Editors’ note: In light of the upcoming 2023 election for student body President, The Texas Horn has decided to distribute the below form of policy questions relevant to the election to all candidates. Below are the unedited responses of the Collazo and Pena campaign, the only campaign who responded to our form.
What is the elevator pitch for your candidacy? If voters know nothing else about you, what should they know? [50 words]
We believe that we have a feasible and quick policy agenda that will massively benefit the Student Body. We are focused on affordability, accessibility, academic reform, and transparency. We have both served in Student Government in leadership roles and have the necessary experience to accomplish our goals.
What do you see as the key mission of student government? What is its value added to the student body and the university as a whole? [50 words]
The role of student government is to elevate the voices of students on campus by providing them with tools for success. Part of that is spearheading initiatives to cause change on campus, but an equally important part of that is stepping aside and supporting people that are influencing change.
We currently spend around $112,000 on student government: do you think this is the correct amount to be spending on student government? If not, do you think the ideal amount is higher or lower? [200 words]
I think that this is not enough money and often leads to dissatisfaction within and outside of student government. Most of this spending is eaten up by mandated costs such as supplies, building services, and Executive Board Stipends. The remaining money is used to fund agencies and special projects and that portion is significantly less than the originally $112,00 and is usually closer to $20,000 which is way less money than representatives need to enact all of their initiatives.
What do you think the student government is currently doing well, what do you think it needs to do better? How do you intend to make it do the thing better? [200 words]
We think that Leland and Isabel’s administration has taken excellent steps to add voices to student government which are not normally present. We have enjoyed our time working with them as representatives and hope to continue many of their policies like food distribution, Student Business Empowerment Initiative, and a more holistic Student Government scholarship application process. Student Government needs to do a better job of engaging with the student body. Many people don’t know how many things benefiting them come from Student Government, such as SURE walk. This lack of knowledge leads to apathy which leads to less people buying into Student Government which restarts the cycle. Student Government has a lot of bad history to overcome and we want to work towards acknowledging them and remedying it.
What would be your comparative advantage as President? What actions would you take that everyone else running could not or would not take? [200 words]
We have the unique position of being in tune with the local political sphere in Austin which would allow us to pursue initiatives without directly engaging with the bureaucracy present within certain systems in Student Government. I would also say that we have more experience in the Legislative Student Organization space, which allows us to implement our SG based initiatives more efficiently since we are already familiar with the process.
What do you believe is the biggest problem facing UT students? Do you believe that the student government is in a position to do anything about it? If not, should it be? If so, what should the student government do? [100 words]
The biggest issue that students are currently facing is affordability. Affordability is the biggest factor that is mentioned for why people are unable to attend UT, or for why they must enroll from UT. We believe we can address this by lobbying for affordable housing policy, but within UT by developing UT’s land holdings into student housing, and by lobbying the city to expand their University Neighborhood Overlay (UNO). Expanding this program would allow for taller buildings which would lead to more housing and lower prices.
What are your thoughts on The Eyes of Texas? Do you support or oppose the referendum on The Eyes of Texas? [150 words]
We support the Eyes of Texas Referendum. The student body should be allowed to voice their concerns about the song, and if most of the student body agrees that it must go then it must go. We must acknowledge the racist history of the song and rectify the mistake that UT made a long time ago by adopting it as their school song.
There has been a push from the State Legislature to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices at public colleges and universities in the state. What are your thoughts? [150 words]
We think that this is unacceptable. DEI is often used as a boogeyman when in reality the goals that it is trying to accomplish are noble. Everyone wants a place where they feel like they belong and their needs can be met, and if we are elected we want to make UT to be as inclusive as possible.
Do you have any final words for voters? [50 words]
Throughout our terms as Representatives, we have been transparent. If you go to our Instagram right now @diegoandbrian2023 you can see that we have a comprehensive log of all of our activities since we were sworn in.
