Eighteen students took the oath of office as members of the Student Government Association and spoke about their future plans for the university in a ceremony last Thursday in the Visitors Center Lobby on the Edinburg campus.
SGA Vice President Peter Averack welcomed new executive members Denisce Palacios, Ingrid de la Torre and Alejandro Saldivar, as well as 15 newly elected senators.
Palacios, an international business and political science junior, is the new Student Government Association president.
During her inauguration speech, she said she enrolled in the university in 2015 knowing she wanted to make a difference.
“I have always had a passion for serving,” Palacios said. “I love to help people and I have always looked to surround myself with people who are equally as passionate about serving, as you can see, the people who are here.”
She said she hopes students know that the executive team is there to listen and work for them.
Communication sophomore de la Torre, the new vice president on the Brownsville campus, said she is excited and believes that the campus is not well-represented in every department.
“My personal goal as an executive is to bring Brownsville more to the attention of the departments,” de la Torre said.
[pdf-embedder url=”http://www.utrgvrider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/UTRGV-SGA-Inauguration-Peter-Averack-Closing-Remarks.pdf” title=”UTRGV SGA Inauguration – Peter Averack Closing Remarks”]
She also would like to keep students as involved as possible.
“I think constantly communicating, not only with departments, but also students to ensure that what they want, and the changes that they want to see, is actually implemented in the university for a better experience,” de la Torre said.
The SGA executive team already has several ideas it would like to implement.
“There are some academic changes I would want … for [interactive television] classes and online classes,” said accounting senior Saldivar, the new vice president on the Edinburg campus.
He also told The Rider, he would like to enhance the academic experience.
“We want to see whether switching professors between campuses … could be an option,” Saldivar said. “For online classes, we could see whether professors can record lectures … stuff like that.”
He spoke about other areas he would like to improve.
“We also want to increase the food options in Brownsville,” Saldivar said. “Also, for people taking the shuttle, we want to have covers … against sun, rain.”
Averack demonstrated to the new SGA members through a shepherd metaphor how they should “learn the lay of the land well enough, so you may ensure the safety and security of those who you are responsible for as you guide them through to their destination.”
After graduation, communication studies senior Averack hopes to enroll in UTRGV’s accelerated master’s of business administration program.
Rebecca Gadson, the associate vice president for Student Life and dean of students, said there are still ways for students to become involved with the university.
“Interested students, in getting involved with the Student Government Association, can apply for appointment to the legislative branch to serve as a senator, representing their college, or maybe a senator-at-large position,” Gadson said.
She said the executives will search for interested students to serve in their Cabinet and there are other ways in which students can become involved.
Gadson said she would like to meet with the new SGA members to “share that information and promote [different] opportunities so we can get diverse voices at the table. I look forward to ways that we can do that together.”
