Editor’s note: This column was submitted to the Texan by members of the UT community. 

Content warning: Mention of sexual assault 

What does UT for Unity mean? It means uniting social settings around campus. It means including everybody in the conversation. It means spreading positivity and focusing on fixing problems, not making more. It means making all students feel welcomed and safe at every inch of the Forty Acres. It means working together to get more lights up in West Campus, breaking down mental health stigmas, and creating a transportation system and campus that allows accessibility to all students. Overall, unity means that you will always have something or someone looking out for you. 

Students from every corner of campus are waiting for needed change to happen across campus, and UT for Unity has a plan to get it done. Every student should feel safe walking on their university’s campus. Junior finance major Samantha Burg and junior health and society major Tommy Vahalik are committed to adding more blue lights around campus and creating apps that will deliver security to needed students. Safety remains a concern for students on and off campus, which is why they will also work to expand SURE Walk to safely escort students home. With reasonable and necessary efforts like these, Burg and Vahalik will prevent sexual assault with a zero-tolerance policy within our community. Our campus is a campus for every student. If elected, they will increase ramps and ensure every student can reach their destination with ease. Students also want to live on a campus that is conscious of its environmental impact, and in turn, a campus that makes efforts to protect its environment. UT has the resources and capabilities to ensure our buildings are green energy certified — and Burg and Vahalik will make sure it happens. They promise to ensure that our campus will reflect the values and commitments that they hold with efforts like these. If elected, you will have faith in your student government. UT for Unity pledges to bring transparency to UT’s student government and lift voices who have been put down for far too long. UT for Unity promises to listen to you, inform you, and work for you. If you’re ready to unite UT and accomplish these goals, vote Samantha Burg and Tommy Vahalik. 

Burg is a finance junior from San Antonio. Vahalik is a health and society junior from San Antonio.