SGA Beto Watch Party

On November 8th 2022, Texas Southern’s student government partnered with Black American

news and entertainment company, The Grio, to host a watch party for the 2022 midterm

elections. The watch party was featured on The Grio’s broadcast of the midterm election. Fellow

HBCU Alabama A&M University was also featured in the broadcast. The watch party started at

6:30 pm in the student center room 207A. There were snacks provided by the student led

political group Texas Rising. Student Government Association (SGA) President Dexter Maryland

explains how the idea of a watch party came about “One of our old workers here, Mrs

Henderson, came to me with an idea for a watch party. It’s to share spirit of students being

engaged in voting.” The 2022 midterm elections were extremely important for many different

groups in America. Popular issues that determined many voters decisions were abortion and

gun control. Michael Vouffo, a junior at Texas Southern, explains why this election was so

important to him “ This election will determine whether or not Greg Abbott will continue to be our

governor, which in past several years he has failed in a lot of ways. Across a bevy of different

ways, Greg Abbott has proved himself inadequate in running the state overall”. The

gubernatorial election outcome also determined how funding to HBCUs will be dispersed . This

topic is very important to many students here on campus. SGA President Dexter Maryland

states “One thing I need students to really understand is right now a black institution is run by a

republican governor. We can look at a school like The University Of Houston. They have a

medical school we don't. They have lots of land and you can go over there and see the

disparities in our universities. It's really because of who's running the state. With this election, if

we get somebody who truly cares about HBCUs, we will get the proper funding that we need”.

Beto O’Rouke was the popular and favored candidate on campus. Many students even got the

opportunity to meet him. Student Je’Vone Tone states “I voted for my boy Beto. I feel like he is

the change that Texas needs. He is the reason why we can turn Texas blue again.”

Unfortunately Beto O’Rouke was not victorious in his bid for Governor of Texas. However,

student engagement at TSU was at an all time high.