The Students First Party dominated Student Government elections in February, winning nearly every seat in the assembly and both top positions.
The party campaigned on a platform of more than a dozen issues, including modernizing the course registration system, expanding the E-bus service and developing plans for additional student union space.
In August, SG announced it had addressed all of its platform issues and made a list of more. With their term nearing an end, they are nearing the conclusion of their second list as well.
"I don't recall any SG administrations that have publicly stated that they've gone through all of their platform issues," said Jim Vick, UT vice president for student affairs.
SG President Brian Haley attributes the Student First ticket's success in office to the landslide victory in the election.
"I think that because everyone got to work together during the campaign, there wasn't as much of a transition," Haley said. "We were able to hit the ground running and move forward on a lot of initiatives."
One issue addressed last spring was the Students First promise to "fight for student concerns on the Texas legislative agenda." SG led the failed student lobby against tuition deregulation, which passed during the 78th Legislature's regular session.
After deregulation passed, SG continued pushing for student involvement in the tuition-setting process by advocating a Tuition Policy Committee.
Through discussion with the administration and other officials, SG members also helped extend E-bus routes to Riverside and helped initiate long-term projects such as the building of a new student activity center and the Gregory Gym outdoor pool project.
Despite SG's success, its attempts to fight student apathy have been largely unsuccessful. Although last year's 19 percent voter turnout was the highest in UT history, a gap between SG members and their constituents remains.
"I always read about them in the paper, but I never see any effects," said Josue Gallegos, a geology junior who did not vote in last year's election.
Jonathan Reynolds, a business marketing and English freshman, said the problem is that SG "doesn't get the message out." He said this was visible in the confusion surrounding the diversity curriculum resolution in October.
"There was a lot of talk about [the resolution] within Student Government, and of course the Texan covered it like every day, but that's about it," Reynolds said. "Everyone said that everyone was arguing about it. I didn't hear anybody arguing. I didn't even hear anybody talking about it."
Haley said SG has tried to address student apathy by holding public forums, meeting in different places and talking with other student groups, but nothing seems to work.
"I think student apathy is to be expected on a campus this large," Haley said. "I don't think it's acceptable, but it's expected."
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