Trey Saunders and Alexander Jovanovich are running for SGA President and Vice President, emphasizing the need for affordable, on-campus housing for FIU students.
Jorge Cardona | Staff Writer
Following the demolition of University Apartments, on-campus housing has become a significant concern for FIU students, especially upperclassmen. This prompted Trey Saunders and Alexander Jovanovich to run for SGA to advocate for housing solutions.
Saunders, a first-generation Canadian-American political science student and former SGA Housing Senator, is running for President, with Jovanovich, a first-generation Venezuelan-American finance student, as his running mate.
Saunders reaffirmed his commitment to advocating for on-campus student housing, stating his intent to vote “no” on any measures that could negatively impact housing and to work closely with the Board of Trustees as a voice for students.
He is also advocating for access to housing for juniors and seniors at FIU, stating that, “I can encourage the Senate to draft a bill to condemn what is happening [demolition of UA] and advocate for juniors and seniors to be able to stay on campus.”
Jovanovich added, “As Vice President, I would be supporting Trey along the way with all these initiatives, but also specific to the VP role, the best thing we can do regarding housing is fixing the problem today as much as we can, and then prepare for the future.”
He further added, “FIU wants to keep growing, and I’m here for it, but we need to start preparing for the housing development issues that are going to arise.”
To achieve this, he proposes developing a strong working relationship with FIU’s donors.
When asked what their first initiatives would be if elected, Saunders answered, “Our first initiative would be tackling the junior/senior [housing] crisis, influencing the Board of Trustees to…allow juniors and seniors back on campus.”
Jovanovich added, “First and foremost, the activity and service budget, we need to do a deep audit to see if we can eliminate some administrative waste. But secondly, in order to see our initiatives come to fruition, we need to have an excellent relationship with our donors.”
They also promised to do monthly President/VP walkouts to talk to students and to work to increase funding for student events and activities.
Saunders closed by saying, “What we want…is to have our juniors and seniors back on campus…happy on campus, working on campus, them being able to not have to deal with the financial difficulties of living off campus and the difficulties which come with that.”
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