a device that they could keep for the semester.
Students relying on the Device Loan Program must now meet a financial need requirement to check out a computer, and they can only borrow it for two weeks.
In the past, students would sign a consent form online, providing their contact information and student ID. After, they would present it to their campus librarian to receive
Association will dissolve after board defers action
FRED NGUYEN campus editor collegian.editor@tccd.edu
The Joint Consultation Committee and faculty associations on all campuses will be dissolved on Sept. 1 to ensure compliance with Senate Bill 37. The board of trustees took no action to approve the JCC’s proposed revisions to board policy regarding faculty senates at its Aug. 21 meeting.
Chancellor Elva LeBlanc said while the board values faculty, they must protect the college.
“We’ve been hit with all kinds of legislation in recent years, and trustee [Shannon] Wood, you and I sat among attorneys and stated, ‘We’re gonna follow the law,’” LeBlanc said.
“And that’s what we want to do.”
Signed into law on June 20 and taking effect Sept. 1, SB 37 limits faculty senates and councils to being an advisory body across all higher education institutions in Texas.
It also restricts the body to a maximum of 60 members unless approved by the governing board, requires higher education institutions to conduct regular reviews of the curriculum and
See Faculty, Page 2
“There really weren’t any restrictions there,” said NW Campus Dean of Learning Commons Eric Camarillo. “There weren’t any fines or fees or anything associated with those, even if the device was never returned.”
Now, students must fill out an online application for the Student Empowerment Center.
“Students are required to work through the Student Empowerment Center to be approved for a device
before they can check one out,” Camarillo said. “Students are typically restricted now to two weeks per semester.”
Candy Center, South Campus dean of Learning Commons, said the college’s leadership team focused on how to organize all the resources it provides to students.
“What the team is looking at is financial need,” Center said. “So, if they determine that the student does not have financial need, then they wouldn’t be eligible for that
NANDA ACHARYA campus editor nanda.acharya@my.tccd.edu
A delay in construction has caused NE Campus instructors to make last-minute schedule changes.
Projects started after spring semester ended in May. However, after three months of these ongoing projects, they are not done.
“I have only been here for two hours, and it’s a mess,” said Mark Penland, a NE photo lab manager. “When I walked in here, I was surprised because I thought it was closer to being done.”
Enrique Gutierrez, a NE photo instructional assistant, said the unfinished projects have created a mess, leaving little to no space in classrooms for the students to work.
“We don’t know what we are going to do about the rooms be -
cause they are storing a lot of the stuff from the darkrooms in the classrooms,” Gutierrez said.
The incomplete construction has limited access to the studio, darkroom and labs for photography students in NCAB, leading instructors to alter their assignments.
Gutierrez said the class can manage without the darkroom the first two weeks, however the students are going to need it eventually.
“It is affecting assignments for the beginning of the year since we are not going to have access to the darkroom,” Gutierrez said. “One of the labs isn’t finished so we have to figure out where the students are going to work.”
Jeremiah Wilson, head superintendent of construction in NCAB, specified the original completion day was Aug. 15.
“It should be done by the
25th,” Wilson said. “If it’s not, we are still responsible for it.”
Ting Huang, a NE associate professor of photography, said she reached out to facilities in hopes of finding a different room to use as storage, and she still has not heard back.
“There are printers and enlargers – equipment we felt were fragile – placed in classrooms which was, of course, meant to be a temporary solution,” Huang said. As a result, instructors are having to place limits on student workspaces and arrange new ones to replace classrooms. “The students will understand,” Huang said. “We will figure it out, even if [class] is out in the hallway or in the corner of the classroom.”
NE student Myles Carson said he was unaware of the projects on campus and was a little bit confused
when walking up for orientation.
“I was a little confused at first,” Carson said. “Maybe if there was a separate message or email notifying specifically about the constructions or direction, it would have been helpful.”
Instructors were not given a detailed timeline about the extension.
Huang said she has asked coordinators to communicate with faculty members to plan if there was another delay.
