The UCF Student Body President and Vice President are responsible for leading the Executive Branch of the Student Government Association (SGA) and advocating for the university’s large campus, which comprises over 70,000 students. They are also responsible for advancing initiatives involving student life and managing our university’s extensive Service and Activity budget. Elected by a majority vote, our Student Body President and Vice President serve a one-year term, with voting beginning the second week in March.
Active campaigning for these roles began on Feb. 9 and will continue until the completion of the election period. The SGA Election Committee held a presidential ticket debate on Feb. 23, focusing on the candidates, their running mates, and their proposed policies.
Junior presidential candidate Panayiota (Pon) Laliotis and junior vice presidential candidate Athena Dieguez began the debate by introducing themselves and sharing some of their experience. Laliotis is a political science and education major with extensive involvement in SGA. Dieguez is majoring in political science with a focus on legal studies.
Then, junior presidential candidate Shivani Vakharia and junior vice candidate Dwayne Jones walked through their commitments. Vakharia, a pre-law student, is the Academic Affairs coordinator of the Executive Branch, and Jones is studying political science and journalism.
Our last ticket includes sophomore presidential candidate Alyssa Feige and sophomore vice candidate Anna Ellis. Feige and Ellis, the youngest candidates in the race, are not involved in SGA at UCF but are both studying political science and are involved in Model United Nations.
When Dieguez and Laliotis were asked about how they plan to serve every student at our increasingly large universities, they brought up their open-door policy and recalled the concerns that had been brought to their attention by different groups of students. Both Laliotis and Dieguez mentioned their accessibility during the campaign. If they were to be elected, they both encourage students to reach out to them, voice their concerns and criticisms, and even make a request for support.
One highlight of the Panayiota-Athena campaign is its parking expansion plan. Every UCF student knows the struggle of trying to find an open garage on time for class. Laliotis expressed her wish to communicate higher than the university, even as far as the governor’s office, to voice student transportation concerns. Lastly, the candidates voiced their wish for student voters to do their own research into their policies, and mentioned how SGA voter-turnout is not strong. Laliotis explained, “We want to make sure that students are getting excited, getting out there, and using their voice.”
The Feige-Ellis ticket has been drawing attention, mostly with questions stemming from their potential lack of experience. Feige acknowledged this potential setback, saying, “It’s going to be a lot of learning, but it’s going to be a lot of conversations with Student Government.” She also encouraged voters not to be deterred by this shortage and instead reach out with any questions. Three of the most highlighted issues that Feige presented in our interview focused on parking reallocation, RSO rooms and funding, and student jobs. The presidential candidate also told students to stay in touch with her campaign’s social media presence, specifically Instagram, as more policies and potential initiatives will be posted closer to the elections.
Vakharia and Jones are both transfer students who believe that their status gives them a much wider perspective on UCF as a whole. They wanted to make the most of their time here, with Jones specifically highlighting that he wanted to hit the ground running once arriving on campus. Vakharia mentioned utilizing every space on campus, specifically the Knight’s Plaza RWC vacant building. Another popular initiative that they mentioned was the need for more academic success coaches in each college. If initiated, Dwayne and Vakharia plan to bring this issue to the higher administration’s attention. Vakharia mentioned she saw this issue while working at the Writing Center. “There were students who would come into the Writing Center and ask, ‘Hey, can you help me pick out my classes?’, which is something that I am not trained for.”
Every UCF student pays an Activity and Service fee per credit hour, which funds the SGA. The President and Vice President of SGA manage these funds, meaning that each UCF student is directly affected by this election. Make your voices heard by voting for the candidates that best represent you and your interests.