The University of New Mexico Graduate and Professional Student Association election results are in: Civil engineering doctoral candidate Travis Broadhurst will serve as its next president.
Broadhurst has been active in GPSA for the past three years, serving as the director of Boards, Committees and Elections and as the sustainability director. He has also been a civil engineering department representative to the GPSA council for the past two years.
Prior to joining GPSA, Broadhurst was an active member of student government while completing his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — serving on several university boards, assisting in event programming and representing his peers in student congress.
At GPSA, Broadhurst helped secure $100,000 in state funds for solar panels on the Student Union Building and increased the number of university committees with GPSA representation to 41, according to the GPSA website.
“In addition to securing funding for solar panels on the roof of the SUB, my term as Sustainability Director included supporting the first waste audit on UNM's campus and providing graduate student perspectives on sustainability initiatives across campus,” he wrote in a statement to the Daily Lobo.
Broadhurst will arrive in office with a variety of goals to benefit both students and the University as a whole, he wrote.
“The first goal I want to work on is establishing a GPSA fund to cover the cost of dental cleanings for graduate and professional students,” Broadhurst wrote.
The UNM dental hygiene program allows undergraduate students to perform dental cleanings on community members, including graduate students, for only $30, significantly less than a cleaning at a private practice, Broadhurst wrote. Graduate students are not granted dental insurance by UNM, he wrote, so the fund would eliminate financial barriers to dental care.
Broadhurst’s other major goals include increasing collaboration with the United Graduate Workers of UNM by adding more joint programming and requiring that a GPSA executive board member be present at every union meeting to provide updates and foster collective spirit.
He also plans to work toward expanding and promoting the existing laptop loaner program so that access to technology is not a barrier to graduate and professional students, he wrote.
Broadhurst wants to continue to secure capital outlay funding through the state Legislature for sustainability projects across campus, and maintain support for House Bill 89, which is awaiting a signature from the governor as of Sunday, March 23 and seeks to increase eligibility for graduate student scholarships.
Students will always be welcome to come by the GPSA office to speak with Broadhurst or reach out to the office on social media, he wrote.
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“GPSA does so much for graduate students and the UNM campus, and we want to hear from our fellow students,” Broadhurst wrote. “We want to accurately represent you and advocate for your issues, but we need your help in truly knowing what those issues are.”
Broadhurst’s term as GPSA president will begin May 17.
Maria Fernandez is a beat reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
