Students Unite’s Allison Lawrence and Maysarah Kazia will take office as SGA president and vice president, respectively, at the beginning of April. | Corbin Ayres/The Cougar
Allison Lawrence and Maysarah Kazia of Students Unite were announced president-elect and vice president-elect Thursday evening in the Student Center North Lounge as the 2019 Student Government Association election came to a close.
The duo ran alongside current SGA President Cameron Barrett, who also secured a Graduate Senator-At-Large seat for the 56th Administration. Their victory marks the first successful female-female SGA ticket since 1975.
“It was a really long seven months,” Lawrence said after the announcement. “I’m really excited to get started on my initiatives.”
The Students Unite platform centered on increasing the minimum on-campus wage for students and bringing third-party health insurance acceptance to the UH Student Health Center, in addition to other initiatives. In total, Students Unite secured 21 of the 36 Senate seats that were up for grabs.
“We worked incredibly hard and I’m proud of everyone on the campaign,” said Kazia. “The best moments of this campaign were getting to work with everyone and push through the tough times.”
Lawrence, who currently serves as chief of staff for the 55th Administration under Barrett, was up against political science junior Claude Johnson of EVERY COOG and current CLASS Sen. Moiz Syed of Coogs Unite for the presidency.
Syed was in Baltimore at the time the results were announced, but his vice-presidential candidate Nader Irsan was present.
“It’s definitely been a learning experience but, like I said in the debate, each candidate running has a good vision for the University of Houston — we just have different visions of how to reach that goal,” Irsan said.
Syed declined to comment on the results.
While Johnson lost the presidency, all Senate candidates from his party secured their seats.
Additionally, independent candidate Francisco Garza secured a Graduate Senator-At-Large Senate seat.
The Graduate Student Bill of Rights passed in the election with 98 percent of students voting in favor of the legislation. The new version of the SGA Constitution was also ratified, with 94 percent of students in favor.
“I’m very proud of all the candidates and everyone worked especially hard, though I’m relieved that it’s over,” said SGA Election Commissioner Bo Harricharran.
Graduate Senator-At-Large
Cameron Barrett — Students Unite
Francisco Garza — Independent
Undergraduate Senator-At-Large
Ed Gonzales — Students Unite
Elizabeth Pham — Students Unite
Leonard Chambers — Coogs Unite
Kaden Lewis — EVERY COOG
Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design
Nathaniel Waller — Coogs Unite
C.T. Bauer College of Business
Daniella Ramos — Students Unite
Katherine Doan — Students Unite
Saida Adaya — Students Unite
Jack Morgan — Coogs Unite
College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
Aidan Potts — Students Unite
Alex Do — Students Unite
Wasiq Javed — Students Unite
Paulina Saybe — Students Unite
Franciso Fuentes — Students Unite
Ashlee Dulaney — Coogs Unite
Lexus Simmons — EVERY COOG
College of Education
Vi Pham — Students Unite
Queen Epomba — EVERY COOG
Cullen College of Engineering
Quang Vo — Students Unite
Mikaylee Strohm — Students Unite
Alex Garcia — Coogs Unite
Honors College
Chirag Mistry — Students Unite
Gibby Badillo — Coogs Unite
UH Law Center
Alexys Mathis — Coogs Unite
College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Christina Dias — Students Unite
Chiamaka Chukwu — Students Unite
Aneesha Krothapalli — Coogs Unite
Jasmine Khademakbari — Coogs Unite
College of Technology
Bethany Jackson-Price — Students Unite
Christopher Lamonte — Students Unite
Alexander Duvall — Coogs Unite
Travis James Sorce — Coogs Unite
Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management
Jules Vicklund — Students Unite
Graduate College of Social Work
Emily Joslin — Students Unite
This story will be updated when official voting data and turnout is made public by the Election Commission.
