The Student Newspaper of Highline College

Hector Pina

Pina elected Student Government vice president

Della Verdi Staff Reporter Jun 10, 2020

Hector Pina has been elected vice president of the Associated Students of Highline College for 2020-21.

Pina was the only candidate, but was confirmed in an online vote earlier this month. He will join Jermaine Santos, who was elected president in late May. The president and vice president represent students on several campus committees, among other duties.

Publicizing the elections and getting students to vote was a challenge this year, said Thomas Bui, director of the Center of Leadership and Service at Highline.

“Our biggest obstacle during this pandemic is finding new ways to engage our student community on campus,” Bui said. “There were so many adjustments in how we program, market, and serve our students to ensure that we help maintain a healthy balance in their engagement.”

Communicating and connecting with students to promote the vice president position has not been easy, as all forms of communication are virtual, he said.

“The quarantine had a major impact on our elections,” Bui said. “With not being able to engage with students in person and on-campus, it has been hard to organize and encourage students to participate.”

This election was organized different than years in the past with it being sudden and only promoted online.

“As always the election is organized by the outgoing ASHC team lead by the vice president,” Bui said. “During this pandemic there were many zoom calls and emails between myself and the ASHC team to make changes and plan how this election would proceed.”

Although the ASHC team managed to email students with updates and information about the new vice president position, only one candidate signed up.

“It was difficult to not be on campus to promote the elections process with the students,” Bui said. “We did our best to virtually spread the news to our Highline Community.”

Pina was also a candidate for ASHC president elections but lost to Santos.

“We only had one student submit their application during the application timeframe to apply for elections,” Bui said. “For elections we accept all completed applications as candidates.

“While it is hard to engage our community online, the vice president plays a huge role in committee work across campus representing our students,” Bui said.

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