THE BLACK COUGARS presidential candidate Micheal Mpamaugo seeks to connect more with students and address point of improvement within SGA and at UH. | Courtesy of Micheal Mpamaugo
With days left before the Student Government Association presidential debate, THE BLACK COUGARS presidential candidate spoke on a platform for building bridges and addressing points of improvement at UH.
Presidential candidate and business management senior Micheal Mpamaugo stressed that getting students more involved in the organization is crucial to tailoring action plans to the UH community.
“Historically, SGA is not the biggest student involvement with everyone,” Mpamaugo said. “But I really want to read everyone and see that you can have a tangible effect on this. And it’s important for you to speak up.”
Running solo, Mpamaugo is open to working with other members with the common goal of student engagement with the association and not picking a vice-presidential candidate was the way he stayed true to this.
“Frankly, I’m not here to pick a person from the crowd that I just like, vibe with and don’t really know the backstory (of), I’m not trying to choose just the face of it,” Mpamaugo said.
If elected, Mpamaugo said the goals and aspirations of other SGA members are of importance, but aims for a more collective focus on issues brought forth by students outside of the organization.
“I think that’s the most important thing is that we keep our body involved and cognizant of day-to-day politics, how they can get involved and then using our time strategically to talk about problems that are really core to (the) student experience,” Mpamaugo said.
Moreover, Mpamaugo addressed how pushing forth legislation can often meet pushback by financial needs to implement them.
“To be frank, I think that student government is a microcosm and reflection of overall government, the same issues that plagued that, like national level,” Mpamaugo said. “One of those was really with this budgeting thing, which I was able to talk to the commissioner about. The fact that good ideas are often limited by just financing or fundraising, because that’s really what is behind a lot of the movements, and the ability for ideas to become movements is the funding of it.”
Mpamaugo said mobilizing students, especially those coming from an underfunded population is one of the primary goals of THE BLACK COUGARS platform.
“I think that we have reached a place where it’s time to start talking about important things. But oftentimes people are a little sensitive or nervous to go there,” Mpamaugo said. “I think that as a Houstonian, as someone from a diverse background, I’m just trying to bridge some sort of gap.”
Mpamaugo emphasized the mindset of the next administration is what will spur a competition for action that will put UH on the map.
“As long as we are holding ourselves to that standard, and we have the respect that we deserve, we are holding us up to that expectation,” Mpamaugo said. “I think there’s just no way that this school is not recognized for what it is within the next three (to) four years.”
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“THE BLACK COUGARS seeks to connect to more students” was originally posted on The Cougar