Article Originally Published 2/27/20 at The Daily Texan
With the motto “Texas Better Together,” Adam Bergman and James Comerford’s student body president and vice president platform emphasizes community, engagement and transparency.
“We emphasize being together as a community, embracing our flaws even though we have a lot of Texas pride,” Comerford said. “We want to be better together as a Student Government administration and hold ourselves accountable.”
The candidates’ platform includes implementing professional sexual assault and domestic violence prevention training for incoming freshmen and transfer students. Bergman and Comerford also want to organize a Mental Health Week for every UT college and promote transparency from the University regarding issues such as sexual misconduct by faculty and staff and unguaranteed seating at sporting events.
Student body presidential candidate Bergman, an advertising and journalism junior, is a former SG first-year representative and former University Wide representative.
“Our platform emphasizes that we can get all these things done in one year,” Bergman said. “You will see actual change on campus rather than sentiments related to Student Government or anything that’s not tangible … We want to keep our promises true to ourselves and to the University.”
Bergman said he wants to expand on his previous SG work in fighting for campus safety.
“We want (the Stop Abuse for Everyone Alliance to) give presentations … to inform students of how to avoid the situation of sexual assault and (understand) ‘the red zone,’ like Red River weekend,” Bergman said.
Vice presidential candidate Comerford, an urban studies junior, is a former advocacy director for SG Transfer Students Agency.
The candidates’ platform seeks to build on current student body president Camron Goodman’s Continuity Committee, which aims to continue the work and legislation from previous SG leaders.
“We see a lot of great ideas burn out with the passing of the torch,” Comerford said. “We want to take the ideas of the past and bring them into the future and ensure people aren’t burning out in quick flares.”
Bergman and Comerford said their transparency about issues within SG allows them to recognize critical issues at the University and hold administration figures accountable.
“We want to make sure we’re standing on the mountaintop and exposing what’s wrong with us and really hold ourselves to this standard of Texan excellence,” Comerford said. “What starts here changes the world, so let’s make sure it’s impactful.”
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Cover Photo Credit: Jamie Hwang, Daily Texan Staff
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