The first face a social work student typically sees when considering UT is rarely a dean in a suit or a professor in a tailored jacket. More than likely, they met someone with piercings, quirky tattoos and an incredibly vibrant, warm personality.
Dante Vargas, LBSW (BSW ’17) doesn’t look or sound like a stereotypical higher-ed administrator — and that’s exactly the point.
“People have this image of higher education and what you should look like, but in direct practice, if you’re looking for help or resources, you want to talk to a social worker who seems friendly,” Vargas said. “I want to authentically be myself.”
As the director of recruitment at the School of Social Work, Vargas leads “active recruitment” for the school across all student levels, meaning that he brings the social work program to conferences, college fairs, tabling events, and one-on-one meetings to inform potential students about the program.
Inspired by his own journey, he knows that recruiting is a strategy that brings in competitive students and prepares future social workers that do work for good.
From El Paso to Austin
recruiting, which has resulted in
a 57% increase in out-of-state
applications to UT Social Work.
Vargas is rooted in his own journey from El Paso to Austin. Encouraged by his high school English teacher, Vargas applied to, and got into, UT Austin. As a “natural helper,” he started in the pre-med program, determined to become a neurosurgeon.
There was just one problem though: he remembered he was “terrible at math.”
While trying to figure out his next steps, Vargas met a social work student. That conversation led him to learn about the school and possibilities like medical social work, school social work, housing, and policy advocacy. It wasn’t much longer before Vargas let that “recruitment” get him to UT Social Work.
“I think a lot about how a good conversation brought me to where I needed to be,” said Vargas. “Good conversations bring in great students, and great students turn into excellent social workers.”
Finding the Right Candidates
Now, as director of recruitment, Vargas still sees himself first and foremost as a social worker. He keeps his social work license up to date to continue his education and be connected to the practice, but more importantly, he uses his background to be a strong advocate for potential students.
In the last year alone, he took nearly 130 individual meetings with potential MSSW students in person or over Zoom, in addition to his travel schedule and his day-to-day work. The meetings are critical, Vargas says, because recruitment to the School of Social Work is about “bringing the right people into a field where the stakes are often life and death.”
The students who stand out to Vargas are the ones who are drawn to social work not because it makes them feel good, but because they believe everyone deserves dignity, support, and someone in their corner.
“A good social worker or a bad social worker is often the determinant for someone’s level of care and support,” Vargas said. “When we bring the right people in with authentic conversations, we make a difference and get to change the world.”