“We know that it is not going to be done by Monday,” she said.
Huang said the students may or may not be able to do the projects as they have planned for the beginning of the semester.
“The original timeline for these buildings to be done was probably now,” Huang said. “I don’t think we were given enough time or notice.”
The recent death of the first SE Campus president left the TCC community facing a wave of emotions.
Judith Carrier, who died July 5 in Fort Worth, two days prior to her 88th birthday, was known for her ambition and concern for students.
After starting at TCC as an associate professor of psychology and student counselor on NE Campus in 1971, Carrier went on to work on NW Campus as dean of student development services and helped create the senior education program.
“When Northwest opened in
1976, she had dual roles – she was the chief academic officer, and she was also in charge of student affairs,” Chancellor Elva LeBlanc said. “She did both, and she did that until the Southeast Campus opened.”
LeBlanc said Carrier made an impression with her work ethic and innovation.
“As an administrator, she was a hard-working person,” she said. “She was very creative, had a lot of ideas and would work and work until she figured out how to put them into operation.” Carrier made it clear to the administration of the NE and NW Campuses that she wanted to pursue a presidency in her future with the college.
“The thing that struck me the most about Judith was that she was ambitious and felt that she belonged in that role as a campus president,” former Vice Chancellor Bill Lace said.
SE career adviser Cyrus Crosby worked with Carrier from 2001 to 2011 and said she stood out to employees because she focused on the student community.
“With Dr. Carrier, everyone counted,” he said. Crosby said Carrier was open to input from her peers. She created focus groups for staff and administrators to voice their opinions, regardless of how long they had been employed by the college.
“Getting everyone’s opinion
HOPE SMITH campus editor hope.smith393@tccd.edu
Adjusting to Gov. Greg Abbott’s freeze on tuition and income tax created challenges for the TCC board of trustees to adapt to, leading to the current approval of the 20262027 budget.
At their Aug. 21 meeting, the board was presented the college budget proposition by Chief Financial Officer Pamela Anglin.
The budget was adopted to zero-in on expenditures, including looking at high and low performing TCC programs and their outcomes. Anglin explained that while they assessed the main budget costs, they wanted to focus on pushing student success in their specialty studies, as this could encourage more state funding.
“After we get through this fiscal year, we’ll have more decision-making tools available to us than we’ve ever had before,” Anglin said.
establishes an Office of the Ombudsman to resolve complaints.
JCC Chair Madelyn Bowman, an associate professor of government on South Campus, presented the proposed changes to board policy.
Bowman, who practiced before coming to TCC, said she was disappointed in the board’s decision.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult for faculty to have a voice,” Bowman said. “We have committees and start initiatives ourselves with our faculty senate, and that won’t be in place.”
During the NE Faculty Association meeting on Aug. 25, NE Interim President Kirsten Jakowitsch said faculty will still be included in the decision making and day-today operations of the campus.
“At the end of the day, we cannot do what we do without faculty. You guys are the campus,” she said. “Faculty are still going to be involved in every single piece that they want to be involved.”
Leigh-Anne Regenold, an assistant professor of government, was elected last spring as the NE Faculty Association president. She said one of the biggest impacts of SB 37 is that the board will now be the ones to choose the president and president-elect.
“The ability for us not to be able to elect our own leaders, the people who get to be in the conversations, is concerning, because sometimes we’re not always on the same page with regards to policies and things of
was a way of expanding how she saw things,” Crosby said.
Carrie Tunson, who is still dean of lifestyle and community learning at SE, worked alongside Carrier from the beginning.
“She was always very gracious,” Tunson said. “She was a survivor, she was a fighter, and she knew what she wanted and she fought for it.”
As president, Carrier juggled responsibilities such as running the campus, creating events and advocating for staff.
“If it hadn’t been for the fight in her and how she pushed and pulled, I wouldn’t be the woman that I am today,” Tunson said.
In 2011, she endowed to TCC the Dr. Judith J Carrier Scholarship to help students in need.
