The Retrograde’s assistant managing editor Tyler Crivella moderated the 2026 Student Government Spring Executive Debate between neuroscience junior David Baker’s New Wave UTD ticket and healthcare studies sophomore Thaden Ho’s Ho/Pe ticket. The debate was hosted on the second floor of Comets LANding April 1. A transcription of the event can be found below. Electronic voting for this year’s SG election begins April 6. For a summary of each ticket, see The Retrograde’s previous coverage.
Opening statements — presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): All righty, hello everyone. We’re gonna get started today with the Student Government Executive Debate. Before we begin, I’m gonna introduce myself and what we’re doing today for all those watching online. Hello. Today we’ll be hearing from the SG executive debate candidates with the presidential candidates first and then around 12:10 p.m. the vice presidential candidates. I’m Tyler Crivella. I’m the current assistant managing editor of The Retrograde, UTD’s official independent student newspaper.
Crivella: During today’s debate, we will be having an audience question portion. So if you have any questions, please submit them using this QR code. The SG elections board will review them based off of their own legibility, length and appropriateness guidelines. Please submit any and all questions prior to the audience question segment.
Crivella: I’m now gonna talk about the format of today’s debate. We’re gonna begin with opening speeches for the candidates who will each have 3 minutes. From there, we’ll go on to general questions in which candidates will have 90 seconds to respond. Then we’ll move on to individual questions that have been pre-written and targeted towards each specific candidate. From there, we’ll go into cross-examination where debaters will ask each other questions and respond with 90 seconds. Those questions have been formulated entirely by the candidates. Then we’ll move on to audience questions formulated through the form. We’ll be going through this for as long as we can. Finally, we’ll wrap up with closing statements, 3 minutes for each candidate.
Crivella: All righty. I am now going to begin by introducing the presidential candidates. First, from the New Wave UTD ticket, we have David Baker. And next, from the Ho/Pe ticket, we have Thaden Ho. All righty. Thank you both for attending today. Please make sure that the microphones are within reach so that you can be heard. If at times I say to move closer to the microphone, it’s not out of any disrespect, just sort of what needs to happen. All righty. Let’s start with opening speeches. In a Google coin flip, David Baker won. So we will now be having Baker begin with a three-minute speech describing his platform.
David Baker (New Wave UTD): Hello everyone. Thank you all for coming out and supporting the executive debate. My name is David Baker. I’m a junior neuroscience student. Excited to be up here again, talking about my passion for Student Government and my ideas to reform the organization from the ground up. Over the past year, I have spent every moment working to improve the SG’s ability to serve the student body, working to fight back when administration directly attacks and silences students. Student Government is and needs to remain passionate for student advocacy that defends and fights for the student body.
Baker: My opponent has publicly asked what our ticket has achieved in our time in student government, and I’m happy to answer it. We have coordinated the student response to SB 17, the anti-DEI bill, taking in many of the programs that can no longer happen like Lavender Graduation and Transgender Day of Remembrance. We organized and helped moderate the first ever UTD Richardson mayoral debate and continued a strong working relationship with the mayor. We helped overturn the administration’s decision to cancel the track and field and cross-country programs, and we reorganized the Budget Breakdown Committee, a team that put together a comprehensive guide to UT Dallas’s budget and recently expanded to the city of Richardson in collaboration with other UT schools to tackle the entire system.
Baker: When UT Dallas banned all drag shows in spring 2025, it was us that fought back against this gross violation of students’ rights and won. Because of our diligent budget management this year, we not only maintained our usual lineup of high-quality events, but broke the record for the most events hosted in a semester in recent memory, while tackling a nearly $20,000 budget cut. Far, far from an alleged decline of student government.
Baker: After a meeting with the Small Business Owners Club’s president, literally the next day, I met with and convinced the university’s president and VP of administration that we need to revive Artist Alley in accordance with student tradition and change the interpretation of the rule that prevented it in the first place. Recently, with the suspension of SJP, Farhan and I are actively working with the SJP officer team to coordinate the student body’s response to change the corrupt disciplinary system we have in place currently. And yet it isn’t enough. International students every day still fear for their continued education at UT Dallas. Administration has shown no signs of stopping the constant violation of students’ rights, and we have a Texas legislative session around the corner ready to devise new ways to attack the student body and education as a whole. We need an executive team that has been on the front lines fighting these forces, who have delivered numerous victories for the student body to ensure all students are protected and able to thrive. Thank you.
Crivella: Thank you. We will now be moving on to the opening speech of 3 minutes from Thaden.
Thaden Ho (Ho/Pe): Good morning, fellow Comets and UTD students. Thank you all for being here. My name is Thaden Ho, and I’m running to be your next Student Government president with my running mate, Pari. If you’re here today, it’s because our campus is in crisis. We ranked dead last for free speech in the state of Texas. Why? Because for the past few years, we’ve watched the university admin chip away at student rights, the student experience, and the quality of our campus. And what has the Student Government establishment done? It sat back and watched it happen.
Ho: My opponent’s ticket is named New Wave, and yet that couldn’t be further from the truth. He and his partner have a combined 6 years of SG experience with him serving as VP this year. And there is nothing new about this waste in the same stagnant water that we’ve been swimming in for years. So let’s look at what this experience has actually gotten us. Under SG’s watch, UTD is dead last in Texas for free speech, and just this last week, SJP was suspended by the UTD administration. We’ve seen Artist Alley and other cherished traditions stripped away from us. We’ve seen our fellow students and organizations targeted and silenced, and we’ve seen continual fees increase to the point where UTD costs around twice as much as the average UT system school.
Ho: My opponent will tell you he knows how the system works, but the system is broken. The current establishment will claim they stand for student rights. When the administration forces new regulations, new rules, they will throw their hands up, pass a resolution, and move on. Pari and I are not gonna play the same game. We are not career student politicians. We’re not in this game to build our resumes. We’re not going to bend backwards because the school tries to take away our rights. We’re everyday students who are tired of a bloated 22-point platform that promises everything and yet delivers nothing.
Ho: Our platform is strong because our priorities are clear and our goals are concise. Can you name one of the 22 points of my opponent’s platform? I can name all four of mine. First, our campaign will fiercely champion free speech, protecting every student’s rights to peacefully organize without fear of retaliation from corrupt UTD officials. We will stand for all student organizations in their fight against corrupt administration. Second, we will bring back Artist Alley, a passion project of my vice president, who loves art more than anyone. Third, we will fight the bureaucracy and increase event opportunities for all student organizations. Finally, and fourth, we’ll demand a true referendum on the unfair fees undemocratically added to your tuition, because without a fair and knowledgeable democratic vote, SG has no right to impose new fees to make your tuition higher than it already is.
Ho: As I said in my interview, this election is one of courage. If you are satisfied with the status quo, if you want the same student government you’ve had for the past 3 years that gives up after admin says no, then my opponent will be a perfect choice. But if you want real change, leaders who aren’t afraid to be different and to stand up for students instead of our resumes, then vote Ho/Pe. Together we’ll build a brighter future for UTD.
General questions — presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): All right, thank you both. We will now be moving into the general question format. There are individuals in the audience with a 30-second placard that will inform you when you have 30 seconds left. We’ll first begin with Thaden answering this general question that will also go to David. The first question is, what is the first thing you would do in office and how would you accomplish it?
Thaden Ho (Ho/Pe): The first serious thing that needs to be addressed is the current SJP being suspended for a year by UTD. It’s unacceptable that any student should have to worry about what they can and cannot say on campus. Not only does this have effects for our political students, it has effects for every single student on campus. Any student, political or not, is gonna have to ask themselves the question, what should I do or say on campus and what could UTD admin do if they deem my speech or my actions bad for campus? Another thing we’re gonna do is actually try to bring back Artist Alley in the way that matters. There have been talks about bringing back Artist Alley with UTD admin. However, the event has been canceled and postponed as they’re still waiting for a ruling on the solicitation rule, which has been that way since fall of this year after they reinterpreted the rules back in the summer. It’s not enough for us to ask for anything different and to try to change everything else. What’s important is that we actually get together and use our position as president to enforce the change we want on campus.
Crivella: All right. Thank you. The same question goes to you, David. The question is, what is the first thing you would do in office and how would you accomplish it?
