cisneros Institute for Emerging Leaders at the Southside university, Quiñones dropped by San Antonio and spoke to students about his path towards becoming an ABC News anchor, a seven emmy award winner and host for the television series “What Would You Do?” as a Hispanic journalist.
The Cisneros Institute for Emerging Leaders bunches three university departments under one umbrella: Student Life, Student Leadership and Student Engagement.
300 students, staff and community members filled the auditorium for “An Evening with John Quiñones” to listen to Quiñones’ story and ask him questions during a Q&A session.
Before the event, Quiñones spoke with The Mesquite about his experience visiting the A&M-San Antonio campus for the first time. Since San Antonio is his hometown, Quiñones said he was excited to hear about A&M-San Antonio’s growth as a campus catering to Latino students on the Southside.
A&M-San Antonio recorded an enrollment of more than 8,000 students for the fall semester.
“I always loved talking to students, especially kids who are like me, because I see myself in you,” Quiñones said about his effort to inspire Hispanic and first-generation students. “Anytime I get a chance to motivate young Latino students, I take that opportunity, and I do whatever it takes to get there.”
Inducted by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists for the 2024 Hall of Fame Award and a 40-year news veteran for ABC, Quiñones shared his advice for aspiring journalists with big dreams.
“Don’t be afraid to apply for a lot of jobs,” Quiñones said. “I had to send out like 50 resumes to stations all over Texas.”
The broadcast news anchor’s first journalism-adjacent job came in 1971 as an intern at KTRH Radio, a country music station, where he got paid $2 an hour to clean and feed horses. He only got the job because an advocacy group called the Bilingual Bicultural Coalition of the Mass Media were protesting radio stations and demanding Latino representation in the media during the 1970s, Quiñones said.
“As a journalist, practice, write more stories, record your voice,” Quiñones said. “Because it takes that kind of commitment.”
Quiñones, who dreamed of being a TV reporter since he was a child, said he would practice by speaking into tape recorders while he worked for a pharmacy and by sneaking into the KTRH sound booth after hours as an intern.
Quiñones gives advice to student voters and news viewers
With the 2024 presidential election coming up in November, Quiñones reflected on the issues that he cares about and the importance of students being properly informed before casting their ballots. Respect, truth and immigration issues are what Quiñones said he is paying attention to while watching the presidential and vice presidential debates this election season.
“Get a good mix of news from everywhere and then make a decision,” Quiñones said. “Whichever candidate you want, make sure to cast your vote.”
Quiñones talked about his experience with racism, language barriers and farm work growing up as a Hispanic child in San Antonio during the 1970s.
He quoted heroes in his life, such as civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr and American poet Maya Angelou. He shared family and early school memories when the only people who encouraged him to pursue journalism were his childhood friend Luis Rodriguez and his high school English teacher Carmen Gutierrez.
Communications freshman Carley Aguilar shared her takeaway from Quiñones’ motivational speech after the event.
The inspiring words of poet Angelou “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” mentioned by Quiñones was what emotionally touched Aguilar the most.
“We’re in college, everything is changing,” Aguilar said. “You’re not going to make it far in life if you don’t change, grow and flourish like a butterfly.”
Aguilar, who asked the speaker for advice on her journalism career during the Q&A, said she sees Quiñones as a role model, because she is also a Hispanic student who would like to pursue the same work he does.
“I watched it with my brothers growing up,” Aguilar said about watching the show “What Would You Do?” with her family. “I feel like it hits different, its more personal.”
Aguilar said she has attended other motivational lectures, but she considered Quiñones the most inspirational to her.
Students relate to Quiñones in a private lunch
Quiñones also sat down with student leaders earlier that day to get to know students at A&M-San Antonio on a personal level and offer his insight about traversing the workforce and navigating professional landscapes.
A little over 20 university students and staff joined Quiñones in the Patriot’s Casa Ceremony Room to chat over a lunch of chicken, beans and rice.
Most of the students in attendance were leaders of student-oriented departments and organizations on campus like Recreational Sports, the Mays Center, fraternity and sorority life, the Student Government Association and The Mesquite.
Throughout the lunch, Quiñones took questions and chatted about the ups and downs of his career.
Communications senior Samuel Rocha said Quiñones’ “stories were very tough, touchy subjects.”
“He spoke about imposter syndrome and representing his culture. He spoke about his experience being the only student who didn’t come from an ivy league school,” Rocha said in an interview after the lunch.
Quiñones earned his bachelor’s degree in speech communication from St. Mary’s University on the inner Westside of San Antonio and went on to get a master’s degree at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Emily Banda, director of student life at A&M-San Antonio, said choosing Quiñones as the inaugural guest for the Distinguished Lecture series was an easy choice for the Cisneros Institute because of his connection to the city and people of San Antonio.
“[A&M-San Antonio] has a lot of college students that come from similar backgrounds like John Quiñones’,” said Banda. “It’s important for us to be able to reflect the history and culture of our community but also tell the stories of our students in the programs that we do. And bringing someone like John Quiñones does that.”
Banda said having the opportunity for student leaders to speak with Quiñones in a more intimate setting was vital to the functioning of student life on campus and was meant to aid in the overall goal of the Cisneros Institute.
“Having a more intimate setting with John Quiñones, in my opinion, was really important for our student leaders, because our campus really can’t function or operate or be as vibrant and active as it is without the student organizations,” said Banda. “Our goal is to develop leaders and when we have student leaders that actively work to fulfill the missions of their organizations, we want to provide them a space to also meet with the people that we bring onto campus and have a bit or reward or incentive.”
Victoria Arredondo, a communications and English senior and assistant editor for The Mesquite at A&M-San Antonio, said the lunch was very relaxed and friendly.
“It felt like having lunch with a family member.”
Arredondo said the lunch offered valuable insight into the professional world of media and journalism.
“As a student journalist myself, I think it’s just fascinating hearing other people’s perspectives [and experiences], because that’s one of the reasons why I began pursuing this field,” said Arredondo. “[Quiñones] said he brings things to ABC and journalism that a white person wouldn’t be able to do… He’s able to understand and get those stories that maybe someone who doesn’t, wouldn’t.”
Heather Olague, assistant dean of students and director of the Cisneros Institute for Emerging Leaders, said it was important to ensure students are being seen by their departments for their hard work.
Olague and Banda both said they hoped students would feel motivated and inspired by the private lunch with Quiñones.
During the speaking engagement, Quiñones announced a new season of “What Would You Do?” which will air Mondays starting Oct. 7 on ABC.
