‘SGA failed to support the student body’: Student says senate was biased during town hall and meeting

During the Student Government Association Constitutional Amendments town hall last month, a student voiced his concern about campus inequality and accused the SGA of bias during the Intercollegiate Athletics Fee Referendum voting last semester.

The SGA hosted the town hall Feb. 22 to inform the student body about the proposed amendments to its Constitution, which students voted on during a general election March 7-9.

When SGA President José Pablo Rojas opened the floor for questions after reviewing the proposed constitutional amendments, graphic and web design senior Juan Almaguer voiced his concern.

Almaguer began to speak about events that occurred last semester leading up to the voting and results of the Intercollegiate Athletics Fee Referendum and the SGA’s role at that time.

SGA Vice President Samantha Lara then interrupted him to ask if his question was regarding the recently presented amendments and explained that students in attendance could voice their concerns during the senate meeting that followed. However, Almaguer continued to speak.

Rojas then attempted to gain Almaguer’s attention and elaborate on what Lara said but the student still continued. 

“The SGA failed to support the student body and reinforce our voice and, instead, shut us up, just like you are trying to do now,” Almaguer said.

As Almaguer finished speaking, Rojas said that the SGA would be more than happy to address any student concerns during the respective portion in the senate meeting that followed, and now was the time for them to answer any questions the student body may have in regard to the amendments.

“That’s understood,” Almaguer said. “That was understood in the beginning. I’m still here, still voicing my concern.”

Rojas then ended the town hall and moved on to the senate meeting, where Almaguer once again spoke during the Petition of the Students, a section of the meeting in which students may present a concern or project to the Student Senate. 

Initially, Almaguer did not speak up the first time this portion of the meeting was opened but Jose Raúl Ruiz, the senate chair, reopened the session after a presentation specifically to allow him a chance to speak up once again.

“Please don’t make the mistake that I do [not] support SGA and what it stands for,” Almaguer said. “What I don’t support is the influence that it had during the referendum from the university, where SGA members stated that it was a neutral presentation, but they showed otherwise.”

He also said he and other students experienced their voices being cut off intentionally during the referendum town hall on the Brownsville campus and there was no microphone error.

“It was an intentional cutoff of our voice during a moment of uncertainty, a moment where we needed SGA most, and that was what I wanted to discuss today,” he said. 

In an interview with The Rider, Almaguer said he attended the Feb. 22 town hall because he saw it as an opportunity to bring forward some concerns and transparency to SGA on a topic that was ignored.

“I feel that they needed to be aware that students are paying attention,” Almaguer said. “They really do care.”

During the Petition of the Students, Almaguer addressed Rojas directly and asked him to “be transparent,” noting they had met before. 

Asked to elaborate on their previous meeting, Almaguer said Senator-at-Large Kimberly Sandoval managed to set up about two or three meetings with Rojas and several art students to collaborate on and mitigate issues the School of Art and Design have been facing.

However, Almaguer said during the Feb. 22 senate meeting, Rojas made it seem as if it was the first time they had ever spoken.

“I called him out on it because it wasn’t,” Almaguer said. “And nothing has ever changed.”

In an interview with The Rider, Rojas confirmed he had previously met Almaguer before but said it was during a town hall for the School of Art and Design.

“When we spoke to the student, it wasn’t a direct conversation with the student,” Rojas said. “It wasn’t a one on one. They just came to the town hall and they just voiced out their concerns with the building and we basically just gathered that information and we basically just relayed to them that, just give us time so we can be able to gather all the information from not just you, but also from other students and collaborate with our senators so that way, we can be able to do something, and speak about it with either the department, Dr. Janna Arney, the provost and deputy president, and if need be, speak to Dr. Guy Bailey, the university president.”

Before Almaguer left the senate meeting, Lara spoke with him briefly. 

