Review of the 2024 Student Government Presidential and Vice Presidential Debate

By Sydney Seidel

Blog Content Contributor

The 2024 Student Government Presidential and Vice Presidential Debate was held on Monday night where candidates had the opportunity to discuss their plans for the upcoming year, challenge their opponents and answer questions asked by the student body in attendance.

The debate began with Vice Presidential candidate, Antonio Romo, introducing himself to the audience and outlining his plans for how he hopes to contribute to the community. The junior who is majoring in political science shared his passion for protecting health on campus, specifically regarding drug related injuries. Romo attributes his passion to the cause from having experienced the loss of a friend who died of Fentanyl poisoning.

In addition, Romo cited the 2023 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report which includes campus crime statistics for both San Marcos and Round Rock. The account reported that there was a 135% increase in rapes and a 200% increase in hate crimes. Romo said he intends to work alongside the University Police Department (UPD) to lessen these numbers and presented the idea of providing free Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) courses to all students.

The other Vice Presidential candidate, Donavan Brown, who is a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, was unable to attend the debate due to COVID-19. Brown’s biography says he “hopes to create partnerships and sponsorships between Student Government and other departments or organizations.”

Next on the agenda were the introductions of the presidential candidates.

Olivia Alexander is a junior and is majoring in political science. She recently finished her first legislative session where she served as a Legislative Aid under State Senator Bryan Hughes. She is campaigning alongside Brown.

Nicole Collins is a junior studying criminal justice and has experience serving as senator for the Student Government as well as Committee Chair for Health and Safety. She is campaigning alongside Romo.

William “Will” Moore is an Urban and Regional Planning major and says he plans to “speak and act on behalf of all, not just a select few.” Moore is the only candidate who is running independently.

Following this began a series of questions which the candidates were first allowed to answer without interruption. Afterward, they were able to debate with each other.

When asked about diversity and safety, Alexander kept her answer broad by speaking about the recent rebranding of the Office of Diversity, Excellence and Inclusion into the Division of Student Success. She then praised the new division claiming that they “have done an amazing job in keeping the events, community and programs safer, if not better.”

In contrast, Alexander’s opponents seemed to have different takes on the subject matter.

Collins stated that she has heard from peers and seen firsthand how students of different backgrounds can be treated on and around campus. She believes that one solution should be to work with different chartered student organizations and strive to lower the fees of participating in these groups so that everyone has a chance to find their people. Collins also mentioned budgeting for a second therapy dog on campus to help with students’ mental health.

Additionally, Moore spoke of his plans to enhance the university’s diversity search efforts by adding an outreach program for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) for high school students. Moore backed up his idea by stating that only 5-10% of these young adults achieve a college education. In his conclusion, Moore called out vice presidential candidate Brown for refusing to support a student senate bill that increased participation from the Student Government for underrepresented groups.

Moore’s criticism of the other candidate continued as the conversation switched to athletics. Moore once again bashed Brown, this time for refusing to vote in favor of a call of the university officials to apologize for the signing of Jayden de Laura, who pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault charges.

Alexander, who is Brown’s running mate, defended her partner’s actions by saying that “he is his own person.” She then expressed that she was upset about the “pre-planned attacks” against Brown, who was not present at the time, before rebutting Moore for never having served in Student Government before running for president.

In their closing statements, all three candidates expressed their excitement for their continuing campaigns and invited students to approach them with questions.

According to the Student Government homepage, elections will take place on the third Monday of February at 8:00 a.m. and will last until the fourth consecutive business day at 5:00 p.m.