David Baker (New Wave UTD): It’s very easy. One of the first things I would do is make sure that every organization that I’ve outreached to is aware of the ongoing problems and help build the coalition that’s currently happening. Right now, in student government, I’m offering a resolution to create an ad hoc committee where all student leaders are able to collaborate independently of the administration to work on each other’s programs and help each other fight the issues that pertain to them. For example, housing councils are only able to book areas within housing places like Phase A Clubhouse. Using this ad hoc committee, we could have organizations that would like to host events in those areas collaborate and co-sponsor each other’s events to make sure that they’re able to happen. Additionally, organizing the student body in this manner is how we fight back against administration and make sure students’ voices are heard. When students are able to build solidarity amongst each other, amongst athletes, that is how we get change done. It is not simply through pretty words. It is through solidarity and a strong effort of collaboration. Thank you.
Crivella: All righty. On this next question, we’ll start with Thaden and then go to David. Next question is, why are you a preferable candidate over your opponent?
Ho: I‘m a preferable candidate for every single student who doesn’t feel satisfied with SG. David Baker over here has served for 3 years and he has been executive slash committee head for 2. I have no doubt that if David Baker gets elected, he will keep running SG the same way it’s always been. Whether or not you interpret that as a good or bad thing is up to you. We are running because we have a brand new vision and a brand new change for what we wanna see SG do. SG needs to do more than just events or just look out and talk. We need to show an active position on campus, an active presence to show that what we do matters, and to be able to force UTD with this reputation to listen to us and come to the negotiation table.
Crivella: All right. Now for David, we’re asking, why are you a preferable candidate over your opponent?
Baker: It’s very plain and simple. I’ve delivered results and my opponent has not. There has not been a single accomplishment my opponent can point to in student government. He’s never offered a resolution, never offered an allocation, or led a project independently. During my time in student government, I helped plan the first ever Richardson mayoral debate. I helped overturn the track and field decision to ensure that our student athletes are able to compete. I helped fight the drag ban to ensure that students are able to keep their expression heard. On the point about Artist Alley, I have, within a day, swayed both the president and vice president of administration to support an event like this. This is something that my opponent cannot say. While he has worked with organizations to get endorsements and help say that he will help, I’ve actually been working behind the scenes to ensure Artist Alley’s return. My opponent has done none of this. Given my experience, I’m aware of how the student government system works. With my experience, I’m able to succeed much quicker, hit the ground running when it comes to implementing change, and ensure that Student Government is able to continue to serve students while improving itself and going into the future.
Crivella: All righty. We’ll now be heading into our last general question starting with David. Both of your tickets stand in stark opposition to the high-level goals of the state legislature and some university administrators. If elected president, you would be a student representing the wider student body before these groups shape the future of student life for years to come. How will you advocate for students and what, if anything, are you willing to compromise on?
Baker: I think one of the first things that I would do, or at least I wanna talk about, is just the experience that I’ve had advocating for students across the board. In my time at UT Dallas, I’ve helped pass a bill in the U.S. Senate. I have worked with representatives in the Texas Congress to get a bill introduced, and that is a plan that I will continue working on next year to help combat the anti-DEI bill that was passed several years ago. There is not much room for compromise when it comes to fighting for students’ rights. When our speech is violated, it cannot stand. Everything that I have done this year and will continue to do moving into next year will be to fight and to ensure students are able to have freedom of expression and right to speech, no matter what they have to say. The recent attacks on students such as the suspension of SJP is unacceptable, which is why we are currently working with the SJP officer team to help fight and change the system that got them suspended in the first place. My opponent cannot say that. They are not working with Students for Justice for Palestine. Thank you.
Crivella: All righty. And moving on to Thaden, we’re asking, how will you advocate for students when opposed to the goals of the state legislature, which oftentimes comes into contradiction with certain messages that you have, and what, if anything, are you willing to compromise on?
Ho: Well, to your second point, compromise. I’m not a big believer in compromise. If you look at my voting record, you’ll see I do not compromise often because I believe in what I stand for, and I don’t believe in allowing or giving my consent to those principles being targeted. In terms of the state legislature, one of the most powerful things an SG president can do is to actively stand on campus where it matters to fight for this. David can go on about how he’s talked to House Representatives or tried to pass bills within the Texas House. That is great and all, but that is not what an SG president needs to do. An SG president needs to have a presence on campus. Someone who’s not afraid to be radical on campus and to speak out when it matters. Unlike my opponent, I’m not a PA. I am not paid for by the university, so I have no contracts on what I can or cannot say about the university. I am completely open with no strings attached and have zero incentive to hold back when it matters. If you want an opponent that double guesses about, should I say this, how will this affect my reputation as an employee on campus, then you know who to vote for. But if you want someone who truly has nothing to lose when it comes to standing for free speech, standing for our students, vote for my ticket.
Individual questions — presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): All righty. We’re now gonna head into individual questions. These have been pre-written in advance. We’ll start with a question to David. When 19 UTD students had their visas revoked last April, Student Government made no public comment and showed no public sign that they were supporting students in times of extreme need. At a time when you were legislative affairs chair, the position most primed to handle the issue, how will you promise to circulate these already existing free resources and address this real fear that international students face, and what would this look like on a practical level?
David Baker (New Wave UTD): A lot of the effort when those 19 student visas were revoked, you have to be very careful with public statements that you make because the university and the administration in Texas and the U.S. government are not afraid to tackle and conquer individual bodies on campus. There was no public statement released because we feared for the fate of the international students. The student government efforts that we took were behind the scenes. They were done in coordination with many of the student organizations that have high populations of international students such as ISA and SJP. A lot of the time during that period we built solidarity among these organizations to distribute resources as well as help coordinate responses in case ICE showed up on campus or other situations like that. While my opponent loves to talk about how gung ho he wants to be, that’s a very fast way to get himself shut down in all regards. It’s an unfortunate reality that student government is at the behest of the administration and other outside bodies, and while it does not mean we’ll be compromising, you have to be able to balance being gung ho and fighting publicly while also working in the background to ensure students are protected.
Crivella: All right. Moving on to Thaden. The green fee is a $5 per semester fee assessed to students to help support sustainable efforts on campus. Given its relatively small size, why should students care about your calls to pause this fee through a referendum and make up about a quarter of your campaign promises?
Thaden Ho (Ho/Pe): Well, the green fee is just a starting point for what we see as an overbearing fee system here at UTD. Like I mentioned earlier, the average cost for a UTD student as of 2004 was around $8,450-something, whereas if you look at every other UT system school, it was around $4,400. So already we are double the price. The green fee is something we focused on because the green fee was one of the fees that SG as a body implemented. And while we did have an election based off of it, there were only around 1,000 votes for it out of the 30,000+ students, and I believe around 638 votes in favor of the green fee. Should 600 people be able to increase fees for all students? It’s not just about the cost, it’s about the principle. Should students, especially commuters who have very little information about what’s going on, be forced to pay these extra fees because 600 people decided this would be better for our campus?
Crivella: All righty. Moving back to David, we have our second question. As you highlight on your Instagram, you are, in addition to your executive role in SG, a peer advisor, an EMT with UEMR, and advocacy lead for Partners In Health. How can voters be sure that you will be able to represent them to the fullest extent?
Baker: I actually got this question last year. It’s very plain and simple. Student Government is my main and sole priority when it comes to UT Dallas. If I have to sacrifice my PA role, I will do so. If I have to sacrifice my role in Partners in Health, I will do so. My role as vice president this year and my role as president next year will trump any and all commitments that I have made. To my opponent’s point earlier about me allegedly being beholden to the administration, nowhere in my contract does it say that I’m restricted in my freedom of speech. Just because I’m a peer advisor does not mean I cannot be a student organizer, and many of our peer advisors are student organizers. The fact that you do not know this is quite concerning. Thank you.
Crivella: All right, we’re now gonna move on to the second question for Thaden. On your website, you said that you would quote “not play ball with admin when they are being unfair to students.” What leverage can you use through student government to make administrators listen to you when unfair actions are made?