“If there was a rotary club or a PTA club, there she was,” Lace said.
Carrier was the first woman to serve as president of the Fort Worth Rotary Club. She was also a chair member for the UNT Alumni organization.
LeBlanc, who was president of NW Campus while Carrier was president of SE, said she also remembers Carrier’s active involvement in the Rotary Club and advocacy for TCC.
“Everybody in the community, and when I say community that would be Arlington and Mansfield, knew her well,” LeBlanc said. “She was very active in the community, telling the Tarrant County College story and partnering with people.”
However, those who worked with her said her biggest impact was on the TCC community.
“Dr. Carrier was a mover and a shaker,” Tunson said. “And you would have to run to keep up with her.”
It was proposed that the current property tax rate, 11.228 cents, stay the same in the fiscal year 2026 budget and expected enrollment to increase within the next year. In total, however, the budget foresees a change from $421 million to $415 million in expenditure.
that nature,” Regenold said.
Each TCC campus has a faculty association comprised of members who are full-time faculty, librarians, counselors and advisers. Members elect senators to represent them, and senators elect the president, presidentelect and secretary of their campus.
The president and presidents-elect of each campus and a chair comprise the JCC, a committee which provides a channel of communication between faculty and administration.
To comply with the new law, the JCC’s proposed changes would have added a completely new piece to board policy to include the roles and limitations of the faculty association.
Benjamin Faust, a South Campus economics instructor, attended the board meeting in support of the proposed changes. He said with the dissolution of the faculty association, faculty will still be able to do their jobs, but there won’t be a formal process for elected faculty representatives to communicate with administration.
“I know they probably had some constraints from the government in Texas, but it was still disappointing because, to my knowledge, three other community colleges did in fact get this done,” Faust said.
Alamo College, Houston City College, the University of Houston and Texas Tech University are some schools that have approved changes to their faculty senates to comply with SB 37 in time for Sept. 1.
resource because we want to be able to support our students that have the greatest need.”
Camarillo said Learning Commons doesn’t know what criteria the Student Empowerment Center is looking for to make a student eligible, but by filling out the application, the center can determine all the resources available to a student beyond just the Device Loan Program.
“Our goal is to make this a little easier process for students,” Center said. “The difference is the Student Empowerment Center is then responding, giving you a tailored response within 24 to 48 hours to say, ‘This is how we can help you.’”
The center doesn’t have offices available for students on campus. If a student wants to review the center’s response with a staff member, they must call to make an appointment, and one will be sent to their campus to meet.
Center said the college has developed the Student Empowerment Center into a one-stop shop for students needing access to resources.
“That’s really been the shift. Rather than saying, ‘Do you need x?’ The college is working to say, ‘How can we support you as a student?’” Center said.
She said the college began working with the Information Center, Financial Aid and Student Affairs offices to timely inform faculty, staff and students of their upcoming plan.
“Dec. 4, our district student affairs office began communicating with students that were going to be impacted with this change,” Center said. “To let them know in advance, so that they’re not walking onto campus seeing there’s a change to the program.”
TR library manager Stephanie Weinman said the online form went live on Aug. 15, but the library wasn’t a part of any of the decision-making.
“I just put the sign out today,” Weinman
Trustee Shannon Wood emphasized the importance of this move on the college’s part, explaining that it was the college’s duty to listen to the taxpayers in the county.
“All eyes are on us to do what’s right for the taxpayers and Tarrant County College has
Regenold said the faculty association has always been an advisory body at TCC, and the bill is mainly aimed at reducing the power of faculty senates at the university level.
“While university senates have had some power in decision-making over curriculum and some hiring decisions within the department and programs, we have never been that way,” she said.
Vice Chancellor for Communications and External Affairs Reginald Gates said the board had been provided with regular updates about the impact of SB 37 on TCC, and he doesn’t think faculty representation would ever be eliminated.
