Melissa Caceres / Staff Writer
In the University’s first contested SGA race since 2008, presidential candidate Patrick O’Keefe and vice presidential candidate Sanjeev Udhnani intend on “Getting it done for FIU”.
A promise that includes collaboration, advocacy and consistency for the student body, the O’Keefe/Udhnani ticket claims to have a “clear vision on engaging University students.”
“We’re fighting for inclusiveness, which is why we’re open to new and fresh ideas, rather than having SGA be this exclusive club, which is how it tends to be portrayed as most of the time,” said O’Keefe in an interview with Student Media.
While running with a campaign that focuses on advocating students’ rights, the candidates support and guarantee better collaboration between colleges, continuing to fund successful student programs and making FIU more commuter-friendly while still supporting residential students.
Born in Elkridge, Maryland and relocated to Miami at age 15, O’Keefe is a Political Science major whose involvement on the campus includes a past leadership position with the Student Advocacy Committee and a membership with the Fiji fraternity as well as the Pre-law honor society Phi Alpha Delta.
He hopes to use discretionary funds to bring back outreach programs for students, with a focus on giving them more information as well as listening to them.
“The biggest problem is that we’re not hearing students enough. We’re not going out and talking to them as much as we should be,” said O’Keefe.
Currently, O’Keefe serves as the finance chair for SGA, after having only been a first time lower division senator for one year.
“It’s really not about having more experience,” said O’Keefe, who acknowledged that he is running against a presidential candidate with a longer history with SGA. “It’s about having a clear and concise plan of what we want to do.”
His running mate, Udhnani, is a junior and honors student majoring in International Business, having been born in Miami with an Indian background.
The vice-presidential candidate is currently the president of the Sigma Alpha Lambda Honors Society and SGA attorney general, who served on a committee focused on textbook affordability; an issue that is part of the ticket’s platform.
“In that committee, we worked with the Office of the Provost in finding ways to make sure that students have the cheapest and most affordable option for textbooks,” Udhnani said.
Both candidates are also concerned about those students who they believe are ‘neglected,’ mainly those that must take courses at the Engineering Center, five blocks away from the main campus.
“After going to a town hall meeting at the Engineering campus, we walked away with over five pages of notes on student concerns that should be addressed,” said Udhnani. “They were truly legitimate concerns like having call boxes on campus or issues within their curriculum.”
Their views on keeping all campuses well represented include having the Biscayne Bay Campus remain with it’s own governing council.
“Prior to having a council at BBC, their issue was that they were under represented and I see that happening again if there is a one council system,” O’Keefe said.
More advanced technology in terms of video conferencing would be important in bridging the distance between the campuses during meetings, according to O’Keefe.
“Ideally the system of a two council government should work,” stated Udhanani. “BBC has an issue with getting students involved but it still should work and we should not give up on that system until we try to address those concerns and spearhead those issues in whatever way possible.”
While the competitive race to the finish line continues, the presidential hopefuls admit that “getting it done” for the University also involves having a balance between the two runningmates.
“I’ve always been the persistent one who is always pushing for things that are more realistic while Sanjeev is the one who steps back says ‘but how can make this better.’ So it’s really big that we play off of each other’s personalities,” said O’Keefe, who mentioned that he and Udhnani were good friends prior to the run for the presidential and vice-presidential seats.
“At the end of the day, it’s a ticket and it’s meant to have people working together.”