During its meeting last Friday, the Student Government Association swore in a new temporary vice president, international business junior Yaw Sam.
“VP Carlo Flores resigned,” Ingrid De La Torre, SGA Brownsville Vice President said. “He sent an email out … so we do have a vacancy.”
“Whoever is in this position would pretty much be a filler,” De La Torre said.
Alexandra Smith-Macias, senate chair, said the new vice president would not be official until their last meeting and remain until the new term begins, May 6.
The vice president must attend all meetings of the senate, assumes the duties of the president when directed by the president and collaborates with the chair of the senate to set unofficial and official senate agendas, among other duties.
De La Torre nominated Sam, who is the senator for the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship. She said the current SGA president, Alejandro Saldivar, approved of Sam but was waiting to see if he would accept the nomination.
“In the case of a vice-presidential vacancy, the president shall appoint a new vice president subject to approval by two-thirds of the senate members present voting,” Smith-Macias said.
The SGA discussed Sam’s nomination after a motion to recess so internal affairs could meet and review the vice-presidential candidate.
Toward the end of the meeting, Sam was sworn in. He said a few words before SGA members voted him as vice president.
“Ever since I joined, I’ve had a lot of experiences with different people and certainly a lot of capacity is something that will be an interesting variant to go on, and I’m willing to take that role as well,” Sam said.
In other business, Sam informed the SGA a committee has been set for drainage issues.
He also said the SGA spoke with a university official about adding information on ID cards. He said they would look into adding emergency numbers and information on the back of student ID cards.
The SGA also discussed recruiting more freshman students.
“There’s a lot of young, aspiring student leaders that we found,”said Franklin White, a first-year SGA intern. “So, it should be a good year.”
The SGA will also attend First Pitch at 7 p.m. tonight, when the UTRGV Men’s Baseball Team play against the California Baptist University Lancers. Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina will throw the first pitch to De La Torre, who will serve as the SGA president during the upcoming 2019-2020 school year.