“The access to the leadership, the chancellor, that’s never going to be an issue,” Gates said. “The only official thing is that the JCC as we know it, as of Sept. 1, due to the legislation, won’t exist in its current format.”
However, some faculty members feel disheartened by the board’s decision. Faust said it wasn’t good for faculty morale for this to happen four days before classes begin.
“Faculty voices were silenced today, and I hope the board moves quickly to remedy that problem,” he said.
General Counsel Antonio Allen said the process of establishing a structure to create a new faculty senate that complies with SB 37 will start during the September board meeting and be finalized by the end of the year.
Regenold said the faculty associations not only act as an efficient conduit of information between administration and faculty,
said on Aug. 20, referring to the Student Empowerment Center’s informational flyer with a QR code on it.
The QR code loads the application where a student puts their full name, TCC ID and email. From there, it asks what aid a student is looking for and how many credit hours they’re enrolled in. NE student Leon Lankford wasn’t told of the program’s changes until a week before the first day of class.
“Really? That’s kind of insane,” he said. “There was no email saying, ‘new update with the Device Loan Program.’” Lankford has checked out a computer every semester since he started at TCC in
tightened the spending belt and knows the answer is not to raise our taxes,” she said. It was explained by Anglin in the meeting that while the budget is still very tightly packed, most of the increase in expenditure comes from the campuses adjunct and overload pay, as well as software allocated to the departments.
“We started working Friday on finding things to reduce,” Anglin said. “This is where we are today. After almost a week of doing it, we’re not through, but we will get it balanced.”
Trustee Laura Forkner Pritchett had asked that special attention be paid to ensuring focus was put on set-aside budget income for unfilled positions. Anglin said they assessed the portion of the budget for unfulfilled positions, but that most were the lowest paid in the college and among the market with little to no significant setbacks in expenditure.
“Our number of those unfilled that were budgeted have been going down every year, and we’re still going to have some remaining budgeted funds that go unused this year, but it won’t be at the magnitude that we’ve had,” Anglin said.
The trustees acknowledge Anglin and the team working to create the budget for their work, and Pritchett included a moment to note the attention paid in staying committed to focusing on the problem areas of the previous budget.
“Thank you for all of the diligence in this. From my perspective, you’ve done a tremendous job,” Pritchett said.
but they also bring a faculty’s perspective to the table.
“Faculty are the front line. We’re the ones who interact with students every day,” she said. “While a number of administrators have been faculty in the past, the farther you get away from the classroom, I think the less you remember what that’s like.”
2023.
“A good chunk of most of the people in my classes I’ve taken use them,” he said. “It definitely will affect a lot of people because most people can’t do homework or anything without it.” He said he wouldn’t be severely impacted by the changes, but as a part-time worker during the semester, he knows it will be a struggle for other students.
He explained how most jobs require student workers to provide a detailed schedule of when they can work at least two weeks to a month in advance of the start of the semester.
“They probably already planned out what they do. ‘I go to class at 11 o’clock, I get out at 3:30, I work 4 o’clock to 10, then I can work on my homework from 10 to midnight,’” Lankford said.
He said students uninformed of the program’s changes will now have to request a new schedule from their employer that may not go into effect until a month later.
“I’m kind of disappointed because they never really reached out to people,” Lankford said. “I guess they just looked at the numbers and [did] not see what the people think about it.”
Last semester he said he forgot to return the black bag his laptop came in. The library sent him an email five hours after returning the computer to remind him he must return the bag, or he’d be fined.
Center said the Student Empowerment Center can help students who aren’t approved for the Device Loan Program by guiding them on how to use their financial aid.
“It would have been nice to use the program and not have to spend the money I have saved for other things, like the new car I kind of need,” Lankford said. “But now I have to use the money I got from FAFSA and the extra money from work to buy a laptop.”
The recent changes made to the Device Loan Program show our board’s inability to understand the average student’s struggle.
This program previously allowed students to freely check out a device for the semester. Now, there is an eligibility criteria to determine whether a student’s financial need is sufficient.