Ho: Well, that’s actually a very good question. Thank you very much. The biggest thing that an SG president or vice president can do is stand publicly for what matters. You may hear my opponent go, we can’t do this because we’re worried we’re gonna get targeted, or we have to do things behind the scenes to get real change done. I hear that and all I hear is “I’m too afraid to publicly speak out.” I’m afraid to put my reputation on the line where it matters. It is not enough to just work behind the scenes and talk to the right people. It’s enough to make an active stand for UTD students where it matters. And where that really comes in is how we use our reputation publicly. UTD already has a very rough reputation. The most leverage you can do as an SG president is to stand publicly for what matters and to not be afraid to put your reputation on the line.
Crivella: Our last individual question for David Baker. You served as vice president when Senate Bill 8 was passed and took effect, as well as during the recent ending of gender-inclusive housing. Has SG done anything to indicate that they have cared for queer minorities and other minority groups? If so, how is this communicated to the student body?
Baker: I think the best example of this is during the anti-DEI bill, SB 17. When that bill was passed, the Galerstein Center was dissolved, and all of the programs that that center offered could no longer function. During that time, during my ticket’s freshman year, we coordinated the response to ensure that events like National Coming Out Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance and Lavender Graduation could continue uninterrupted despite the bill. We have a very strong platform of fighting for queer students. I myself am queer and care quite a bit about our community on campus. And so every time we have an attack on the student body and the queer community in general, we fight back. The most recent example I can point to is when the drag ban happened on campus last spring. It was our ticket that fought directly with the administration to ensure that students could host drag shows on campus, and we won. We deliver results. Once again, my opponent cannot say he has done anything in government to continue or fight for the queer community. Thank you.
Crivella: All right. And our last individual question for Thaden. You’ve expressed concern that students have not participated in votes on things such as the green fee, which only about 1,000 students voted on. However, Student Government has historically struggled to reach attendance participation goals and Senate retention. How can you gather the participation necessary to reach these goals of consensus as you suggest are necessary?
Ho: Well, the first thing we can do is address Senate engagement. I think around 20 to 30% of all of our senators are appointed senators, which are senators that are not democratically elected. They are the ones that are appointed. I’m not the one that recently passed a constitutional amendment to increase the amount of senators when we already struggle to fill those slots. In order for us to be able to get that representation, in order for us to show ourselves out there, SG needs a strong figurehead to represent student government. We need someone again who is not afraid to put their face on a poster, on a board, on a post, and show what we’re doing and why we need to do it. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but a lot of our SG graphics do not have faces on them. They don’t have a lot of individuality. It is just SG in plain text. Again, having your face, having your name be out there and very openly in public to show that you are doing what you’re doing, to not just talk in the right team’s chat or talk behind the scenes, to be able to go out there and really talk to the people where it matters. And if you do that, people will respond positively. People will turn out to vote. People will care about what SG is doing because SG will have an active response and an active presence to go to students with who we are as people, not just “we as students.” Thank you.
Presidential cross-examination
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): Thank you. We’re now moving into the last segment before audience questions. So once again, if you would like to submit any questions, please scan the QR code. All righty. This last portion before audience questions is the cross-examination portion. Each candidate has prepared two questions to ask their opponent, who will have 90 seconds to respond. Given we’ve recently had our resident timekeeper leave, I will hold up my hand with 30 seconds remaining to indicate time. All right, we’ll start first with David asking Thaden the first question.
David Baker (New Wave UTD): During your time in SG, you voted no on most projects and initiatives. If elected president, which projects or initiatives are you canceling and why? And if you aren’t planning on canceling any, why change your feelings towards events like the Blank Space art competition that you voted against while raising no concerns according to the Feb. 17 Senate meeting minutes?
Thaden Ho (Ho/Pe): OK, that’s a great question. So yes, my voting record does have more no votes than most senators, but that’s because I actually use my conscience when I vote. I don’t have an 89% yes vote rate like a lot of my senators. I actually read the bills and I come to a consensus on what I vote for. What project would I be canceling? Well, as SG president, it is not my role to cancel events I don’t like. It’s up to the SG Senate to vote on which events should happen. As to why I voted no on Blank Space, I had concerns with how we decided to manage volunteering hours and how it affected senators as a whole. As I remember, you wanted us to guard the pieces for 12 hours straight for 3 days straight to make sure the pieces weren’t touched. It’s 12 hours overall.
Crivella: All righty, now Thaden, if you have a question for Baker, this is your first cross-examination.
Ho: Perfect. Thank you. David, you’ve claimed to the press that you’ve successfully gotten the Artist Alley ban overturned, like you’ve mentioned several times here, that you’re talking to the president and vice president of administration to change and overturn the ban as you call it from day one. Meanwhile, that ban still hasn’t been overturned. No one and nowhere have they redefined what the solicitation rules mean that shut down Artist Alley. Furthermore, that Artist Alley you say would have come back would come back under stipulations that UTD would be running it, that UTD would be looking at and scanning the vendors for their art. Would that not be a violation of their First Amendment rights to express themselves on campus? You may call a compromised Artist Alley a victory for yourself that you brought back Artist Alley, but one of the greatest and most important things for artists is to be able to freely express themselves. And if you give admin an inch, they will take a mile. Are you satisfied with the idea of a compromised Artist Alley? To summarize, Artist Alley[‘s ban] has yet to be overturned. It has been canceled indefinitely until there has been a ruling on the solicitation rules. And even if it did come into effect the way you originally planned it, artists would have potentially been censored. Do you consider that a victory for yourself?
Baker: To clarify about the Artist Alley event, the conversation I had with the Small Business Owners Club president, one of the things that they talked about is that it is non-sponsored organizations that cannot host their events. Student Government is not beholden to that rule. Additionally, when I talked to the president and vice president of administration, not only were they in support of bringing back this event, they are currently working with the legal team, which had to get delayed because of the ongoing power outage. When it comes to hosting this event, even if the rule is not overturned — which I very strongly believe it will — Student Government is not beholden to the administration. We are able to host events that are not restricted by vendors. We can allow students to hold art pieces and sell art pieces no matter the speech or no matter what is on them. Thank you.
Crivella: Right. Next, David, if you have a question for Thaden.
Baker: In your platform, you talk about how UT Dallas is last in Texas according to FIRE’s free speech rankings. What successes can you point to as proof that you’re able to handle the ongoing crises while planning for and responding to future attacks?
Ho: Well, first off, I think that’s the wrong question to be asked. You’re asking me what I can do to fix free speech. You’ve been the vice president for 1 year and we’re dead last. The question shouldn’t be, what can I do for free speech? The question is, what are you gonna do differently that’s gonna change the trajectory of UTD? Because I don’t see any proof that anything you’ve been able to do will radically change free speech, especially as free speech on college campuses is one of the biggest issues in Texas.
Crivella: All righty. And lastly, Thaden, if you have a question for David.
Ho: Absolutely. So as part of your interview with The Retrograde, you and your ticket have talked about how my goals are short and I have no real promises, correct? You have a 22-point platform. Can you name all 22 points on your platform? Because I can name all of mine. My goals are clear and precise for a reason, and it’s because I’m running for what I truly, truly need to see happen, not just 22 things I think are kind of nice for a Student Government to do.
Baker: I can very easily point to my record. Last time when I ran, I ran on 15 points and accomplished all 15. Out of respect for time, I will list out a number of my goals. Continue and expand the budget breakdown initiative to ensure that we’re able to hold the university as accountable as possible. We want to fortify and utilize university-wide committees to ensure that they are continuing to meet and get things done. We want to fight for LGBTQ rights and ensure that students have the resources they need, such as being able to change their name on the university system for transgender students as well as inclusive housing. We want to ensure that students are able to have access to free emergency contraception, menstrual products and all other resources that Student Government provides and other free initiatives like that. Thank you.
Ho: I’m glad you’re able to read off of your notes for your own platform.
Crivella: OK, just in order to save the sake of time, I’m gonna ask that we remain within decorum. Although I understand that this is a tense election session, I think that just for the sake of us allowing each 90 seconds to respond, we would appreciate it if you could keep your comments to that period. But moving on, we’re gonna start with the audience questions now.
Audience questions — presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): We have a lot to get through, so we’re gonna start with one to both of you. I’ll start with asking Thaden and then I’ll ask David the same question. The recent suspension of UTD’s SJP chapter is extremely concerning as it relates to free speech. A student asked through the form, how will you as president help to make sure that student free speech isn’t being attacked?
