Shaun Smith was named president of the student body for the 52nd administration on Tuesday after the elections took an unexpected turn. His competitor Elisha Diaz dropped out of the race before a runoff, clearing the way for Smith. In this latest episode, CoogTV student-news program @UH interviews Smith in studio. Later, they offer a few suggestions for Spring Break plans, including on-campus activities and events in Austin for South by Southwest.

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During an art exhibition where hundreds of the University’s students, faculty and community members had gathered, Gerald D. Hines, the namesake of UH’s architecture program was announced to have donated $1 million to the college’s international programs.

Dean Patricia Oliver, who has been with the University since 2010, made the announcement at Monday’s exhibit. CultureMap Houston reported Oliver saying Hines was “so impressed by the work of the students that he wanted to insure that students in the College of Architecture would have that (international) opportunity into the future.”

This comes off the heels of the program’s prestigious honor at last summer’s Venice Biennale, where the Gerald D. Hines School of Architecture was awarded the Global Arts Affairs Foundation Prize. At the Biennale, UH was the “featured university” at the showing. The Biennale is the world’s largest architecture exhibit and is held biannually in Vienna, Austria.

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Former “The We Party II” candidate Elisha Diaz, center, waits for the results of the SGA election along with president-elect and REDvolution member Shaun Smith, left, and former independent candidate Sam Perez. | Justin Tijerina/The Cougar

The Student Government Association runoff election, originally scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday, has been cancelled. Elisha Diaz, “The We Party II” presidential candidate, announced on Facebook today that he and his running mate are dropping out of the race.

REDvolution member Shaun Smith has been elected president of the Student Government Association’s 52nd administration, with his running mate, Chowdhury, as vice president.

“We’re both distinctly excited about serving the students in this next administration, I think that SGA had had a lot of ups and downs in the last year or so and we’re looking to bring a fresh perspective and a fresh approach to how student advocacy is done on campus.” Smith said.

“Hopefully this means people understand that all I ever wanted to do was be myself and be the most genuine person I can be, nothing more,” Diaz said in an Facebook post. “There will be people that will use this as an excuse to say that what I did was wrong, and that’s okay, they can say what they want.”

His decision was made after a private conversation between himself Chowdhury in Cougar Village II was published on YouTube early Sunday morning and circulated on social media throughout the day.

After the recording was published, some accused Chowdhury of coercing Diaz to drop out of the runoff race in exchange for an SGA senatorial position. Diaz admitted to recording Chowdhury without his knowledge “to protect himself.”

But both candidates have been blasted with criticism — Chowdhury for coercion and Diaz for violating the Student Code of Conduct Section 3.21, which prohibits “photographing, videotaping, filming, digitally recording… another person without that person’s consent in any location where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, or in a manner that violates a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

“I want to make it clear that I will not be accepting the offer made to me by Tanzeem, and will instead work to make the differences needed on this campus without any leadership titles, even if it means changing the lives of the students, one person at a time,” Diaz said in the post.

Smith and Chowdhury will be sworn in at the SGA banquet on March 31.

-Additional reporting by Cara Smith

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It has been 88 years, and UH pulled out all the stops to celebrate.

Shirts and tote bags were given away, and students “selfied” their pride using the hashtag #HappyBdayUH during a celebration today in front of the Student Center South.

Established on March 7, 1927, UH urged students to celebrate the occasion by visiting UH-inspired places around Houston, such as Shasta at the Houston Zoo, alumni astronauts at the Houston Space Center or the Houston Cullen Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Fine Arts, named for UH donors.

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ScHoolboy Q will take the stage on Saturday, March 28 at TDECU Stadium for Frontier Fiesta. | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Kristian Bush, Cher Lloyd and ScHoolboy Q will headline Frontier Fiesta when it is held March 26-28 at TDECU Stadium.

The three artists form the highest-paid lineup to perform at Frontier Fiesta as part of the organization’s plan to bring more recognizable artists to the festival.

Cher Lloyd, known for her appearance on X Factor and her hit single “Want U Back,” will perform on Friday, March 27. | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

“It’s going to cause a lot of buzz. They’re big names. They’re people that you’re going to recognize,” said Frontier Fiesta chair Kelley Poblete.

Bush, one half of the country music duo Sugarland, will take the stage on Thursday, March 26. Bush has won six Broadcast Music Inc. awards for his songwriting.

Lloyd, whose performance is presented by the Student Programming Board, will bring her talents to TDECU Stadium on Friday, March 27. Lloyd is known for her hit single “Want U Back” and for finishing fourth on the seventh season of X Factor UK.

ScHoolboy Q has two hit songs, “Hell Of A Night” and “Man Of The Year,” that he will presumably perform when he takes the stage on Saturday, March 28.

Frontier Fiesta will make its TDECU Stadium debut after it was moved to parking lots 20A and 20C while the new football stadium was being constructed.

“At the most basic level, the concert seating has so much room to grow with 40,000 seats. The parking lot is also double the size as last year,” said Director of Cookoff Meghan Meriano

Poblete said Frontier Fiesta moving back to the football stadium is an important moment for the organization.