The college has developed a Student Empowerment Center on each campus where these applications will be evaluated by a team.
If a student is deemed eligible, they’ll be informed they can only check out a device for two weeks during the semester.
If they’re not, the Student Empowerment Center will respond with all the other resources available to the student’s specific needs determined by their application, such as financial aid.
For a community college to believe purchasing a laptop is only difficult for a student with the ability to prove they need it is absurd.
It’s absurd to think only students with the most need are worthy of receiving a computer. And even then, just for two weeks.
The minimum wage in Texas is still $7.25 an hour. While many jobs have resorted to offering more than the state minimum, it isn’t enough for a part-time worker to survive.
American Eagle Outfitters average hourly wage in Texas starts at $10.50, Starbucks hires at around $9 and Chick-Fil-A’s pay is set at the
highest with offering new employ-
ees $11. According to Indeed, these wages are roughly 26% lower than the national average.
If a student is paid $11 hourly and works 32 hours a week, their monthly income with taxes is about $1,225.
The average rent in Arlington is $1,210, according to the city’s 2023 data report. An estimated cost for a monthly car payment is $512, according to Experian’s first 2025 quarter report.
If they split their rent with another person and have a car payment, a student’s take-home pay is $108.
TCC students’ reality is having only $108 a month for gas, groceries and any other bills.
On paper, we aren’t in debt or in need. We have jobs, are attending school and making ends meet.
Dig a little deeper and it’s easier to see how the average student is struggling.
While the argument could be made that cheaper computers are on the market, a $150 plastic alternative only has 64 GB of storage while most phones have at least 120 GB.
Also, the lifetime of even a $500 computer is short, with a predicted two years before it dies.
Yes, financial aid is available for students to use on purchasing a higher-end computer.
However, students who relied on this program weren’t informed in time of the changes, meaning they didn’t prepare their finances for this.
Many students rely on their financial aid for tuition fees, books and supplies. Then whatever aid is left is usually put toward their monthly bills or added to their savings as it typically isn’t a large sum of money to make grand purchases with.
Furthermore, to enforce a twoweek maximum checkout period for those who meet the financial need criteria indicates that the people making these decisions don’t understand the demands of a student’s schedule.
A part-time student takes up to
11 credit hours and organizes their class schedule around work, family and studying. Some students are parents, others have two jobs and many are in high school.
Our libraries are open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. whereas other colleges close at 11 p.m. or are open 24 hours. With the limited timeframe to access computers, students will struggle to complete their homework on time without access to a computer outside of campus. Due dates, project timelines
People around me have always talked about facing racism, and I always wondered how it would feel if I were ever in their place. Until I was. I moved to the United States from Nepal when I was 14. I grew accustomed to the way of life here and started to view Texas as my home. However, that feeling was short-lived.
Racism comes in different forms. Discrimination is a persistent problem faced by many people of color in America, and even though ethnic groups have made great progress, subtle racial bias remains. It is not always deliberate but rather subconscious. The unintended racism might not be overt, but it causes the same devastation, especially among teenagers.
The first time I felt like an outsider was after I talked to my teacher about a class project.
She was unexpectedly rude and dismissive.
NANDA ACHARYA campus editor nanda.acharya@my.tccd.edu
At first, I mistook her reaction for her personality, but then I noticed her acting friendly toward my white classmates.
Having been in the States for only a year, she already expected me to know the things I was not used to. Concerns over my assignments were met with the assumption that I would automatically know what to do.
It seemed impossible to understand the curriculum, and my teacher’s unwillingness to compromise
our differences to help me did not make it easier.
Being forced to leave myself at the classroom door to avoid getting ridiculed had become a daily ritual for me.
My friends and I shared similar experiences with our teacher. The contrast in expectations between us and her favored white students exposed her bias.
Initially, I doubted her disdain, thinking it would fade with time. However, my doubts were confirmed with the repetition of her unfairness toward me.
This behavior was a hint at how I was perceived differently than others. From then on, I felt unmotivated to do anything, and my grades began to decline.
