Let the campaigning begin.
A second set of candidates has now entered the race for SGA President and Vice President. Meet Josh Boloña and Jad Shalhoub.
“I am a Junior studying Industrial Engineering with a passion in leadership and service to others. I currently hold the position of Greek Council President, which oversees and advocates for 49 fraternities and sororities here on campus,” Boloña told Knight News.
Boloña has also been an SGA Senator for the past year and a half, and he has great pride in his accomplishments.
“I have played a role in funding over 1 million dollars to individuals and organizations to either go to conferences or host events. One of my main accomplishments as a senator was helping create the student body advocacy committee and becoming its first chair. The goal of the committee is to take in student input on issues around campus and push the opinion of the student body forward as a collective legislative branch,” Boloña said.
If elected, Boloña says he will always keep the students he is serving in mind.
“As President I will promise to make impactful decisions only after taking in the perspectives of the students it will be affecting. This will be reflected when sitting on the Board of Trustees, as I will be more of a student voice rather than conforming to the will of campus decision makers,” Boloña said.
His running mate, Jad Shalhoub, is a brother and former president of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
“The Vice-Presidential position has been greatly underused in the past years. Normally, options for VP are selected for earning the presidential candidate votes during the election period, as opposed to having the vision of them playing the key role they should once elected. It is my vision as VP to use my historically underused platform to liaise between SGA and the Students, so that everyone can be informed and have a say in the decisions being made at the executive and administrative level,” Shalhoub said.
Together, the two have big plans for change if elected.
“Jad and I believe that the influence the executive branch is given has barely scratched the surface on the student experience. We are looking into the bigger picture which is bringing consistent University pride to the student body, not tossing out student dollars that never make its way back to the experience we have here at UCF,” Boloña said.
Josh and Jad also hope to fix one major headache of UCF students, parking.
“We specifically plan on permanently fixing your common issue of parking, not by adding spots, but instead through policy. We also plan on improving school spirit and tailgate experience by consistently partnering up with UCF Athletics; however, our campaign is more than that.”
If elected, the two also plan to conduct town hall meetings where the students voices will be able to be heard.
“The voice of the students will be heard on month by month basis in town halls we plan on having. The voices heard is what will ultimately drive us in pursuing the bigger issues that students want to get resolved,” Boloña said.
Stay tuned to Knight News for continued coverage.