“Frontier Fiesta originally started at the stadium,” Poblete said. “We’re moving back home, and I think people will like the sights.”

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With elections beginning on Tuesday, the three Student Government Association Presidential candidates joined broadcast news program @UH to discuss a bevy of issues affecting the student body. The three candidates, Shaun Smith, Sam Perez and Elisha Davis, also made a final pitch to the student body.

Members of The Cougar joined the desk to add context to complicated issues that have been initiated by SGA.

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UH’s Student Center and TDECU Stadium were nominated for Houston Business Journal’s Landmark Awards. | File photo/The Cougar

Two UH facilities are finalists for Houston Business Journal’s annual Landmark Awards.

TDECU Stadium is a finalist in the Public Assembly category, and the new Student Center is a finalist in the Renovation/rehabilitation category.

The publication selects Houston-area real-estate projects based on a number of criterion, including design, construction, economics and land planning. The nominated projects “make a significant impression on the Houston landscape” and improve the city’s appearance.

Real-estate projects occurring from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2014 in the Greater Houston area were eligible for nomination. Projects must be open to the public and “financially viable” to be considered.

Finalists were chosen based on how they impact Houston. Factors such as job creation, innovation, development of surrounding neighborhoods and being environmentally friendly were considered, according to the journal’s nomination announcement.

Last year, UH’s Health and Biomedical Sciences Center won a Landmark Award in the Medical category.

The 2015 Landmark Awards winners will be announced on April 9 at the business journal’s Landmark Awards event.

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The University hopes to make its commencement ceremony a city-wide celebration. | File photo/The Cougar

As UH seeks to make spring commencement more of a city-wide celebration than it’s ever been, a slew of ceremonial changes is being unveiled.

Students graduating this May will participate in two different ceremonies: a University commencement ceremony for all graduating seniors, and separate convocation ceremonies hosted by individual colleges, with dates and times to be announced soon, said Director of Special Events Tonja Jones. All college commencement ceremonies will be held between May 14 and 16 at different locations on campus.

Students will cross the stage at their college’s ceremony, but not at the University commencement ceremony, where Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey will deliver this year’s commencement address.

The University commencement will be treated as more of a city-wide “festive” celebration, a change tied to UH’s efforts to become more ingrained in the Houston community. The ceremony, which has been described by University representatives as “spectacular,” will be held at 7 p.m. May 15 in TDECU Stadium. A student processional will take place at 6 p.m. before the ceremony.

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President and Chancellor Renu Khator, Board of Regents chairman Tillman Fretitta and others were present at the passing of the resolution in support of UHS Day at the Capitol. | Cara Smith/The Cougar

In honor of the hundreds of students, faculty, staff and alumni who participated in UHS Day at the capitol, the Texas legislature passed House Resolution 583 in recognition of UH- System Day at the Capitol on Feb. 23 in Austin.

Representative Garnet Coleman (D) sponsored the bill.

Trey Wilkinson, Chair-elect of the UH alumni association called it the “highlight” of his entire day in Austin. President and Chancellor Renu Khator said that the difference between walking into the Capitol building today and walking in seven years ago when she had just been hired as president is completely different.

“Oh yes, I can feel it very differently,” Khator said. “The reception (I get) is different. I think our alumni success has really created a sense of credibility for the University. It makes my job easier. Having the students here make my job really easy.”

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Head coach Tom Herman (second from right) stressed a “students first” attitude during his remarks at UHS Day at the Capitol on Feb. 23. | Cara Smith/The Cougar

There were many major players in the UH System at UHS Day at the Capitol, but new head football coach Tom Herman might have received the warmest introduction of the day.

“You may have heard me say that I have fire in my belly,” President and Chancellor Renu Khator said. “I don’t often find people who have more fire in their belly than I do, and that is what sold me on our new football coach. You just gotta come out here and watch him play, because that’s where you see that fire.”

While speaking to the hundreds of attendees at the Capitol, Herman stressed a “students first” attitude and said that he hopes all UH-System students feel that he’s working for them.

“I’ve met nine full-time assistants (at UH),” said Herman. “Eight of them are either native Texans or have strong ties to the state of Texas, especially the city of Houston, as well as myself. We’ve got over a hundred years of combined recruiting (from) the state of Texas and that is something we take a great deal of pride in and something that I think you’ll find will pay dividends in the long run.”

Herman also announced that March 28 will be known as Student Appreciation Day, coinciding with Frontier Fiesta’s weekend events. The football team will be scrimmaging, and all students from the UH System are invited to participate. Students will be allowed on the sidelines and on the field, and Herman said that he “might even let (students) call a play or two.”

“It’s not one of those deals where you’ll be up in the stands,” Herman said. “We want to put our students first, and we want to make the student body very, very proud in what we do.”

Coming off the heels of a national championship win as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, Herman has stressed the importance of recruiting and hopes to develop a “culture of toughness and accountability” within the football program.

The new coach was hired in December after head coach Tony Levine was fired, following a career 21-17 record and UH’s brutal 27-2 loss to UTSA in the new stadium’s opener.

Herman will make his coaching debut on April 18 at the team’s spring scrimmage game.

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