The backhanded sarcasm about my falling grades and my inability to adhere to this new thing called Canvas was a part of her small talk.
Her indifference had a great effect on me when recognizing her
and class curriculum are presented by instructors during syllabus week for students to organize their schedule. But it’s rare for there to never be changes made to a professor’s or student’s calendar due to unexpected life events.
The Device Loan Program’s changes are only going to cause our TCC community to suffer as it’s not just students who will be affected by this.
Implementing a rotating device checkout system requiring students to return computers after a certain time, giving them the ability check out a device again at a later date, would allow more to benefit from the program.
It would also give our college the time to reach out and fine a student before the end of a semester if they damaged a computer.
Determining a student’s need for expensive materials can’t be based on a financial assessment, and our college should reconsider this decision as it is going to only put more of a financial burden onto our success.
“We lead with mindfulness of our impact and the potential to transform lives and communities through education,” said Chancellor Elva LeBlanc.
If our board of trustees was truly mindful of their potential to transform lives and communities through education, then students should be the focus of their decisions, but we’re not.
warmth was only limited to my white classmates, leading me to gradually be conscious of my physical appearance.
I then found myself being hyperaware of how everyone would treat me and my family. This prompted the realization that I was oblivious to the indifference we encountered in the past.
An adolescent’s experience is essential to shaping their future beliefs. When a child is raised to accept inequality as normal, it inevitably perpetuates the cycle, spreading it like a disease from generation to generation.
Cultural issues like racism exist within us, and the cause of subtle racism goes far beyond the beholder. It is unintentional because it has been subconsciously taught.
The thing about racism is that no one ever denies it as a part of our existence as people of color. However, the effects of it on
both ends are not acknowledged enough.
It makes adolescents like me feel little, leading us to doubt our place in society. The perpetrators are also victims, being forced to base their beliefs off of their ancestors and pass it onto their offspring like it’s an heirloom, keeping them stuck in a loop.
Today’s generation is a victim of the problem that has been preserved. Ingrained in one’s upbringing, it limits an individual’s experiences outside of their culture without them even realizing it, keeping them closed off.
The subconscious barrier between me and my teacher limited her knowledge about my culture. If only she experimented outside of her mind, she would have been able to break free of this loop.
For decades, this trait has hindered everyone like double edged swords. It is not who we are. It is rather what we are taught.
Most of Generation X through Z spent a good deal of their free time frolicking through their local mall with money to burn and entertainment on their minds.
Each mall is centered around the needs of every member of a family with bookstores, toy stores and even music stores, making the mall a convenient place for the average American family to shop.
The local mall was the place to be with popular events like concerts, meet-and-greets, as well as the classic holiday setups for Christmas and Easter. You could find most people you knew there.
Today, we are seeing a flood of online shoppers.
Online shopping outlets such as Amazon and fast fashion apps allow average shoppers to easily
AVA REED campus editor ava.reed046@my.tccd.edu
retrieve what they need from the comfort of their own bedroom. This is causing the malls to have scarce business.
When I began working inside my local mall last year, I saw firsthand how shoppers prefer convenience over quality. Hours would
pass by with only a few customers walking around.
Working in the coffee shop smack dab in the middle of the mall, I received various opinions on stores and the contents inside them.
On occasion I noticed that while waiting for their coffee, the customer is on their phone browsing online shops.
Even I was guilty of convenience shopping.
While having clothing stores 50 feet away from me, I would still stand there in my kiosk and order from Amazon, expecting it at my front door within 10 hours.
Amazon provides fashion at your fingertips, but what they do not share with their consumers is that the product most likely will not look like the picture.
Usually, the product we receive is not the one we expected, nor wanted. While it is easy to order something, it takes much more labor to return it. The average shopper is too lazy.
Then, because the return process requires leaving the house, most products that need to be exchanged sit in a closet and become forgotten.
Why do we continue to go through this process even though it inevitably burns us each time?
