As curious as people have been, the SGA’s election results were out last Wednesday, and there was a lot of campaigning, furious debates, and a show of enthusiasm among our candidates, notably between our elected president, Yailine Cano, and her opponent, Elio Armas Rojo. After a good competition, Yailine Cano won the title of first female SGA president in the last ten years. This year’s election saw a great turnout, with high propensity voters making up a key piece of the electorate. The newly elected officers are eager to get started and are ready to bring new ideas to the table. The SGA’s Current Executive Vice President(EVP), Derrick Hill says, “The winning candidates are committed to making our school a better place for everyone, whether it is through more school spirit activities or improved communication between students and staff or the admin,” as he passes the torch to. He also wishes a huge congratulations to all the winners and the candidates who ran and demonstrated their dedication towards Illinois Tech and in making Illinois Tech a better place for the student mass. He ends his note by expressing his excitement to see the new SGA in action and how they plan to lead us into the next chapter.
Yailine Cano says, “The new executive board members look promising and are excited to create more meaningful opportunities for the students.” She promises an inclusive environment where all the students have a chance to make campus engagement better and broader, where all voices are heard and echoed as one. She plans to do so by hosting more interactive ways, such as hosting Q&A sessions with the Executive board and the SGA senators, where students can reach out to drop in suggestions or criticism. This idea probably stemmed from her Food Advisory Board (FAB) activities, for which she shared an open link to a meeting where students can voice out their opinions about the dining area and food options across the available diners around the campus. She has even made sure she made means for students to reach out to her to get involved with the FAB meetings by sharing the Hawk email addresses of the FAB members via TechNews issue number 10.
Our very own Elio Armas-Rojo, who also got elected as the new Editor in Chief for TechNews, went on to congratulate Yailine Cano on her win on his official Instagram page. He stated that he has massive hopes for her incoming administration and looks forward to seeing all her work she said she planned on doing. He adds on to saying that it was an amazing election, and it was an absolute honour to have shared the stage with her. When I interviewed Elio Rojo to get his opinions on his candidacy, his plans and about his competition, he quoted, “Unlike my last run where I was running against someone who in my opinion was arguably a great person but not a great leader, Yailine gives me hope that she is not only a great person to know, but a competent leader who has real goals and real promises. She actually cares about what other students want from a student government. I look forward to working and maybe writing about her in the future, as I think they will be mostly positive.” Furthermore, Elio also went on to mention more about his plans, to probably give Yailine and the other members of the SGA a hint of what is expected out of them this semester. He mentions of a fundraising effort to make repairs in Keating and the parking lots. He adds, he would’ve offered incentive-based programs to student organisations to encourage them to collaborate more often and create more meaningful events for the student mass. And more importantly, he suggested bringing back the public discord server with a heavier amount of non-human moderation, weekly senate updates on social media platforms, posts showing meeting times, and information regarding SGA’s monthly plans. He states, “It would’ve been a progressive and transparent Student Government, but I think Yailine is very qualified to be just as great as I could’ve. Plus, she just made history as the first female SGA president.”
With these points being made, I personally look forward to working and collaborating with the SGA more, with their last agenda for the semester being the inauguration of the newly elected executive board members, their constitution amendment, and the spring concert(for which the ticket sales are live).
Here’s your senior writer signing off. I wish that we ace the finals and close the spring semester with a great note, starting the fall semester with new faces and beginnings. In the meantime, I am guessing Chicago’s long-awaited summer is here, so wear some sunscreen, take a walk in the sun, and hit the gym to get that summer body we’ve all been dreaming about or eat crazy food because winters are better to tone our bodies anyway. So who cares? But more importantly, stay hydrated people.