After a revealing election profile published today by The Retrograde, the Ho/Pe campaign is drawing a line in the sand for the upcoming UTD and SG elections. Presidential candidate Thaden Ho and vice presidential candidate Pari Sarangdevot are calling out the establishment. The Ho/Pe campaign argues that the opposition’s touted “experience” has coincided with a severe decline in student rights and campus lifestyle.
If experience results in decline, why should you trust experience? Despite the misleading name, the opposition’s ticket, “New Wave UTD,” is not new at all — boasting a combined six years of SG insider experience, and a bloated 22-point platform.
We ask UTD students a simple question: has that platform achieved anything these past six years?
UTD has plummeted to dead last in Texas for free speech under the current SG’s watch. Student traditions like Artist Alley have been stripped away due to administrative overreach, despite the oversight of the current SG. Student organizations are facing shutdowns and supervisions, such as when the UTD administration recently suspended the SJP chapter. Furthermore, a new Green Fee was pushed and ratified with only the consent of 1,032 out of nearly 30,000 total students. The Ho/Pe campaign asks — is that democracy?
“Our opponents boast about knowing how the system works. But the system is broken,” says Thaden Ho, presidential candidate for the Ho/Pe campaign. “If six collective years of SG ‘experience’ results in dead-last free speech rankings, banned campus events, and an administration that ignores us, UTD cannot afford another year of it. The establishment has been asleep at the wheel. We are running to disrupt a status quo that stopped working for students a long time ago.”
The Retrograde correctly noted the opposition’s attempt to frame vice presidential candidate Pari Sarangdevot’s lack of experience and SG background as a liability, but the Ho/Pe campaign views this outsider status as exactly what the university needs.
“I don’t have years of SG committee meetings on my resume, and I am proud of that,” says Sarangdevot. “I come from the world of art clubs and student business associations. I know what it takes to navigate this campus as an everyday student, not a career student-politician. We don’t need more insiders who are disconnected from the daily frustrations of campus life. We need leaders who actually empathize with the student body and aren’t afraid to rock the boat.”
When speaking to The Retrograde, Thaden Ho emphasized that this election is about “courage.” The Ho/Pe ticket isn’t spewing empty promises — promises that haven’t been delivered on in over six years. Ho and Sarangdevot are running on four actionable pillars:
- Defending Free Speech
- Bringing Back Artist Alley
- Increasing Event Opportunities
- The Green Fee Referendum
“When you’re focused on 22 different things, you’re focused on nothing,” Ho added. “Our platform is concise because our priorities are clear: we are here to defend students.”It’s time for a more hopeful UTD. Vote Ho/Pe.
Thaden Ho and Pari Sarangdevot, Ho/Pe ticket’s candidates for Student Government president and vice president
