Last year, it was my privilege to serve as your Student Body president. I was proud to advocate for you and stand up for your interests.
Like most of you, I am deeply concerned with the issues facing students, such as increasing tuition rates and employment prospects after graduation.
I see Student Government as the mechanism by which the voice of the Student Body is heard, and the person leading it must have the experience to fight effectively for you.
It is with this in mind that I proudly endorse Tj Villamil for Student Body president.
Villamil and I most recently served alongside each other as president and treasurer, but our cooperation extends long before that.
We served as student senators together from Fall 2009 to Spring 2011, including one year in which we served as the Senate's two finance chairs.
As budget and appropriation chairman, Villamil proved his dedication to every student organization and accumulated an unmatched knowledge of the needs of every niche of the Student Body.
His hard work paid off in the first unanimously passed Student Government budget in years.
It was this experience that made it an easy choice to select him as my running mate for Student Body treasurer, a job in which he has excelled.
He has gone far beyond his job description, most notably when he worked tirelessly with me to stop block tuition.
Villamil's knowledge of this university and our Student Body was crucial in helping me make the case to the administration and the Board of Trustees on why block tuition would be a harmful policy.
More recently, he has spearheaded the efforts to renew our student union without any additional cost to students.
He recognizes that the student union should be a place for student activities and services, not a university facility, and that student input is critical in its planning.
Villamil's efforts with the Reitz Union put him in front of the Board of Trustees, so he is a familiar face to those who will be deciding your tuition rates and all policies at the university.
The relationships he has formed with administrators, trustees and students, and the knowledge he has gained throughout his years of service to our Student Body have uniquely prepared Villamil to meet the challenges we will face this year.
I urge all students to vote for the experienced leader who has already obtained so many results for us.
Tj Villamil for Student Body president.
Ben Meyers is a food and resources economics senior and the former Student Body president of UF.
