As of Jan. 23, Brooklyn Boreing, public relations junior, and Ruben Becerra, finance senior, launched their Student Government presidential campaign.
Boreing, director of programs and marketing in April 2017, said she hopes to serve alongside her candidate for vice president, Becerra. While both candidates serve as senators-at-large, Becerra also serves as the director of governmental affairs, the liaison to San Marcos City Council meetings and the Texas Student Government Coalition.
Alongside Boreing’s leadership roles in Student Government, she also held three different leadership positions in her sorority, Delta Gamma, as well as co-founding the student-led organization Not On My Campus, which she currently leads as president.
According to Boreing, her admittance into the cabinet awakened her passion for politics, which led her to her decision to run in this years election.
“It’s changed my life,” Boreing said. “It consumed me. It made me fall back in love with politics. That’s my new career path. That’s what I want to do.”
Alyssa Wakefield, English junior and vice president of Not On My Campus, competed against Boreing in high school debate competitions.
According to Wakefield, she considered Boreing a fierce competitor during their high school debate competitions. Wakefield got to know Boreing as more than an opponent and found Boreing admirable in the way she fights for her beliefs.
“Brooklyn has always been super passionate about raising awareness of sexual assault and harassment, even in high school,” Wakefield said. “I am so excited to see how much she will accomplish in office if she gets president because I know Texas State will be a better place with her in the position.”
Becerra’s family is active in politics; his father is campaigning for county judge in the Hays County elections. But after the 2016 presidential election, Becerra said his family faced the future with an impassioned disposition.
“Our family came together, and obviously we were very distraught, to say the least,” Becerra said. “But we said, ‘You either step up or step out of the way.’ As a family, we decided we wanted to step up. We want to lead by example.”
His family’s advocacy for active participation in government motivated him to apply those same principles to his own life by running alongside Boreing.
The two candidates worked closely throughout their time in Student Government and ultimately decided to run in this year’s election as a team. The Boreing-Becerra platform focuses on an initiative they call “Building Better Bobcats.” Their plans involve cost relief for students, improving campus safety and building a more solidified voice for Bobcats.
In terms of cost relief, their team wants to improve textbook affordability for all students and increase parking availability. They rank campus safety as a top priority and hope to improve the overall wellbeing of the Texas State community. To do this, Boreing and Becerra plan to advance sexual assault reform by implementing more student climate surveys, reevaluating ride-sharing programs and possibly increasing the number of safety buttons on and around campus.
According to Boreing, they want to ensure that all students can openly express their concerns, opinions and ideas about how Texas State can improve. For example, Boreing believes the creation of a fall break is a popular and understandable request from many students and would like to explore the idea further.
“I have seen this year that Student Government, and just, in general, the campus, has been very divided,” Boreing said. “There’s been a lot of controversy at Texas State. Our name’s been in the news way too much, and now more than ever we need a president that is going to unite everyone, that’s here for everyone… It’s not about political parties.”