Thaden Ho (Ho/Pe): Yeah, well, as we’ve mentioned before, free speech is one of the core tenets of my four issues on our platform. As SG president, one needs to stand tall and needs to be not afraid to put oneself on the line in defense of free speech. It’s not just about talking to people as a representative. It’s about standing up with our students in public, despite what may happen to you. And that is important for us in terms of defending free speech. We will not only be talking about SJP. I am not beholden to a salary. I am not taking this position for the money. I couldn’t give a crap about the money, which is why I am going to, if elected, donate my entire salary as SG president to organizations that have been banned, organizations that have been censored by UTD. I will use UTD’s own funds to help fight back for those students.
Crivella: All righty. And the same question goes to David. The question is, how will you as president help to make sure that student free speech isn’t being attacked?
David Baker (New Wave UTD): One of the first things that I can talk about is what I’m currently doing right now. Like I said before, I’m actively working with the SJP officer team to coordinate the student body’s response to help fight the disciplinary system that got them suspended in the first place. My opponent is doing nothing to defend students’ rights of free speech right now. He cannot point to a single initiative. All he can say is that he is working and has a lot of big buzzwords. Instead of complaining in a Discord of poor people’s grants, I am actually on the ground talking to students ensuring stuff actually happens with SJP. We are currently working as efficiently as possible to get a large-scale part of the student body behind us. Already Greek life, such as the IFC and the CPC, the two Greek councils, are already on board to work with us to ensure that this system is overturned. Additionally, PAs and the housing system are also helping us out. Different councils from different schools are also helping us out. I am currently working with all of these different student groups. Meanwhile, you sit here and talk and complain and do nothing.
Crivella: All right. I’m gonna move into our second audience question. This one is targeted to Thaden. It comes from our form. To those concerned with your lack of experience, what is your proudest accomplishment as a senator in student government that you can use to show your efforts?
Ho: My proudest experience as a senator has been just my watch of how SG deals with issues regarding student rights and freedom of speech. Yes, I don’t have the same experience as my opponent, but again, look at how that experience has turned out for UTD. Again, we are dead last in free speech. So my greatest experience is really just the opening of my eyes to how SG works whenever students’ rights are being violated. We pass a resolution, we talk a few hours, but eventually UTD admin says no thank you, or they say yes due to other factors, and we just don’t have any follow-up and we move on to business. So I really do think my experience as a senator has been being able to personally see how we deal with these sorts of situations.
Crivella: And a question comes in from the form for David. To those that have pointed to your long tenure in student government as being an indicator of your inability to enact change, what accomplishment in student government would you point to show your impact?
Baker: I would say one of the biggest impacts that I’ve had is reorganizing the student government budget breakdown initiative. This not only helps educate students on student fees, but it also helps students advocate and better push for initiatives within the campus. On the point about me not being able to enact change, I ask you to look at my record. Almost everything I have done is a first for Student Government. Before my time, we never hosted a mayoral debate for the city of Richardson. Before my time, we never hosted a breakdown of the city of Richardson’s budget or the UT system’s budget. Never in our time have we successfully overturned a drag ban or the track and field and cross-country bans. I have delivered consistent results that are first for student government, something my opponent very clearly cannot say.
Crivella: All right. And I believe this is our last audience question before we go to the closing remarks. This one will go to Thaden. It asks: you have built a community or a campaign that has no mention of queer or trans concerns. Have you done anything to reach out to these communities at UTD and why should these students vote for you?
Ho: Absolutely. First things first, I’m the vice president of the Student Small Business Owners Club. My president is a trans member. And second, I have not mentioned anything about trans specifically because that all falls under student rights, because trans rights are human rights and trans rights are student rights. There’s no need to specifically mention trans rights because that already falls under our platform of people’s rights. There’s no need to differentiate when their rights are just as important as any other student.
Crivella: All right, wonderful. And our last audience question to David. Your platform advocates for pushing for continued coverage of DART, a public transit system in Dallas. How will you as president of UTD student government accomplish something that extends far beyond the school’s influence?
Baker: I can already talk about some of the work I’ve done with DART. One of the first things that I did this year was pass a resolution talking about taking DART off the ballot for many of the cities that were trying to pull out of it. During that time, prior to that resolution, I coordinated with our predecessor to submit testimony to a lot of these city hearings where they were talking about whether they wanted to pull out of DART. So not only is it expanding coverage, but it’s also preventing the shrinking of coverage for DART. Additionally, I’ve worked with the sustainability group on campus to improve coverage of DART buses on campus. Part of what I have done within this group is working to modify the master plan for campus organization to ensure that the bus stops on campus are able to better accommodate students in the housing areas as well as in the academic buildings. Thank you.
Closing statements — presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): All right, we are now gonna move into our closing statements starting with Thaden. We have 3 minutes for these statements, and you can go first.
Thaden Ho (Ho/Pe): Thank you. First, I’d like to thank The Retrograde again for moderating. I’d like to thank David and Farhan for participating. And of course, I’d like to thank you all for taking time out of your day to listen to this debate. Over the past hour, the contrast between our campaigns has been more clear. During this debate, you’ve heard my opponent argue that I don’t have experience, that I haven’t done enough as a senator, and that I am just not the right person to do the things that I promised to do. Meanwhile, you’ve heard my position on how we plan to deal with things and how his play as VP has led to the effects that we’ve already had at UTD.
Ho: But if you look at the bigger picture here and we step back from the specific arguments that I or David have made, it is clear that my opponent wants you to believe that navigating UTD requires institutional knowledge, a network of backers, relationship building, working with the right people and, of course, accepting that some things are out of our hands or at the very least due to outside forces. My opponent has called that experience. That sort of experience cannot lead UTD to a brighter future. When admin suspended student organizations, when they killed Art Alley, when they forced new fees on students again and again without our consent, that so-called experience didn’t save us despite what he may tell you. Experience is good, but when your experience leads you to fall in line silently — at least publicly — when the UTD admin abuses and silences us, maybe you should reconsider what that experience means.
Ho: Our opponents have experience of being part of this inside backroom club. Pari and I are not a part of that club. We are regular students who are exhausted by the red tape, the same red tape that leads to forms being unfilled, emails being unanswered by administration, or just general lack of communication and a lot of organizational inefficiencies purposefully designed to stop students from doing what students ought to do, which is celebrate and express themselves on campus.
Ho: It would take me all of 3 minutes to list their 22-point platform, which I wish they’d be able to mention without looking at their own papers given that they wrote it. I’m running on 4 pillars. We will bring back free speech and stand up to admin. We will bring back Art Alley, actually bring it back on our terms. We will fight bureaucracy and increase event opportunities for all students, because for us to have a good campus life, it has to be student-led. It cannot be admin-led.
Ho: As I’m sure many of you know, voting starts on the 6th and it closes on the 8th. If you’re looking to vote for more of the status quo, you already know who to vote for. But if you want to actually make meaningful changes that put UTD on the map, then vote in a new direction. If you want a president who isn’t gonna just manage the decline but actually fight to bring UTD back, then vote Ho/Pe. Vote for a better future. Again, thank you all.
Crivella: Thank you, Thaden. And now we have our three-minute closing speech from David Baker.
Baker: I wanna first thank the elections board for hosting this event, thank The Retrograde for moderating this debate, and thank everyone who’s come out both on the live stream and in person to support the executive debate. I agree with my opponent that the differences between our two platforms could not be more stark. During the course of this debate, I have outlined all of the accomplishments, all of the things that we have done to fight for freedom of speech, to protect students’ rights and to ensure students are able to have the right to expression and speech. Not once has my opponent named a single accomplishment he has made at student government, whether it be his two-year term where he just voted no and claimed that is an accomplishment, or his inability to say that he has delivered any kind of result to defend the student body.
Baker: During my tenure as vice president, I have had some of the most successful campaigns to overturn the drag ban, to fight and return Art Alley back to what it is, to get the administration to agree that we need to bring it back and to ensure that student government is able to host even if that is not possible. My opponent talks about helping out organizations, yet he is currently doing nothing to ensure that. During the course of this year, I have worked with over 100 organizations to ensure that their problems are heard, their events are sponsored and their advertising is made.
