UTEP SGA President: ‘Positive’ meeting with Dr. Heather Wilson

More than two weeks after Dr. Heather Wilson’s first visit to the UTEP campus, the sole finalist for the campus president job met with more than a dozen students in person.

The meeting on Thursday behind closed doors at UTEP’s Union East building comes as multiple groups from the university and in the city have voiced their concerns with Wilson being the only finalist to take over for Dr. Diana Natalicio, who has held the position for 30 years.

There have been several protests held on campus since the University of Texas Board of Regents made the announcement nearly three weeks ago.

The concerns stem from Wilson’s positions on LGBTQ issues, immigration and funding for higher education. Wilson voiced her opinions and cast votes on those issues while she served as a congresswoman in New Mexico from 1998 to 2009.

Thursday’s gathering wasn’t open to the media, so ABC-7 spoke to someone who was there: the president of UTEP’s Student Government Association.

Cristian Botello said there were about 15 students from various campus organizations — including the campus political organizations — at the meeting. Botello said Wilson encouraged the students to ask her questions.

“I think what’s important is the students that are concerned — how they feel,” Botello said. “I think that’s probably the most important part of this visit: how does she address those students, faculty and administrators.”

Botello also said that the meeting started off tense, but the mood lightened as it continued. Students asked about Wilson’s stance on immigration and how the LGBTQ community would be affected if the University of Texas Board of Regents votes in support of Wilson to become UTEP president. Overall, Botello thought the visit and meeting were positive.

“I think there were some students that were not in support of her that now they became a little more neutral,” said Botello. “There are some students that had concerns and maybe they’re not going to change their mind, and some that say, you know what, we need to give her a chance.”