West Texas A&M University’s student body president, Filiberto Avila, presented the State of the Student Body Address on Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. in Legacy Hall. Avila’s address presented the Student Government Association (SGA)’s long-term goals, recognized its members and office team and listed the current administration’s achievements, including collaborations with the Counseling Office, Greek Life, and F1RSTGEN and efforts to establish The Market on Tierra Blanca Street, a community food bank.
“[The Market on Tierra Blanca Street] had a soft launch back in November, with the grand opening happening in January,” Avila said. “And so far, we have been able to help a large amount of community members as well as WT students, which is really important for us to be able to keep those students in mind.”
SGA’s legislative branch launched a higher education review to help students understand how state laws impact their education. The branch is currently pursuing early registration for nationally competitive agricultural teams.
“The chairman for the Internal Affairs Committee has done a great job in gathering information to present to the other senators for us to be able to help students; maybe explain why their FAFSA is taking forever, or why different policies in Texas are – at a federal level – [affecting] us so it’s very important for us to be well informed and gather information.”
SGA’s judicial branch oversees student elections and can help students dispute campus parking tickets.
“Starting this semester, up to this day, we had 40 parking appeals, which shows that students are aware of their rights, and we want to continue that,” Avila said. “However, based on the information that I just gathered last week, the week of Feb. 19 . . . UPD gave over 250 parking citations. So, this is just a reminder, make sure . . . that you parked between the lines.”
The Student Senate currently has vacant seats; students can apply to fill them on BuffLink. Elections for next semester will be announced soon.
“We’re very accessible,” Avila said. “We want to know what you guys think; we want to be able to make sure that we represent you well. And so just always carrying that message is very important for me.”
The SGA office is in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center, Room 102 across from the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership. Senate meetings are open students and occur Mondays at 4:30 p.m. in the Senate Chamber.