Baker: Right now with the suspension of Students for Justice for Palestine, more than ever it is important that the student government is able to hit the ground running and ensure that students are able to fight back when our rights are grossly violated. As I am speaking, we are working with the SJP officer team to ensure that the disciplinary hearing that caused this suspension is overturned, alongside groups like the IFC and CPC. I have done a very good job organizing the student body to help fight for each other’s issues. And if you want someone who can deliver results and ensure that student government does not fall to the wayside and collapse underneath bad leadership, I encourage you to vote for New Wave UTD. Thank you.
Crivella: All right. As previously stated, there will be voting occurring next week from the 6th to the 8th. We’re now gonna take an approximately 10-minute long break. Please get some pizza. It looks wonderful over there. It’s just sitting, waiting to be eaten. We’ll come back with our vice presidential candidates. Give it up for our presidential candidates.
After a 10-minute break, the debate continues with the vice presidential candidates
Opening statements — vice presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): All right, everyone, we’re going to head back into the debate for our vice presidential candidates. We will be going in reverse order with all the things that we just did for fairness with the tickets. So first up, introducing from the Ho/Pe ticket, Pari Sarangdevot. And from the New Wave UTD ticket, Farhan Iqbal. The format will remain the exact same as the presidential one, starting with opening speeches, general questions, individual questions, cross-examination, audience questions and closing statements. However, the questions that will be generated from the audience hopefully are not the exact same. So if you would like to scan the QR code, you can submit them not just through the form but also through The Retrograde live stream and the SG live stream chat functions. All righty. To begin, we’re gonna start with opening speeches again in reverse order. So first, we’re gonna start with the Ho/Pe ticket’s vice presidential candidate, Pari.
Pari Sarangdevot (Ho/Pe): Good morning, Comets. My name is Pari Sarangdevot, and I am running on the Ho/Pe ticket with Thaden Ho. And I’m so excited to be talking to all of you today about our campaign. So to begin with, I just want to preface that I’m a pretty regular student like most of us here probably. I do not have a lot of student government experience, as our opponents have pointed out throughout this campaign. And while they might see this as a weakness, I want to say that I think this is probably my greatest asset. I am a student on campus. I see the things that happen daily in student organizations, on campus in general, and I feel that if you are a student leader, if you’ve been involved in any work on campus, you can probably empathize with the fact that trying to organize events, trying to just simply be a student on campus trying to interact with others, feels like running into a brick wall time and time again.
Sarangdevot: The administration at UTD has been a severe dampener for student organizations all across campus, whether you’re just someone trying to have fun at a club or someone organizing activist efforts that you want to see ripple throughout the country. Whether it’s navigating the old room reservation software that seems to get you nowhere, or getting no response from the admin who you’re trying to contact. One of the main things that I’ve seen in my time as a student is that trying to be a regular student on campus is frankly exhausting. And that can be seen through the shutting down of activist efforts and something very near and dear to my heart, the cancellation of Art Alley. Personally, I have been an artist for several years, claiming leadership of several art organizations on campus, and I was a vendor at these very Art Alleys on campus. I saw the way they blossomed into something truly beautiful that all students can enjoy regardless of major or what you really believe in as a student. And the fact that this could be canceled so quickly and without any empathy for the students that love these events says a lot about this administration. I’m ready to bring back the light into UTD and make our campus livelier. Thank you, and I’m excited to talk to you today.
Crivella: Splendid. We’re now gonna move on to the New Wave UTD vice presidential candidate’s three-minute opening statements from Farhan.
Farhan Iqbal (New Wave UTD): Hello everyone. Thank you for coming today. My name is Farhan Iqbal and I’m running for student government vice president alongside David Baker for president. I transferred to UTD 3 years ago and I’ve been dedicated to fighting for students through student government ever since. As a senator, I served on the Diversity, Equity and Belonging Committee. I’ve been the chair of the Communications Committee, and currently the webmaster of Student Government. Beyond these formal roles, I’ve contributed to countless SG projects, events and committees. I worked tirelessly to support our campus communities, creating events, initiatives and resources for hundreds of students. I stood up for student rights amidst all of the university oppression and attacks. I helped lead a strategic response to Senate Bill 17, which banned DEI from our university offices. I fought for freedom of speech and expression when our students and faculty were arrested for holding a peaceful encampment and when the university removed The Mercury editor-in-chief undemocratically.
Iqbal: In my time as the chair of the Communications Committee and now as webmaster, I’ve expanded student government outreach. I’ve worked with hundreds of student organizations, expanded our tabling efforts and outreach to students, and the committee has increased social media reach by 180% this past year. All of this has resulted in massive attendance increases compared to previous student government years. As a ticket, David and I have developed hands-on experience when the student body has been attacked, when harmful legislation took away LGBTQ support, when administration arrested protesters, when the university cut our track and field and cross-country teams. We’ve been active participants and leaders in coordinating the responses to these situations. We helped overturn the drag show ban, used student government to preserve events and projects, and so much more.
Iqbal: With all this experience that allows us to know what works and doesn’t work, it’s imperative that we have leadership like ours during the upcoming years when threats to our students emerge. As vice president, I will also fight for increased funding and resources for student organizations. We’ll fight for increased funding for the SOC and other institutions on campus that support organizations through the Student Fee Advisory Committee, which student government elects several members to. We’ll make the process easier and more accessible for student organizations to access campus room bookings for their events and storage. We’ll continue student government initiatives to provide accessible emergency contraception, menstrual products, Narcan and the graduation gown donation program. We will also coordinate student body response to hostile entities like ICE and help support our international student population, which makes up nearly 20% of our student body. With your support, New Wave UTD, David and I, are the leaders that the student body needs right now. Thank you.
General questions — vice presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): Wonderful. Just a reminder to all of our friends coming in, if you would love to grab some pizza, please go ahead. There is lots enough to go around. We’re now gonna begin with our general questions. These will be asked and answered by both candidates. We’ll start with Pari. The first question is, apart from your presidential counterpart, what makes you a preferable candidate to your opponent?
Pari Sarangdevot (Ho/Pe): To begin with, I’ve mentioned I’m an everyday student like you guys, and to expand on that just a little bit more, I have been pretty intimately involved with several organizations on campus, and I have seen the ways that administration and student government have interacted to kind of create an atmosphere where student collaboration and student organizations don’t feel as supported as they should be. Like I might have a bit of an edge in comparison to some of my counterparts in student government simply because of my time as a leader in organizations apart from student government. In addition to that, another thing I’m quite passionate about is just organizing in my own community aside from UT Dallas. I really find that forming communities, speaking to people on the ground level, and truly just trying to be there for people from a non-administrative standpoint is important. As I prepare for these elections and hopefully becoming vice president in the future, I want to keep that standard I’ve set in other places in my life by truly listening and truly empathizing with students.
Crivella: The same question for you, Farhan.
Farhan Iqbal (New Wave UTD): I’m glad you brought up other organizations because it is incredibly important that we reach out to other organizations, their leaders, help them with their logistics, help them with their event planning, things along those lines, and that’s something I’ve actually done a lot throughout my past few years. Whenever we were doing initiatives that were helping support students, I’ve been one of the main people that have been emailing and meeting with dozens and dozens of different organization leaders. I’ve had meetings during this campaign, previous campaigns, and in between as a senator, talking with these organization leaders asking, hey, how can we help you get the support you need? How can we help you run better events? How can we help you get access to the things you need to run better events? So I too have done all these things through student government and also as a regular student. Both David and I are students. We have classes just like everyone else, and it’s all these things together that have given me a very good overview of what students in general need from us. To add on to that, of course, I have all that knowledge and also 3 years of student government experience. Through my opening and everything David has talked about that our ticket has accomplished, we have a wealth of knowledge under our belt for how to use the student government position, use our position to talk to administration, work with them and coordinate large student bodies together. Thank you.
Crivella: Right. This next question will begin with Farhan and go to Pari. It is, why do you think students should care about this election given participation in student government votes historically has been lower than expected?
Iqbal: I think it’s important for students to care about this election because the leaders in student government are the ones that help facilitate the general student response to a lot of attacks on our free speech, a lot of attacks on student expression, a lot of things that are barring events from organizations and a lot of things that are attacking our LGBTQ students and international students. David and I have already talked extensively about the work that we’ve done for that, and if we are elected leaders, hopefully we will be able to use that leadership to continue all these projects and continue to expand the different ways that student government can support all these students and communities. So that is a very important reason to vote in this election.
