The ballots are in – Cedric Bandoh and Rani Ramchandani will take office in the 50th Student Government Association administration.
SGA President Cedric Bandoh and Chief Election Commissioner Said Jalajal viewed the the election results on Friday. | Mary Dahdouh/The Daily Cougar
Bandoh won re-election over competitor Eduardo Reyes with 59.6 percent of the votes. Bandoh and Ramchandani will begin serving their term together as president and vice president, respectively, April 1.
Bandoh and Ramchandani plan on getting straight to business come April, Bandoh said.
“Many items on our platform will begin simultaneously as we will hit the ground running,” Bandoh said. “Folks who know me understand that I believe time is money, and I don’t like wasting either one, and the students deserve an SGA that works diligently.
“A major item that we will start, is working with our Department of Public Safety to look at implementing the Cougar Patrol,” he said.
Bandoh said scholarships and financial aid will still remain as part of his driving forces. Bandoh and Ramchandani said they plan to continue to further improve on what we have, including a better refund service for students.
Bandoh’s reason behind choosing Ramchandani is because of to her passion for the campus, Bandoh said.
In the current administration, Ramchandani serves as chair of the Senate Committee on Administration and Finance. Outside of SGA, she has served two years as co-president of the Mr. UH Executive Board in which she raised $3,000 for philanthropic service
“I am extremely grateful to the student body for supporting our mission and believing in our vision,” Ramchandani said. “At the end of the day, Cedric, myself and the entire SGA collective are working in the best interest of the students for the students.
“Our mantra for the 50th administration is to keep a continuous improvement mindset and leave things better than we left them. I can’t tell you how exciting of a role this is and how passionate I am about this University. Even with the expected challenges on this path, I only see a bright future with many triumphs,” she said.
Ramchandani takes the place of the current vice president, Turner Harris, who opted out for re-election to put heavier focus on finishing school.
“I hope Cedric and Rani pick up right where we left off and continue to have a tangible impact on the student body,” Harris said.
“I’m really excited to see what they accomplish — it’s been a while since SGA has had a president serve back-to-back terms, so Cedric won’t have to spend the first couple of months learning the ropes. Rani is such an intelligent and capable person; I am very much looking forward to see what she does.”
The voting process, which encountered multiple problems in its two days, provided the elections results Friday, but the results should be validated by Tuesday, said chief election commissioner Said Jalajal.
The non-returning SGA members will be handing over their positions in a month. Harris said he has bright hopes for SGA’s future.
“My parting piece of advice for the 50th administration would simply be to focus on innovating for the students — it’s where SGA will always have the biggest impact,” Harris said.
I attended the University of Houston from 1953 to 1957. I was involved in various areas of what you now refer to as SGA and was President in 1956-57.
Traditionally, each Administration would invite all the Past Presidents that could be located to the Annual SGA Banquest. Why has this tradition, like many att U of H, been abandoned?
I enjoy reading the e-Edition of the Daily Cougar. Back in the 50’s, it was The Weekly Cougar.