UTRGV releases candidate debate 8 hours after voting began
Hundreds and possibly thousands voted April 1 without being fully educated on where candidates stood or what they were about.
As reported March 31, UTRGV candidates for President and Vice Presidents squared off in a debate pre-recorded Thursday March 27.
It was originally meant to be live streamed, according to Vaqueros Movement VP candidate, Alexis Uscanga.
The debate, hosted by ‘UTRGV Student Media’ granted control over the video of the debate to student government “advisor”, Kourtnie Hernandez, who is biased towards the competing ticket of Odalys Saenz.
It was posted 8 hours after voting and after hundreds, if not thousands, had already cast their ballots Monday, April 1, unsure of who the candidates were. Some I spoke with regretted casting a blind ballot for Saenz after hearing of Trstenjak’s campaign, although they promised to tell their friends about the Vaqueros Movement and their slate of candidates.
A “learn more” tab was made available to students voting but let’s be honest, who’s going to read two entire platforms, digest them both, and make a considered judgement, without seeing or hearing the candidates? This is even harder to do when you think of those who stood as they voted, the student union hosting election booths, during peak hours. Posting the debate immediately would’ve allowed students to take their time listening to the candidates speak in their own voices, over the weekend, before voting.
The bias for Saenz was made evident by the fact that the Facebook page who ultimately shared the debate is a page which is effectively controlled by the student bureaucracy currently in control of SGA. Another dead giveaway of bias on the part of the ‘UTRGV Student Life’ page is that they also used the term “Vaquer@s”, in addressing the student body, as a concession to trans ideology, one of Saenz’s key trademarks and campaign priorities.
Who, which department, runs the ‘UTRGV Student Life’ page?
Using the above term is an insult to biology as well as to women, whose existence is the real target for erasure. The number of reasons to cast a vote for the Vaquero Movement slate, with Noah Trstenjak at the top of the ticket, continues to grow.
Related coverage:
Noah Trstenjak's message to UTRGV student body (substack.com)
Profiles in Revolutionary Excellence: Alexis Uscanga, SGA VP candidate (substack.com)
* A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled Trstenjak.
jonathansalinas@substack.com