With Student Government Association\u00a0(SGA)\u00a0elections underway, candidates held a debate at Union Cinema East to engage student voters about their policies and stances\u00a0on\u00a0April 20.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Running for SGA president, Kayla Madrid, Anthony Scarola and Alexa\u00a0Hildary\u00a0Gonzalez Valenciano made\u00a0cases\u00a0to voters during the first debate segment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madrid,\u00a0the current\u00a0SGA\u00a0vice president of internal affairs, is a senior studying\u00a0political\u00a0science and\u00a0sociology. She\u00a0highlighted her experience in\u00a0organizations\u00a0such as\u00a0Texas Rising and UTEP College\u00a0Democrats.\u00a0She has completed\u00a0congressional internships in El Paso and Washington, D.C.,\u00a0served\u00a0as an Archer\u00a0Fellow\u00a0and\u00a0currently works\u00a0with the\u00a0El Paso County\u00a0on\u00a0policy and community outreach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to host collaborative workshops with our incoming student government association,\u00a0administration\u00a0and host\u00a0community outreach,\u201d Madrid said.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ll\u00a0see what the student body wants from us before we can even get to that. That way,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not just three people\u00a0determining\u00a0the direction of the year.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0all of you [student body]\u00a0that gets to decide where their student service funds and our budget\u00a0goes\u00a0to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarola,\u00a0is a junior\u00a0studying\u00a0corporate communications and marketing\u00a0serving\u00a0as\u00a0an\u00a0SGA\u00a0senator-at-large, chair of outreach and president of\u00a0AdFed.\u00a0He\u00a0works\u00a0at the\u00a0Center for\u00a0Community\u00a0Engagement\u00a0(CCE), focusing on food security initiatives and community engagement programming.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He expresses key points that he plans to put forth if elected, including strengthening school spirit, highlighting fine arts and providing transparency in regard to SGA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first step would\u00a0be to understand these goals for our\u00a0senators,\u00a0listening\u00a0to the student body and\u00a0look\u00a0at the surveys that\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0been collecting all year so we can see what is\u00a0being needed\u00a0from our students,\u201d Scarola said.\u00a0\u201cLet\u2019s\u00a0see how we can target them individually and see how we can\u00a0benefit\u00a0every single student. I would set clear priorities while also continuing successful\u00a0initiatives\u2026\u00a0such as the agents for\u00a0citations\u00a0initiative\u00a0or the free meal pass.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Valenciano,\u00a0an international\u00a0pre-med student\u00a0with experience in health provider industries\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0academic center\u00a0as a\u00a0tutor.\u00a0She is also an\u00a0Archer Fellow\u00a0alumna\u00a0and\u00a0participated\u00a0in an\u00a0exchange program\u00a0in\u00a0South Korea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u00a0sets out\u00a0her fight for minorities to receive higher education, scholarship opportunities, food security, health\u00a0support\u00a0and\u00a0psychological\u00a0support.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTransparency is a key word. I want the minorities to feel seen and part of the student body, not just representatives of the campus,\u201d Valenciano said.\u00a0\u201cFor me, the most important thing is to keep the\u00a0system how it works\u00a0right now, because we can see the numbers and we can see how the student body has been working tremendously amazingly and\u00a0benefit\u00a0a lot of\u00a0students\u2019\u00a0lives. I understand the struggles that we have financially and I know SGA is helping now and has been helping so I want to keep that in the system.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Running for vice president of external affairs, Valeria Solis, Alyson\u00a0Andreu\u00a0and\u00a0Hajalett\u00a0Escalante presented\u00a0their cases during the second segment of debates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Solis, a junior studying political science, has served as an SGA senator-at-large, peer leader for freshmen navigating their way during their first year of university and intern in the U.S. House of Representatives. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in\u00a0implementing\u00a0a direct connection with the students where\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0able to see what SGA does and what can SGA offer to them,\u201d Solis said.