The mall used to be a fun, colorful experience. The real reason we now see the mall as dull and gray is because we as a society caused it to be. With malls being left behind, we are also leaving the uniqueness with it.
On top of receiving subpar items from online, we are no longer using the mall as a social ground as we used to.
The mall used to be an experience rather than a shopping trip. If we can trade our beds for the public mall, we could solve our own problems, and our community won’t depend on the internet for all their needs.
Our laziness is hurting the mall community. We can now see that store managers are having to increase the price of their items due to the lack of business.
Deciding to return to the malls for our fashion needs will benefit us in the long run, ensuring we know what we buy each time. It will also save us money and possibly help us make a friend.
“I have a good relationship with my manager and my workers, and we make a good team so this year I am hoping that remains the same.” NE Campus
Chenell Humphrey TR Campus
“I absolutely love working here because I love meeting different people and this gave me the opportunity to meet all kind of people coming through the line.”
Renetta Francis
South Campus
Sydney Johnson
“I’m excited because we’re going to get a lot of new food in. We’re gonna have pastas and salted caramel doughnuts. I’m exited for that.” SE Campus
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NW: A Clery report of stalking was made.
AIRIANNA ROMAN campus editor airianna.roman@my.tccd.edu
Bringing back a sense of retro gaming, Electric Starship Arcade relieves its regulars of modern day of video games.
In 2017, owner Mike Woods won two broken gaming machines from an auction. This led him to spend a night fixing one game, and then six days fixing the other.
“It really dawned on me that, ‘Hey, if I buy them broken, I can fix them and learn a new trade at the same time,’” Woods said.
He learned how to maintain these types of games and gained more knowledge from YouTube.
“I think if you’re an arcade owner, it’s very important to know how to maintain your machines,” he said.
After fixing those two broken machines, he planned to buy broken arcade games every month costing him and his wife around $500. He would later make the choice on whether he would open an arcade based off his joy of fixing arcade games.
Woods worked at Audi for 10 years, but in February of 2020, he said he decided he was ready to open the arcade and signed a lease for a building at the beginning of March.
“COVID was whispers. We didn’t
know it was going to hit like it did,” Woods said. “I put my [one month] notice in on March 1, and by March 13, the world was shutting down for COVID. So it’s a scary time.”
Mike, since day one, that guy has been so meticulous with the way he cares for all machines, and he rebuilt everything back to the original state.
Dave Pino Arcade regular
He said he was fortunate he had just leased the building when COVID hit because he didn’t have any preexisting bills.
They waited until quarantine restrictions lifted, and the arcade officially opened its doors in June.
“The timing sounds crazy, but couldn’t have been more perfect,”
Woods said. “About eight months after we opened, we really started getting some steam. People really started coming back out, and it’s been great since.”
Jack Young, an employee at Electric Starship Arcade, was a regular for four years, and he said when he finally turned the age to work in a bar, he immediately applied.
“I like knowing the inside secrets about all the games,” Young said. “Some of these machines aren’t even official, they’re prototypes that we made our own. I think Tattoo Assassin, it was an arcade game that was never released.”
He said he enjoys being able to provide a nice, comfortable and safe space for people who come to the arcade.
Dave Pino, another arcade regular, moved to Texas around the same time the arcade opened, and he said the first time he visited, he was reminded of home.
“When I walked into this place, I said, ‘Oh, this place is great.’ It sounds like all my family parties,” Pino said. “It was just an environment that I felt very comfortable [in].”
Pino said what he did for his occupation would have him travel around the world and he’d try visiting an arcade everywhere he went, and Electric Starship Arcade is one of his favorites.
“Mike, since day one, that guy has been so meticulous with the way he cares for all machines, and he rebuilt everything back to the original state,” Pino said Pino talks about how Woods puts so much effort into this arcade, that it’s what makes him love it and have a feeling of home.
A R C A D E
“This is a venue of quality, of real high quality,” Pino said. “This is the best arcade in America, potentially the world”