Asked what they discussed, Almaguer stated that he gave Lara his business card to speak with him at a later time about his concerns but said no one has reached out to him and no one is going to. He also said Lara admitted that Carlos Mata, senator for the College of Health Professions, intentionally cut him off during the referendum town hall and was ordered to cut him off several times.

Lara later said in an interview with The Rider she apologized for cutting Almaguer off during the constitutional amendments town hall and Almaguer also apologized, saying he was not aware that there was a speaking time during the senate meeting. She also said Karitza Garcia , senator for the School of Nursing and chair of the Internal Affairs Standing Committee, reached out to Almaguer the day of the senate meeting and was still awaiting a response from him.

“If anything, we’ll send a follow up,” Lara said. “Maybe in a few weeks just to give it some time. But pretty much, I just explained to him that I’d be more than willing to sit down with him again and talk about it, and he seemed very open to the idea.”

Asked if she had informed Almaguer that his microphone was intentionally cut off, Lara said the microphone was taken away out of his reach because the SGA was specifically instructed by the Dean of Students and SGA  advisers to only accept questions from the audience during the referendum town halls to leave time for more audience questions.

“I did explain that to him after that town hall, that the reason we took the mic was because we were instructed to do so unless the audience had questions and, at that moment, from the way several of those students were speaking, it was more in the form of conversation and bringing up subjects that weren’t really directed as questions towards us,” she said.

Almaguer also told The Rider that prior to the town hall, he spoke with Senate Chair Ruiz about the results of the student vote on the Intercollegiate Athletics Fee Referendum. 

“And I started talking about the referendum and he got a little bit defensive,” he said. “And, as the conversation progressed on the topic, what I was telling him, in my experience, and what SGA really did, and how they don’t support the student voice because of their actions and what they did, specifically during the referendum. … It started to turn into an argument, almost. He was more concerned about me proving it, asking me like, kind of aggressively, you know, prove it.”

Asked about their conversation by The Rider, Ruiz said he introduced himself to Almaguer and thanked him for attending the town hall, but said they never spoke about the referendum.

“So the conversation … was never related to the referendum that happened last semester,” Ruiz said. “My conversation with him was very brief. It was just me thanking him for being at the meeting and it was very much related to that. I don’t recall the referendum ever being brought up myself. By him, I do believe that he briefly mentioned it, but we never actually discussed it in detail.”

Ruiz said Almaguer had a concern regarding the way the SGA presented itself.

“He had a concern regarding that,” he said. “But other than that, you know, the referendum itself was very brief when he mentioned it, but it was never a topic that we discussed a lot, if that makes sense.”

Asked why he reopened the Petition of the Students portion of the senate meeting, Ruiz said he wanted to make sure Almaguer was given the opportunity to speak.

“When I saw that he didn’t say anything, I said, ‘You know, I have to go back and I have to reintroduce it,’” Ruiz said. “Because I know that what he wanted to discuss was very important and it’s still very important, so I really wanted to make sure that he had his issue addressed and heard by the senate.”

He also said that the SGA is doing their best to ensure that the School of Art and Design is getting the appropriate resources.

“The College of Fine Arts senators, and also Kimberly Sandoval, who is the senator at large for Brownsville, have been working for many months now on getting resources and doing a lot of research to ensure that the College of Fine Arts, the concerns of the students from that college, are being addressed appropriately,” Ruiz said. “I know that it may seem that it’s a very slow process, but once you get into a position like this, you do realize that you have a lot of ideas, and you have a lot of ways to address an issue but once you get into this position it’s, you begin to realize it’s a lot of effort and a lot of preparation that you have to do to ensure that you do address these concerns.”

The Rider called Rojas to find out if any meeting had been set up yet with Almaguer to further discuss his concerns. However, he said Senator Garcia is still awaiting a response from Almaguer. 

On Thursday night, Almaguer told The Rider he reached out to Ruiz via email the night of the Feb. 22 senate meeting, but has not received a response from him or any other senate member.