Roxanna Miranda/The Rider Photo Illustration
Jamejdra Holverstott | THE RIDER
As Spring Break ends and students return to class, the Student Government Association begins its annual election process. This year’s elections will take place Monday through March 31.
SGA Elections Committee Adviser Jodie Dominguez said the association works to advocate for UTRGV students.
“The Student Government Association is the voice for our students,” Dominguez said. “The Student Government Association advocates for our students, and they host senate meetings, town halls, and different opportunities for students to get involved with them.”
The Student Government Association is composed of three branches, executive, legislative and judicial, according to its website. The students running on the executive ticket and for the senator-at-large positions are as follows:
Executive branch:
Ticket 1: José Pablo Rojas, president; Yahia Omar Al-Qudah, vice president in Brownsville; and Anacette Cantu, vice president in Edinburg.
Ticket 2: Michael White, president; Daniela Ramirez, vice president in Edinburg; and Leticia Irene Villarreal, vice president in Brownsville.
Senator-at-large positions:
Alan Garcia, senator-at-large in Edinburg; Megan Samantha Solis, senator-at-large in Edinburg; Angela Cantu, senator-at-large in Brownsville.
Students running unopposed will automatically assume the position they are running for. Unfilled positions will be left open throughout the year to be filled by recommended potential candidates.
Carlo Flores, vice president for the Brownsville campus, said, normally, not all representatives could be from the same campus.
“However, with COVID-19, most of our members are also taking courses virtually,” Flores said. “And so, it’s hard to say that one individual [is] specifically at one campus versus the other.”
As a result, the location-based requirements for SGA positions were suspended.
Students will be able to vote beginning 8 a.m. Monday via email. Voting will close at 11:59 p.m. March 31.
Alexandra Smith-Macias, a graduate student and former SGA vice president, said students should consider candidates’ platforms when voting.
“I think you gotta look into what [each candidate’s] platform is, and this is where, I guess, it gets a little tedious,” Smith-Macias said. “Because there are things that student government can do and then, there’s things that student government cannot do.
“Whenever you are looking at the candidates, you want to look at something that you think is achievable. And sometimes, you might have to look into things that the university has in place that might allow them to pursue that platform.”
She said students should vote for someone that can uphold their platform.
“Student government, frankly, hasn’t had a high turnout rate in their elections,” Smith-Macias said. “So, every vote counts.”
She said voting raises awareness of the SGA.
“The more the students vote, the more real it is, the more actual it is, that now a lot of students are being engaged,” Smith-Macias said. “It will in turn help the students, too because they’ll know what student government is.”
For more information on the SGA elections and candidates, watch the debate Tuesday on the association’s Facebook Live.
