The Summer Student Government term brought forth the greatest number of cases a Senate President has had filed against them within the last two decades—a new budget and a world of possibilities for how the Fall election cycle might play out.
Looking back on the previous election cycles and this past Summer term can give students an idea of what to expect for the upcoming semester.
Party platforms
Change Party and Gator Party are set to run again in the Fall for Senate seats. Typically, smaller third parties will run as well.
Each party will announce its candidates’ campaign goals for the new school year through social media during the campaign season.
Gator Party’s previous campaign platforms focused on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts; improving the accessibility of on-campus academic, lifestyle and transportation resources and reforming the student organization funding model.
Change Party’s campaign also centered around DEI as well as restructuring funding for student organizations, expanding funding for mental health services and a permanent 24/7 library resource, combating issues like food insecurity and sexual assault and developing environmental sustainability initiatives.
These campaign initiatives become more specific as students run for Senate seats, stating what they hope to accomplish when the student body votes for them.
The UF Senate is composed of 100 senators: 50 based on colleges and classifications and 50 based on location.
Senators are elected by their peers and work for a yearlong term to represent their constituencies and make educated decisions on their behalf.
This Fall, students will vote for new senators to represent the student body by district or college.
Legislative officers oversee Senate meetings held every Tuesday evening during the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters. Senate meetings are open to the public and take place in the Senate Chambers of the Reitz Union.
Former Progressive and Communist Parties leader Alfredo Ortiz submitted a draft of a public comment he planned on reading at a Senate meeting. Ortiz ended the draft by adding the Communist Party would “see everyone” in the Fall—implying students can expect the third party to make a comeback.
Fall 2023 elections will take place Oct. 3 and 4. Voting locations are to be announced.
Legislation
Several SG representatives have made a point to fight for DEI initiatives and for LGBTQ rights. Students can expect these initiatives and campaign pledges to be announced throughout the Fall elections given recent Florida legislation.
This year alone, legislation submitted to the Judiciary Committee hit triple digits, said Judiciary Chairperson Jonathan C. Stephens (Change-District D). Many of the legislation pieces submitted were notable for their DEI initiatives.
Senate President Oscar Santiago Perez (Change-District D) signed bills condemning attacks on higher education and creating a budget review act at the May 30 Senate meeting.
An executive order signed by Student Body President Olivia Green at a June 13 Senate meeting celebrated LGBTQ students at UF.
“[The executive order] will highlight this dedication and celebrate the community on behalf of Student Government,” Green said in a statement sent to The Alligator.
Green said the executive order served as a small token of her appreciation, and she encourages all students at the UF to continue to educate and contribute as she has been doing herself.
Several new pieces of legislation may be heard at the first Senate meeting of the Fall, Aug. 29, and throughout the semester.
The cases against the Senate President
Santiago Perez found themselves with a wide variety of cases filed against them to the UF Supreme Court throughout the Summer.
The cases ranged from political bribery to abuse of power allegations filed by members of Gator Party. Santiago Perez faces the most cases filed against a Senate president in the last several election cycles.
Students can anticipate several of these cases to be heard in the Fall alongside other cases brought against other members of SG and cases pertaining to election rules and regulations.
Specific dates and times for hearings related to the cases are to be announced for dates and times they will be heard by the court.
Santiago Perez filed a censure case against Member-at-Large Johnny Liu (Gator-District C) regarding an alleged inaccurate voter record submitted by Liu.
A censure case will be investigated by the SG Rules and Ethics Committee whenever a Senator files a petition with the Senate Secretary calling for a Senator’s censure or expulsion.
Santiago Perez wrote Liu to Rules and Ethics Committee Chairwoman Liliana Clark (Gator-District A) that Liu is still a sitting senator and is filing a case against him to correct the violation of Student Body Law.
“Voting ‘no’ on the floor of the Senate during a roll-call vote and putting down ‘yes’ on the voter record is a clear falsification of the voter record,” Santiago Perez wrote.
Santiago Perez cited Student Body Statute 309.44, which states, “any student who forges and/or falsifies a voting record shall be guilty of an Offense Against the Student Body.”
“Due to the fact that this case could have been a simple mistake, I am simply asking for a censure against the Member-at-Large,” Santiago Perez wrote.
Among the reemergence of new parties, UF Supreme Court hearings and a flood of new legislation, students can anticipate this Fall election cycle to be an exciting and memorable one.
Contact Vivienne at vserret@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @vivienneserret.
Vivienne Serret is a UF journalism and criminology senior, serving as the Fall 2024 race and equity reporter for The Alligator's Enterprise desk. She previously worked as a columnist and previously reported for The Alligator's university desk as the student government reporter. She loves karaoke and lifting at the gym.
