UTRGV students have elected Team Vision United to be their Student Government Association executive team for the 2021-2022 term.
Team Vision United defeated Team Change, 491 to 223 votes, in the online election conducted March 22-31.
According to Director of the Center for Student Involvement and Co-adviser for the SGA, Jodie Dominguez, said student participation rose from last year and hopes to improve voter turnout in the future.
“So, we will be reviewing like what are some ways that we can get more students involved with voting in the election process,” Dominguez said.
The winning executive team consists of President-elect José Pablo Rojas, Edinburg Vice President-elect Anacette Cantu and Brownsville Vice President-elect Yahia Omar Al-Qudah.
The term of office will begin noon May 3.
President-elect Rojas explains the goals his team has planned while in office.
“I’m just very eager to see what we can do for the student body and to make sure that every single student is heard in every sense of the word,” he said.
One key difference between this year’s elections was the implementation of an online debate. Brownsville Vice President-elect Al-Qudah shares his thoughts on this difference.
“I think that’s a positive sign,” Al-Qudah said. “That’s the first time that has happened in UTRGV history…That is something very good to have because, to have that dialogue, and give the students a sense of who’s trying to represent them is very good.”
Rojas revealed that one of the first things they want to do is speak with the senators.
“So that they can be able to let us know what exactly some of the ideas that they want to bring in to the table in regards to their platforms,” he said.
Edinburg Vice President-elect Cantu mentioned a campaign promise that they still want to implement.
“Something that is very important to us is test prep courses and it’s something that we really advocated for during our campaign…prep courses that are online could be very expensive, up to $3,000, and that’s not something everyone can afford,” Cantu said.
Leticia Villarreal, who lost as the Brownsville vice presidential candidate for Team Change, gives advice to the newly elected team.
“Make sure to be there for the students and to know that students do need a change in their communities…we hope for them to work as a team together in order to make a change,” Villarreal said.
Dominguez said that there will be a run-off election with the College of Liberal Arts between Oscar Alberto Jacome Serrano and Jose R. Zapien that closes Thursday.
For the complete list of election results, click here.
