Their campaign fairies were decked out in UCF colors promoting each campaign. The race was down to Anthony King and Eric Katz against Cortez Whatley and Rachel Brill. Both teams of tandem hopefuls for Student Government Association (SGA) President and Vice President pulled out all the stops: a slice of pizza for voting, free T-shirts, pamphlets, persistence and charm. In the end, out of the 12,000 who voted, said Knight News, Cortez Whatley and Rachel Brill came out on top.
Whatley has been involved in SGA for three years and is in his junior year at UCF. He said that he has seen the past presidents of SGA and wants to keep the same efficiency going in the office. “This is a way for me to give back,” Whatley said.
Whatley and Brill’s platform advertised many of their goals for the upcoming 2012-2013 year. The one that got the most attention was the UCF gym becoming a 24-hour facility. With many students this became a great concern – would the funds come out of tuition? The 24-hour gym will not be the main gym. Construction is going on right now near the towers to create a smaller fitness center. Whatley said the plan for the smaller gym had been developed before their campaign started. Whatley and Brill chose to aim to give students access to this gym for 24 hours a day.
“People are so concerned with health, and the students were so excited about it,” commented Whatley. The new gym will not affect tuition prices, as the funds will be allocated differently from the preexisting Activity and Service fee.
Whatley and Brill also want to implement a Holiday shuttle transport that will make available to students a two-way trip from the airport to campus. Their other goals include allocating technology fees to support a better infrastructure for a more reliable Wi-Fi service and starting discussions with the Faculty Senate for lower textbook prices. The latter goal will be a slow process, Whatley explained. Nothing will change overnight, but they can try lobbying the Faculty Senate to stop requiring students purchase brand new editions to textbooks when the old editions function just as well for the curriculum.
During Whatley and Brill’s campaign, they implemented the use of Vision Boards, which allowed a space for students to write concerns they had with the university. Whatley said he wants to have a Vision Board available to students periodically in the year as well as creating an interactive port on the SGA website. Whatley hopes students will give the office feedback so that they can address the issues that are important.
“I hope that this platform continues to be a living document so we can provide services for students,” he said. “Rachel and I are very excited for the coming year. We want this to be an open relationship where SGA is more approachable. We’re ready to take on the year.”