\u00a0\u201cIf elected, I compromise myself to connect with offices like the office of\u00a0internation\u00a0programs, the\u00a0grad\u00a0school\u00a0and the military success center so every student can see what SGA is out to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Andreu,\u00a0a Terry Scholar double\u00a0majoring in\u00a0psychology\u00a0and public health,\u00a0serves as an SG\u00a0senator-at-large\u00a0and had led overdose prevention initiatives on campus\u00a0with\u00a0over\u00a0100 students\u00a0and staff\u00a0including UTEP\u00a0police,\u00a0department of\u00a0social work\u00a0and the\u00a0nurse\u00a0health clinic. The initiative\u00a0brought and implemented vending\u00a0machines\u00a0stocked with\u00a0Naloxone, a\u00a0fast-acting\u00a0reverse opioid,\u00a0to campus with\u00a0collaboration with the\u00a0city of\u00a0El Paso.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, success would mean\u00a0to give\u00a0the new senators all the tools they need and all the knowledge they need to successfully implement interventions on campus. To successfully reach and work through them to better reach\u00a0out\u00a0student body.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0gone through this and I will continue to go through this,\u201d\u00a0Andreu said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Escalante, collegiate senator of Liberal Arts, has served two years SGA, including roles as legislative assistant and chair of the appropriations committee which allocates funds for student organizations and initiatives. She has helped with special projects like Cover With Care, a collaboration that collects bags to support students with hygiene and assisted in curating a session that hosts free LSAT tests for students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cHaving an impact\u00a0on students, having an impact\u00a0on\u00a0our deans, and having an impact\u00a0on\u00a0our community.\u00a0We want students in those leadership roles to\u00a0talk about\u00a0it [UTEP]. The best way\u00a0to\u00a0measure\u00a0success,\u00a0is to do exactly that.\u00a0Go and talk\u00a0about UTEP and have accountability of\u00a0exactly it is\u00a0you want,\u201d Escalante said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Candidates for vice president of internal affairs,\u00a0Jesse Corralejo, Grecia Ortega and Alejandro\u00a0Facusse, closed the debate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ortega, who began in SGA as a senator secretary now serves as collegiate senator of health sciences. She has worked as a digital coordinator for Texas Rising and has taken part in advancing sustainable initiatives. Ortega also spends time as undergraduate research assistant with the Hope initiative that connects 130 agencies with students to provide health resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs vice president of internal affairs, as a committee, accountability, starting with setting people up to succeed, I will work on facing senators and committees that match their strengths, interest and experiences. I plan to maintain regular communication with committee chairs and co-chairs,\u201d Ortega said.<\/p>\n
Facusse, an international biomedical student and senator at large, is also the found of the Miners Taekwondo Club and a Student Health and Awareness representative. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst is forcing our responsibilities. If we do have\u00a0engaged responsibilities and we know what senators do, where conflict is, we can be a good representation\u00a0of\u00a0the student body.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0support\u00a0their development\u00a0stage, make sure their ideas are in line with the\u00a0senate, the\u00a0legislature\u00a0and\u00a0executive\u00a0branch\u00a0and UTEP faculty,\u201d\u00a0Facusse\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Corralejo\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0junior studying political science\u00a0while serving as a\u00a0senator-at-large and\u00a0co-chair\u00a0of two different committees, aligning\u00a0himself with the core values of NOVA.\u00a0He pledges to put student interest first and analyze relationships between the student body and SGA.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMany senators may not agree with us in\u00a0DRC.\u00a0They may not agree with\u00a0the ideas we have to offer.\u00a0At the end of the day, we\u00a0are\u00a0able to\u00a0commit to ensuring all communities are equally heard, and I will do the same\u00a0to\u00a0equally\u00a0represent the student body.\u00a0I know how to see both ends of the debate. I\u00a0understand\u00a0the context itself is not the issue, mismanaged\u00a0conflict is,\u201d\u00a0Corralejo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Voting closed April 24, sealing the 2026 SGA election results the positions of president,\u00a0vice president of internal affairs and vice president of external affairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n