We are Javier Lopez and Danielle Buffa, and we want to make UT your university. 

We are not former members of Student Government. We are members of the student body. We understand what it is like to want change and have no discernable pathway to achieve it, and we are running so that no student must experience this sense of frustration and helplessness again. If what starts here changes the world, then why shouldn’t students be able to change their world?

We recognize that no amount of research can teach us about every problem our students face. However, by providing every student the opportunity to speak with us directly, we can help create the change our students want for our university. 

If elected, we will hold open-floor meetings in which any member of the student body may voice their concerns to us, our executive agencies and the dean of students. These meetings will allow students to speak their minds about the problems they face on a daily basis. Our goal is to empower students to create the change they want to see. It’s time to give our students the transparent and accountable Student Government and University administration that they deserve. 

This past year has been a strenuous one, to say the least. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent winter storm, our students are struggling like never before. But with these challenges comes opportunity to look at the flaws within our system and make a change. 

After researching the executive alliance budget, we found many agencies from past years were inactive and unresponsive to the community. In fact, this past fall alone, there was a budget surplus of over $18,000 that was unspent and unused by our Student Government. We believe in using our resources to give back to our students. Our alliance will channel our funds into projects and organizations that help students, and we will donate any excess funds to the Student Emergency Fund and to UT Outpost, an organization focused on feeding at-risk students. 

We believe UT is for everyone, and as your executive alliance, we will strive to make UT more inclusive. We will listen to our students’ needs and make the necessary changes, such as adding a nonbinary gender marker in UT’s registration system. We will also work with the Office of the Registrar to provide students the option to place their preferred name on their diploma rather than their legal name so every student can take pride in being a Longhorn.

Our campaign is focused on what matters most: you. Our Student Government needs to represent all of our students, not just leaders of organizations and other members of Student Government. It’s time to make a change. It’s time to create a Student Government that values transparency and accountability. It’s time to represent the needs and identities of all of our diverse students. It’s time to put the U in UT.