Inside the race for Mr., Ms. TAMIU

By Cesar Neira
Bridge contributing writer
Published Monday, April 13, 2020

Reaching out to the student body is the most important part of their campaign strategy, a sentiment expressed by Mr. and Ms. TAMIU. Jose Alvarez and Abigail Zuniga received their crowns, an event that caps off the annual tradition of Texas A&M International University Spirit Week.

“It all starts with the urge to become more involved with the student body,” the 2020 candidates said of their campaign.

From Jan. 30 to Feb. 8, they utilized an interactive campaign strategy on the TAMIU campus to have a greater impact on the student body. Being able to meet and communicate with the student body was of the utmost importance in their campaign process, they said.

“We wanted to have as many interactions as we could with the student body,” Alvarez said. “To achieve this goal of ours, we decided to have, like, mini-events where we could meet everyone we could.”

 They designed the mini-events around the idea of the candidates being able to give back to the student body in order to create a positive atmosphere on campus.

“We just wanted to give back to our fellow students with a fun treat or game that could cheer them up or make their day,” Zuniga said. “Overall, we just wanted to be a positive figure in the day of our classmates.”

Alvarez and Zuniga held many events throughout the week.

“On the first Monday of the campaign, we had Mangonada Monday, where we gave out free mangonadas to whoever stopped by us,” Zuniga said. “On Tuesday, we had Taco Tuesday with the same concept as the prior event.”

In order to receive their free treat, students waited in line to be served by the candidates. The intent behind this strategy was not complicated.

“It didn’t take too much thought in making sure this was the correct way we wanted to approach the campaign,” Alvarez said. “We just wanted to put ourselves out there and get to know as many people as we could.”

The student lines waited to be served, showing how many people the candidates could meet.

“The strategy 100-percent worked the way we wanted it to,”Alvarez said. “As soon as we saw the smiles on our classmates’ faces, and the amount of people we met. We knew we had done it the right way.”

The candidates enjoyed the campaign and said they would do it all over again if they could.  Being crowned Mr. and Ms. TAMIU means becoming public faces of the University.

According to the TAMIU website, “During their yearlong reign, Mr. and Ms. TAMIU will represent TAMIU at University and community events, serving as ambassadors for The International U.”

The pair of campaign mates do not shy away from the responsibility of representing the University.

“There is a great responsibility in being crowned Mr. and Ms. TAMIU, but that is a responsibility we would love to have bestowed on us,” Zuniga said. “We want to take on this responsibility and represent the University in the best way we possibly can.”