University of Texas elects first Latina, physically disabled student president

Fourth-year government and Mexican-American studies major Alejandrina Guzman made University of Texas history Thursday when she was elected to be the Austin campus’ first Latina and physically disabled student-body president.

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A campus-wide runoff election concluded with Guzman and running mate Micky Wolf capturing 54 percent of the vote and winning the election by an almost 800-vote margin Thursday evening.

As part of the "Alejandrina and Micky" campaign, Guzman said she ran for student-body president because she realized how important it was for her to represent and advocate for underserved communities on campus.

Zooming around campus these past four years, I’ve learned to navigate campus and expand my comfort zone, but not always...

Posted by Alejandrina Guzman on Friday, February 17, 2017

The campaign ran on a platform with six points:

  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Accessibility for disabled students
  • Addressing sexual assault
  • Affordability of college
  • Service
  • Spirit and tradition.

The motto was "Let’s RALLY," which stood for Represent All Longhorns Like You.

Outgoing student-body president Kevin Helgren congratulated Guzman and Wolf in a Facebook post.

"Running for student body president and vice president at one of the largest universities in the world is no small task – it takes a tremendous amount of courage, vulnerability and sacrifice ... I’m excited to see where leadership takes our passionate student body," he said.

Helgren also acknowledged the other two campaigns for their hard work.

Candidates for student-body president and vice president at UT have been more diverse in recent decades, according to UT spokesman J.B. Bird.

However, it has been 17 years since the last African-American student-body president, Daron Roberts. Six years have passed since the last female student-body president, Natalie Butler — until Guzman.

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