Shelby Adamson, life and arts reporter for The Battalion, spoke with Alvaro “Gabe” Pereira, political science senior and recently appointed student regent, to discuss his upcoming term on the Board of Regents.
THE BATTALION: What will be your job description as you head into this new position as the student member on the Board of Regents?
PEREIRA: In my role as student regent, I will serve to represent the interests of the student body to the Board of Regents while providing students with insight into the challenging decisions made by the board.
THE BATTALION: What issues do you expect will come up and how do you plan on going about dealing with them?
PEREIRA: As always, there are decisions made by the student body or Board of Regents that the other party may not fully agree with. Ensuring a positive relationship and fruitful communication will be crucial to the successful execution of my responsibilities as student regent.
THE BATTALION: What will be the most difficult thing you will have to overcome while you are active in this position?
PEREIRA: Balancing the needs of the University System and the Board of Regents with the requests of the student body. Going along with my job description and expectations, drawing from personal experience it is clear that the opinions of the students and the board may not always align. Developing effective communication with both administration and students will prove to be a challenge that I know I am prepared for.
THE BATTALION: Have you held similar positions like this in the past? How do they make you qualified to do this job?
PEREIRA: Throughout the Texas A&M system, the position of student regent is unique. Off campus, when I ran for College Station City Council in 2014, I was given an excellent opportunity to learn how to build the relationship between civic leaders and decision-makers, the University, and the student population in College Station. The skills I developed through this experience will prove indispensable as student regent.
THE BATTALION: What do you hope to accomplish with this position?
PEREIRA: I hope to further the positive connection between students and the University’s administration. I look forward to encouraging students to reach out to the administration in support of furthering the successes and legacy of the Texas A&M University System.
THE BATTALION: What do you hope to gain from a personal standpoint from this position?
PEREIRA: This position is primarily a great way to give back to Texas A&M and put all I have learned as a student into practice. I think that serving as student regent will help cement my deep respect for our university and better understand what all goes into making Texas A&M so unique.