Crivella: The same question to you, Pari.
Sarangdevot: Alright, so personally I have been one of those students who has never been super in the know about student government just because of how it’s currently set up. Aside from that, I can understand the average student who maybe doesn’t want to think about these things or think about voting or think about what bill is being passed in student government currently. It’s very easy to be passive in these situations, and I can totally understand. However, our campaign and what we’re trying to do is truly make the student quality of life on campus better, to make students really feel heard. To elaborate on that, to make students not be scared to organize, to create collaboration for student organizations and to just make the process smoother for everyone. So if you ask why should I care about this election in particular, you can ask yourself, why do I care about being on campus? Why do I care about collaborating with others? I think all these things are intertwined, and if you really wanna see your experience on campus become more positive and turn for the better, then I think this is an election we should definitely care about and vote in.
Crivella: All right, our last general question. I’ll begin with Pari. As the political atmosphere warms up coming into this November’s midterm elections, students will likely increasingly express their views on campus. What would you do as vice president if another wave of increasingly expressive students, perhaps through a May 2024 encampment-style protest, occurred on campus?
Sarangdevot: For me, I have seen the way UTD has time and time again ignored activist voices on campus and gone as far as to censor them or ban their organizations, in the recent case of SJP. For me, I believe all these efforts on the part of students is laudable and says a lot about our campus and how far students are willing to fight for the things they truly care about. Personally, I believe that as Student Government, we should be further supporting these activist efforts, especially coming into an election that seems more important than ever in our current political atmosphere. Personally, I think we should set a precedent for not censoring these voices by vehemently working towards bringing back SJP and going against what admin has done to censor the various activist voices on campus, and in general just supporting these people as much as possible.
Crivella: Great. Same question for you, Farhan. What would you do as vice president if we saw another instance of perhaps a May 2024 encampment-style protest on campus?
Iqbal: I’m glad you asked that question because I was actually there when Student Government responded to what happened at the events of the encampment. Me and several other executives were actually there at the encampment when it got destroyed. We were there helping clean up. We were there helping deliver water on the scene. So I’ve been there. I’ve seen how it’s played out. We tried to respond when a lot of students and faculty were wrongfully arrested. I’ve seen it all play out. So if it happens again — and similar can happen again — it’s very important that we have a very strong coordination with student groups, basically make sure we’re talking to the student groups, make sure that everyone knows their legal rights. Everyone understands the risks. Everyone is capable of understanding all the resources for what will happen in a situation like that. Because as we saw last year when the encampment happened on campus, state troopers came. Students were dragged off from the encampment and arrested. And when something happens like that again, we need to coordinate all of our resources into providing legal support for these students. We need to provide all the support that we can so that students know what can happen and how maybe we can safely go about it while ensuring that these things can happen so that students can express very important viewpoints that they have.
Individual questions — vice presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): Wonderful. We’re now gonna move into the individual questions. I’ll start with Pari. Compared with all other candidates, you have expressed that you have very little, if not any, experience in student government. How should students be expected to trust that you’ll be capable of efficiently guiding student government if elected?
Pari Sarangdevot (Ho/Pe): Of course, I think this is an excellent question because honestly, if I was in your shoes, I’d want to know what I can offer you as well. And to start off with, it’s not like I have zero leadership experience. I’m very passionate about working with people and trying to get their voices heard, and for me that has generally manifested in working with student organizations on campus and in my community, working as a volunteer and as a leader. So to elaborate on that a bit more, my current biggest concern was Art Alley, so I’m part of the leadership of the Student Small Business Owners Club. And in my time at UT Dallas, I was actually part of the pioneers who created one of the first artist markets on campus as part of the Asian Artists Association. And once again, in my own personal time, I’m a leader in my community as someone who’s advocating for the arts in an art workshop which is essentially helping underprivileged children with accessing art supplies and the like. So once again, I really do care about helping people, and all this has not manifested through pursuing a role in student government. I want you to know that this is something I care deeply about.
Crivella: All righty, asking a different question for Farhan since we’re on individual questions. Last year, you ran and lost on a ticket for student government president. What has changed in the last year that could win voters over?
Farhan Iqbal (New Wave UTD): I will say, in terms of winning voters over, last year both David and I on our platform had very good points. We both ran on supporting students in different ways. We had a very strong base of support from so many organizations. I think honestly, just the strength of our platforms combined, of all the new things that we wanna do and all of the experience that we have together, is what’s gonna win voters over. Because I think both of us did have a lot of support. So it’s less about winning voters over and more about us just combining our vision of student government together to get as many students to show up as possible.
Crivella: All right, wonderful. Heading back to Pari. On your website, you expressed that you want to quote “defend student speech by doing everything in our power to come to practical solutions.” What does it mean to do everything within your power, and what are some potential practical solutions that you would implement if elected as vice president?
Sarangdevot: Oh, for sure. So one thing that we’ve been really serious about is freedom of speech on campus, especially in concerns to very recent events like the censorship of Art Alley and the silencing of voices of SJP. We have talked to SJP in our own limited manner as people who aren’t the president or vice president of student government, and one thing I’ve definitely taken out of it is that we can always be doing more for the people on campus and the activists on campus who are fighting for what they care about. In terms of what our policy is: publicly take a stance, be fighting with these people and set up a precedent for administration that they cannot do these things without getting away with it. Put the pressure on admin to the point where they feel that these actions aren’t something that the student body and us as a student government will just let slide.
Crivella: Right. We’re next gonna go up to our second individual question for Farhan. You are a current senior with an expected graduation at the end of fall 2025. Why should students vote for you as vice president when you might not be able to make the full year in office?
Iqbal: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think it’s a very valid concern to have. So if I’m elected vice president, my term will start in May and end in December. So I’ll have a full 7 months to realize our platform and to support student organizations. Starting day one of office, I will be devoting my sole priority to protecting students, to reaching out to people, to finding all these issues, devising solutions. We’ll hit the ground running during fall with the full Senate. I think a lot of people think that less time serving is a hindrance in achieving goals. However, I worked directly with the president and vice president last year and the year before that, and I’ve seen how different executive tickets handle projects and goals, and they’ve all done incredible things in their own ways. But a lot of the time, they haven’t done as many things because they were managing the Senate and other things as well. I personally don’t think that the time that an executive has been the main bottleneck in what student government presidents and VPs have been able to accomplish. I think it’s been more about the amount of ambition they have, and David and I have that in spades. We have so many projects and so many events that we want to do, and I know given that entire seven-month time span starting from this summer, I’ll be able to accomplish everything.
Crivella: My last individual question for Pari is: in a poll with over 250 responses, The Retrograde found that voters’ number one issue is immigration, with about 48% of all voters pointing to it as a primary concern going into this year’s elections. What does your platform offer on a specific level that could potentially assure voters that you would be right for them in terms of quelling the fears of immigration concerns?
Sarangdevot: To begin with, I am an immigrant myself. I’m a first generation immigrant from India, and I can empathize with our international student body on campus and all the people on campus who are scared about the current climate and what that would mean for their ability to live in America, to participate at UT Dallas, and just generally be a part of this country now. Personally, on the stance of what we want to do in student government, we keep emphasizing this freedom of speech aspect of our campaign, and I want that to be further emphasized when it comes to immigration. These students should not feel like they have to be silenced on campus or that their ability to be a student or be a participant on campus is in any way hindered by their status as an immigrant. And to elaborate on that a bit further, I mentioned legal assistance for these people and helping out in more substantial ways, and I want to assure you that this is something that is also on my personal priority list. That we need to care about as students at UTD across the board.
Crivella: Wonderful. My last question for Farhan before we get into cross-examination will be: Student Government has historically had a hard time retaining senators and keeping committees full. How would your promise to quote “create more specialty committees on key issues like parking and mental health” alleviate these issues?
