The newly elected Student Government Association executive team hopes to push B3 Institute resources and diversity as part of its vision after winning the general election with 930 votes.
Odalys A. Saenz will serve as president and Ihssan O. Al-Qudah and Juana E. Jimenez L. as internal and external vice presidents, respectively.
Executive Ticket 1, consisting of Josiah Gonzalez, Jose A. Rodriguez and Arianna Rosales, obtained 451 votes.
Saenz said she is glad 422 more students voted this year.
She said her team brings unique aspects of what it is to be a student leader as it comes from different SGA branches, making it stand out against the competitors.
“Working with faculty [for the College of Liberal Arts] really, really pushed me to become the leader that I am today,” Saenz said. “I’ve been able to work with B3 [Institute], which is the bicultural, bilingual and biliterate resources … and establishing a [Liberal Arts] Student Advisory Council. So, having these initiatives really pushed me to learn more about SGA, how to write legislative work, resolutions, bills, etc.”
She has been the senator for the College of Liberal Arts and chair of the Internal Affairs Committee for the 2022-2023 term. Jimenez has been the secretary of the senate and Al-Qudah has been associate justice.
Her next step is to meet with Al-Qudah, Jimenez and the newly elected senators to establish a system where all opinions are accepted.
“One of the initiatives we’re working on with Liberal Arts faculty is pushing for the UTRGV website to be translated in Spanish,” Saenz said.
She also talked about advocating for gender neutral restrooms in the new athletic facilities and improving the living quality and security of campus dorms.
Saenz said the team wants to work with the Learning Center to expand equal resources throughout the campuses, “especially with new numbers of incoming freshmen.”
She added she will carry out current SGA president Jonathan Dominguez’s incentivization initiative, which would be a new university tradition of a “President’s Ball” for students on the President’s List, if the senate approves it.
As of press time, Jimenez and Al-Qudah had not sent their statements about the election results.
The team will begin its term on May 1. The SGA will host an inauguration for the newly elected executive officers and senators at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Performing Arts Complex on the Edinburg campus.
Gonzalez, a finance sophomore and presidential candidate, said one thing he would have done differently is work on increasing social media presence.
Rosales, a business management sophomore, said the team is happy with the results.
Rodriguez, a criminal justice sophomore and vice-president candidate, said he will try to join SGA again but this time as a senator at-large for Brownsville.
“We did what we could, but at the end of the day, it’s the students who decide … what’s best for them and, obviously, they made their choice,” Rodriguez said.
