Editor’s note: Executive Alliance candidates Ava Hosseini and JD Romero, who published under the name Juan Rodriguez, previously wrote for The Daily Texan opinion department. Candidate Amy DonJuan previously worked for the Texan en Español department.
Six executive alliances are running for the positions of UT Student Government President and Vice President for the 2025-26 academic year. The candidate pairs are Grayson Oliver and Elizabeth Tomoloju; JD Romero and Erin McCormick; Jonathan Wilson and Morgan Hernandez; Amy DonJuan and Chris Zapata; Hudson Thomas and Thierry Chu; and Amin Mashhoon and Ava Hosseini. Students can vote online between March 3-4.
Grayson Oliver and Elizabeth Tomoloju
Humanities honors junior Grayson Oliver said he is running to be Student Government President to inspire and be a role model for students. He said he and his running mate, government junior Elizabeth Tomoloju, want students to feel loved and safe on campus.
“For me, (being president is) a responsibility, and I just really want to make sure that we are welcoming faces, that any type of student can see us and be like, ‘I trust you,’” Oliver said.
Oliver said their campaign’s policy is split into six different sections, including innovation, movement, purpose, affordability, community and transparency. He said they want to meet with various student organizations and establish an advocacy fund to provide direct grants for them using money from Student Government.
“We want students to be able to move and feel free to express themselves here on campus,” Oliver said. “A lot of that is being able to navigate what we can and can’t do despite SB 17.”
Tomoloju said they also want to integrate mobile UT student IDs to make moving around campus and using Capital Metro easier.
JD Romero and Erin McCormick
JD Romero said he is running to build a better future for students struggling on campus. He said he is inspired by his mother who came to the United States from Mexico to give him a better life. He said he wants to help students who may be experiencing the same things he overcame, such as being low-income and having issues with food insecurity.
“I saw everything that my mom did for (my family), and I would never want anyone to feel alone if they’re going through that, or whatever they might be going through,” said Romero, an economics and philosophy junior. “(I want to be) a support system for them and (shine) a light at the end of the tunnel for them.”
Romero’s running mate, government junior Erin McCormick, said the three pillars of their campaign are “Your Campus, Your Say,” which focuses on amplifying student voices; “No Longhorn Left Behind,” to increase food security and mental health access; and “UT For the Future,” designed to expand campus sustainability. Romero said some of their ideas include getting feedback from student organizations, establishing long-term mental health resources and building more on-campus green spaces.
“We need leaders that are going to be there to advocate for (students), and not just going to be there to comply with everything that they’re told and everything done by the University,” Romero said.
Jonathan Wilson and Morgan Hernandez
Jonathan Wilson and Morgan Hernandez are running on a platform focused on affordability and student life, collaboration and synergy, expression and transparency, community and belonging, accessibility and accommodation and support and services. Wilson said he is running to continue the work he started as Student Government’s advocacy director.
“I know there’s more for me to contribute, and there’s more that I want to see through,” said Wilson, an international business junior.
Hernandez, a sociology and political communication junior, said some of their ideas include supporting student organizations affected by SB 17, improving accommodations for students with disabilities and pushing for subsidized meal plans. She said she wanted to be Wilson’s running mate because of her respect for the University and other students.
“This school has given me so much and at the very least, I want to serve as many students and give back as much as possible,” Hernandez said. “The role of Vice President just seemed like such a natural way to want to contribute.”
Amy DonJuan and Chris Zapata
Amy DonJuan and Chris Zapata said they are running to amplify underrepresented student voices. They said as first-generation students, they felt unheard when they arrived at UT, and they want to improve conditions for similar students.
“We want students to feel heard, we want them to feel represented,” said DonJuan, a Plan II and accounting junior. “That is why a big part of our campaign is us going out to student organizations and not just limiting ourselves to one specific type, but to reach as many as possible across campus.”
DonJuan said their platform includes community outreach to talk to student groups often ignored and improved food accessibility by increasing the number of food distributions on campus. Zapata, a business honors and finance junior, said they also want to increase professional development efforts in schools other than the McCombs School of Business by upping recruitment and career service efforts.
“We believe that me and Amy are that missing puzzle piece needed within Student Government right now,” Zapata said. “We primarily think this because of our non-traditional background that we (don’t) typically see within the Student Government sphere, and we have built and championed our platform in order to include all voices, but especially those voices that might not have current representation within the Student Government.”
Hudson Thomas and Thierry Chu
Plan II, government and history junior Hudson Thomas and Plan II and English junior Thierry Chu’s platform is based on three policies, including “Elevate Campus Experience,” “Tradition of Community,” and “Impact Beyond Ourselves.”
According to their policy papers, some of their ideas include a mental health week for students, a centralized room reservation system for campus organizations and creating a database for community service opportunities.
Thomas and Chu did not respond to requests for comment.
Amin Mashhoon and Ava Hosseini
Geography junior Amin Mashhoon said he and his running mate, humanities junior Ava Hosseini, are committed to three main policy areas, including speech, representation and sustainability. He said they want to strengthen Student Government’s connection with the broader student body, ensuring it truly represents the diverse perspectives of UT’s population.
“We see what has happened on campus in the past couple of years, and how the relationship between students with each other and students with the administration has started to fracture apart,” Mashhoon said. “We feel like those voices and concerns are not really being taken seriously.”
Hosseini said as grassroot activists, they have had the privilege to meet many people on campus and felt a call to run for these positions. She said their platform includes practical initiatives like expanding dine-in dollar accessibility, launching an outpost program to provide resources for students in need and increasing coalition-building among student organizations.
“Being here at such an incredible institution of higher learning and education, (we have) to make sure that we’re remaining on the cutting edge of not just science, technology and innovation, but also pushing thought forward and really taking a step to be a leader in everything,” Mashhoon said.