Iqbal: I am so glad you asked me that because that is one of my biggest things that I want to work on within the government: the retention issue, mentorship, leading new senators. David and I have actually talked extensively about our plans for how we want to bring in new senators. We want to keep them engaged and we want them to do things, start their own projects, lead their own committees. So as you said, the part of our platform that talks about specialty committees is one way that we can do that. One of the ideas that we’ve had is helping create a program to help freshmen and newer senators each have their own project or committee, each have their own tack on a problem within the university that they want to tackle. So by encouraging the creation of these committees, we can have our new senators have their own leadership experience within student government and also use their position as a senator to the full benefit of students. You’ve seen this happen with the Sports Ad Hoc Committee, which has helped coordinate several leaders of sports teams to be able to know what’s happening within sports and advocate for themselves. You’ve seen this within the incredible Budget Breakdown Committee, which has been able to create a giant team full of several subcommittees and has created so many leadership opportunities for new senators. That is something that I just want to continue expanding, continue allowing new senators to do new projects through committees like this or through projects through their own standing committees.
Vice presidential cross-examination
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): Great. We’re now heading on to the cross-examination portion of this debate. This is the last segment before we get to audience questions. So once again, if you would like to submit any questions, please use the QR code for the last time or input them into the chat on either of the live streams present. We’ll begin with Pari asking Farhan the first of two cross-examination questions.
Pari Sarangdevot (Ho/Pe): All right, so to begin with, as you guys are probably aware right now, one of the biggest things I’ve really been passionate about on campus is the artist market and the fact that it was canceled. One of the things that David kind of mentioned in his previous speech is opening the discussion on bringing these back. However, as someone who has a more inside perspective from the Small Business Owners Club, this is something that has been an issue for a long time now, once again since the start of the fall semester and even going as far back as the summer when things were changed. And I feel like this was something that was kind of poorly managed in terms of communicating with student organizations and something that has only really recently been addressed in any sort of way by student government. And still to the point where we still haven’t really gotten them back. It’s just a discussion that’s been opened at this point. And from my perspective, it kind of feels like too little too late. And I was wondering, from your perspective of student government, why do you feel like things like this happen? What’s your response to these general concerns?
Farhan Iqbal (New Wave UTD): So the general concerns were a little too late, yeah, and the fact that these things could be happening for a while and only be addressed much later. Yeah, I’m glad you asked. So of course Student Government has a lot of things to deal with. So many things happening. A billion different students being attacked, a billion students having trouble with this event or that event. Of course Art Alley is incredibly important. David and I have been in contact with the administration. It’s been a whole process to try and get that rule overturned, and if not, we’ll see how the government can host it. But of course, this has been a problem that you guys have seen for a very long time considering your involvement in these communities. So really the main reason that it’s been this late is because it just wasn’t on our radar because we hadn’t had too much active communication with the groups that have that issue. But the instant that we heard about it, we got on it. Within a week of it happening, we were talking with administration and we were trying to figure out solutions. Now, I would also like to reiterate that both you and your running mate have been involved in these communities. Your running mate has been a senator for 2 years but has not once asked how he can help through student government despite being a senator to resolve any of these things. If this was brought up by him or anybody involved at all, we would have been able to start this progress way earlier, but we’ve only heard about this recently. So it just unfortunately was not at our attention. But now that it is, we’ll be able to address it, and we also plan to actively reach out to way more student organizations so things like this don’t fall by the wayside.
Crivella: Right, we now have the first of two cross-examination questions from Farhan.
Iqbal: Your ticket hopes to delineate itself from current and past student government executives by pushing against administration harder. Can you please give a recent example of a time student government has responded to administration violating student rights and how you would have responded differently?
Sarangdevot: So for me personally, I’m not a direct part of student government in my current position, and this is something I can talk on as someone who is once again an outsider and someone who only really sees things just playing out on campus. So once again, personally and from what I have seen, I have seen that sometimes, yes, Student Government will make a statement or try to pass some legislation about the various times that our rights have been censored in activist efforts and in student organizations generally. But from my perspective, that’s just about it. I will see these things happen and I won’t see much follow-up. I won’t see their impact on campus. I won’t see these organizations finally getting their rights back or getting some quick follow-up. For example, SJP, they were in a gray area for over a year and only just now they’ve been suspended for what UTD would like to tell us this year. So ultimately from my perspective, these things — well, student government has definitely become aware of them and has tried to put its foot down in certain ways — I just don’t think things have been public enough to the point where I can see them as a student on campus who cares about these issues.
Crivella: Wonderful. We now have our last cross-examination question coming from Pari.
Sarangdevot: All right, so for my last question, this is like a little bit more of a casual one and not crazy pointed. But I did wanna ask, in your time in student government, you’ve probably seen a lot of people come and go and retention wax and wane. And as someone who wants to be more involved in student government, what do you think has been the difficulty? Do you think there are any problems you’ve run into and things that you wish to focus on?
Iqbal: Yeah, that’s a really good question because that is something I think a lot about: succession planning issues, the changes in leadership. You’ve been involved in a lot of student organizations and talked with a lot of them, so you understand that certain organizations are run by students. So they change officers year to year. People graduate. People lead with their leadership experience and their experience running events and projects. A similar thing happens to student government to a very big extent because to me, chairs are responsible for so many things at once and there’s so many moving parts. This is something that I really want to address this upcoming summer and this fall, ensuring that we have very clear transition guides for chairs that are moving, ensuring that graduating senators leave behind all their institutional knowledge and nothing is left behind. Because in past years, when different senators have graduated, different chairs have left, committees have actually worked significantly less efficiently the year after because all that leadership and knowledge left. So as VP, I’m gonna make it a very top priority at the very least when transitions are happening to make sure all that knowledge is stored somewhere for future generations, not just this year as well.
Crivella: All righty, and our last cross-examination question from Farhan.
Iqbal: So I understand that you have not been super involved in student government, so this question is just a little more specific. If elected vice president of student government, there’s a lot of responsibilities you have to take on, and one of those that are expected of the vice president generally is helping manage the eight different committees and all the events and projects that they have. So answer this to the best of your knowledge, of course, but of all these different committees, which ones would you like to work with the most and which events and projects that you’ve heard of would you be most excited to talk about?
Sarangdevot: All right, thank you so much for your question. So let’s just start off with your point about me not being involved in student government. This is something I’ve been crazy open about, and I want to emphasize that I will not have the vastness of the knowledge and experience that you have. I really do want to communicate with all the senators, all the leadership in student government. I’m going in and I really want to consult you guys and learn as much as I can during my time. In terms of events I want to work with or focus on, and the different committees that you offer, you’ve mentioned a couple of things about student transport and DART and things of that nature, and I think that’s something that’s extremely important going into the next term for student general welfare, connecting students to greater Dallas and DFW in general. I think that would be excellent for student life. And you’ve mentioned opening discussions with leadership beyond campus like the Richardson mayor and senators, and I think in general in terms of defending our rights and being more open about the things we care about, continuing communication with these groups is wonderful.
Audience questions — vice presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): We’re now heading into audience questions. These have been sent to me through the e-board. Our first one will go to both candidates. I’ll start with Farhan and then we’ll go to Pari. The question is: power outages and other facility problems have been plaguing UTD’s campus over the course of the last semester. What do you think you would be able to do as vice president of student government to work on these problems that affect the average student to a high degree?
Farhan Iqbal (New Wave UTD): Obviously, the power outages have been a very big issue this past semester. Student government as the representatives of the student body can help ensure transparency. We can ensure that if students have any questions, they can come through us, but we can also help ensure that administration has those answers. We can make sure town halls are happening, such as the one that was supposed to happen. We can help students basically understand what’s happening. We can also help them understand the resources that they have on campus when power outages are happening. For example, if they need food, they can go to Comet Cupboard. If they need different kinds of support, there are all these offices on campus. So while we cannot directly help power outages stop, we can direct students to the support that they need and ensure that administration is clearly communicating with students about when these are happening, why they’re happening, and what they can do about it.
Crivella: Great. Same question to you, Pari.
Pari Sarangdevot (Ho/Pe): All right, in terms of the general power outages, I think they kind of represent some of the issues with the infrastructure at large, with the issues we’ve been having with the general set-up of our campus and our buildings and our housing. I think improving the quality of this is extremely important, and while these things are generally, I assume, up to admin and their financial resources to fix, I also think it’s important as student government to put the pressure on to make sure these changes are efficiently made. Students really feel hurt when they feel that these issues are becoming serious.
Crivella: Wonderful. All right, I’m now going to go to Pari next. The question is: a major point of your platform has been the return of Art Alley. Yet it appears that both platforms have made it clear that they will bring back the initiative. However, as we just heard from the debate, New Wave will “compromise on that vision.” How will you avoid the traps that you believe your opposition has made in the future?
Sarangdevot: Yeah, I think that’s an excellent point. You mentioned how both have brought up Art Alley, and I just wanna say in my own experience it’s something I’ve been passionate about since its inception and something that I’ve been working with ever since they’ve been discontinued. Obviously, our opposition has kind of made comments about how we’ve done nothing, but we have been in talks with admin and with SOC about bringing these events back, and just in general communicating with other organizations and seeing if there are alternate options for these alleys, like even going off campus. So once again, this is something I really care about and something that I’ve been working on personally as part of the Small Business Owners Club. It’s not something that I have tacked onto my platform now that elections are in season because I think it’s something students really care about. So in terms of avoiding the pitfalls that you think student government may fall into with these artist markets, it’s just in general preserving artists’ rights and free speech, not letting them be censored by administration. And I think a lot of that has to do with working with the artists and the organizations to support these artists across the board. You mentioned Small Business Owners Club, but it goes so much beyond that. There are so many organizations that have participated in these markets, and I think just communicating with all of them and making sure it’s an ideal experience is really one priority.
Crivella: Thank you. Next up for Farhan. You’ve mentioned in the past a lot of issues concerning retention, and you agree that student government could handle transitions more effectively. However, as someone that has served as a leader in student government for the past few years, why has it taken so long to implement any of these changes regarding this known problem?
Iqbal: Yeah, that’s a good question. Well, on my own end, I’ve definitely helped a lot with my committee that I’ve been the chair of and the committee that I’ve been a regular senator of, for retention issues for those committees and for the experience that I have in DEB. When I served my first year as a senator, I was always helping out with them. I was always helping with their transfer of knowledge for the next two years afterwards. Even though I was part of the Communications Committee, after my Communications chair tenure ended, I helped my successor with a lot of transition materials. I helped all of the senators in that committee have materials to continue doing the job efficiently and continue helping them build materials for future leaders. Of course, these changes that you’re talking about are really just ensuring the transfer of knowledge, and I’ve been doing that for all the things that I’ve been an expert of. But of course I have to work with every single committee for every single leadership transition because I’ve had all these other projects and responsibilities in student government that I’ve been working with. As vice president of student government, I will do these things that I’ve done on DEB and as Communications chair now on a wider extent to the entire Senate because that is what being the leader of student government means.
Crivella: Wonderful. Heading to Pari for what will be our last audience question. You’ve mentioned previously that you feel that you have low visibility into SG as a regular student. Have you attended any student government public Senate meetings? And if so, what did you take away from your attendance? And if not, why?
Sarangdevot: Yeah, that’s a great question. Personally, I wanna be clear that student government bureaucracy and Senate meetings are not something that I have had high on my priority list before this point, simply because once again I have been working with other organizations and I felt like my general attendance and input wasn’t something that would really change much about UTD in general and proceedings, and just in general in terms of adding to my personal life and what I’m trying to achieve with the current organizations I’m part of. And once again, I think that speaks to just how the average student feels about student government and our individual voices being heard. If for the average student these meetings might not seem worthwhile, they might seem like something that you can just attend and not take much out of. And as someone who pretty regularly reads news proceedings about student government and the campus in general, what I’ve taken out of them is that I probably don’t need to be in those rooms as someone who’s merely just observing. And once again, that’s why I am part of this ticket, because I want to be part of the change instead of just being a bystander. And I think when we’re talking about the schism between the average student and student government, there’s a lot we can do to lessen that gap.
Crivella: Wonderful. And my last audience question for Farhan. Many of the biggest issues of shared governance involve constraints from the Board of Regents. How will you navigate these complicated administrative dynamics if elected vice president?
Iqbal: Of course, that is a very high power and very hard for us to address, but there are many avenues that we can use to address this. So a lot of the constraints that happen do come from much higher places than just the university. Coalition building with other universities is very important. Working with other student governments such as UT Austin — we have all these connections from going to conferences with other student governments — reaching out to them when different attacks are coordinated across our different universities, really working with other student governments and showing solidarity not just from our one university student body but from all students at large in the entire UT system is an incredibly important way to handle that.
Closing statements — vice presidential candidates
Tyler Crivella (Moderator): Wonderful. All right. Now we’ve got our three-minute closing statements from each candidate. We will begin with Farhan.
Farhan Iqbal (New Wave UTD): Thank you all for coming out today. I would like to shout out the election board for running this election and The Retrograde for moderating this event, and to all you incredible people for coming out to this debate. I would also like to thank Pari for being an incredible opponent. I think the fact that you’re here right now does show that you care a lot about students, and from your performance, you’ve shown that you’re very knowledgeable on issues. I really appreciate that.
Iqbal: Now, your ticket in a Retrograde interview claimed that a platform focused on 80 different things is unfocused. Firstly, our platform has 20 points, not 80, though I appreciate our opponents complimenting our vision. The precedent shows our ability to deliver campaign promises. David has accomplished all the campaign promises he made last year during his campaign, and we are aiming to scale up the scope and depth this year. It is a testament to both our experience and our desire to support as much of the student body as possible. David and I have no intentions of stopping at our listed goals either. So they are just the start.
Iqbal: It is true that in the past, student government has not always succeeded. That is why we are going to be actively reaching out to groups that have not had enough support in the past. We’re currently working to coordinate hundreds of student organizations, student athletes, FSL, other student councils, and create solidarity amongst these groups to accomplish as many of their goals as possible. Right now, Student Government needs experienced leaders that are capable of leading the Senate, that are not just capable of leading the Senate but also able to reform and reapproach how we deal with threats to student leadership and experience. And that experience is something that we have gained, and that is why you should support us for student government vice president and president. So don’t forget to vote New Wave UTD.
Crivella: And now a 3-minute closing statement from Pari.
Pari Sarangdevot (Ho/Pe): All right, so we begin with thank you so much for everybody who’s watching this today and for everybody who asked all these awesome questions to us. Thank you to The Retrograde for moderating, of course, and thank you to our opponents David and Farhan. I think we had some really interesting conversations today, and I’m excited to see what happens in the future.
Sarangdevot: So going on to the actual closing remarks, if you take one thing away from this, I hope it’s the clear difference in how we view the average student and what we want to do for the average student. Our opponents want to continue the status quo at UT Dallas, and if that’s something you’re fine with, I’m more than happy for you. But for us, the status quo is something that has eliminated art and expression on campus, that has made students and their organizations feel that they cannot speak out when they want to, and has made general collaboration amongst individuals on campus harder and harder to achieve. We don’t see student government and UTD as a bureaucracy to be managed, but something that can truly be changed for the better.
Sarangdevot: While we might have our complaints about the way things are currently being run, they come from a place of wanting to see UTD become a livelier place, a place where students truly enjoy themselves, a place that doesn’t feel like it deserves a spot on rankings about unhappy students or places where freedom of speech is being stifled on college campuses. Personally, I see this as a way to make this university something we can all be proud of, something we’re truly proud to be attending. Next week from April 6 to 8, you have the choice to vote between us and our opposition, and I hope you can consider us as your option, as someone who truly wants change on campus, as candidates who simply want to fight for you. It’s time to rock the boat. Vote Ho/Pe. And thank you so much for coming.
Crivella: All right, let’s hear a round of applause for our candidates. Both of whom y’all can shake hands and go sit down. I’ve got a few thanks to say before we wrap things up. First up, thank you very much to the E-board of student government for setting this up. Today was my point of contact. It was wonderful throughout this process. Thank you to the student union and the Comet’s Landing staff for getting all this stuff set up. None of us know how to wire speakers, so this is obviously very kind. I want to thank all the candidates for participating. This debate would be pretty goofy if none of them showed up, so it is very nice that they did so. Please make sure to check your email from [April] 6 to 8. That’s Monday to Wednesday next week, where you will receive your ballot to vote for both the president and vice president candidates. And the last thing I wanna say is, if you want to get more news, more coverage of these sorts of events, please check out The Retrograde at retrogradenews.com. I noticed that our logo is a little bit off today. If you see any news about “Somta the Devourer” or anything, that’s not intentional. I have no idea what’s going on with our website right now.
One Comment
Why did u edit out when Tyler Crivella announced he was the new EIC elect? Isn’t it unethical to edit transcripts?