Santa Fe College Future Forward Party President and Vice President Candidates Give Interview on Campaign
Updated March 3: Clarified how to vote.
The Future Forward Party is running for the executive branch of Santa Fe (SF) College student government. Bryce Gillingham is running for president, and Jessenia Almanzar is running for vice president.
Gillingham and Almanzar spoke in an interview about their goals if the Future Forward Party is elected.
Q: Where are you both from, and how did you start going to SF?
Gillingham: I was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida. SF College has always been prevalent in my life. My father went in '87 to '89. My mother and brothers went. I started the dual enrollment department here and was former president of the pre-law debate team, and I went to Buchholz High School.
Almanzar: I'm originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and I was born and raised there. Originally, I wanted to go to UF, which is still my end goal, but I didn't get in when I applied as a senior. I came here as my second-best bet, and I actually fell in love with it here, and Gainesville—the city is beautiful. Family-wise, my dad is a homicide detective with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and that’s what I want to do when I get older. My mother is a yoga instructor for kids who’d been sexually abused, which she dealt with as a kid as well, so I come from a family that advocates for people, which is why I got into student government.
In high school, I was a historian for two years, and then my last senior year, I was the student body president, so I do have leadership skills. I've done several things. I'm a sergeant for the Coconut Creek Police Explorers, which is a youth program to assist kids who are wanting to go into law enforcement. I have hosted Dance Marathon, which is really big at UF and tons of other universities. I’ve helped raise $40,000 within that program for the kids at the children’s hospital. At SF I’m a criminal justice major.
Q: Tell me a bit about how student government works at SF and what kind of power you’d get if elected?
Almanzar: Student government at SF is like the U.S. with three branches…. From being elected to the executive branch, we could create and pass resolutions. It’d go through trials, and the resolutions would have to be agreed upon by the student body. We advocate for the students here, so whatever problems they feel are happening—financial aid, academic advising—we’ll try to bring light to that and try to get whatever we can passed.
Q: What are the main things you want to do for the college if you win the election?
Almanzar: We realize financial aid is a really big problem right now. Students are either not getting the money they’re owed or receiving too much money, and the school is asking for it back. What we want to do is create transparency where this is the problem and this is what the school is trying to do to fix it…. A lot of students were betrayed and lied to because the financial aid office is not reaching out or saying much, “Oh, you’ll get your money in a week, in a month, whatever,” and then it doesn't happen. We want to make it more transparent so students know what's happening.
We want more accessible academic advising. Some students have had bad experiences. Either the wait is too long, or they just can't even reach an academic advisor at all.
We want to bring professionals onto campus to talk about different careers for the different majors that are here. Police, business, math, and systems—whatever it is, we want to bring them to SF. A lot of students here want to transfer, and whether it's UF, FSU, or FIU, we want to make it more apparent.
Q: I saw something on your Instagram about collection agencies going after students. Have either of you talked to students who have had the college send collection agencies after them?
Almanzar: We've talked to a few. We have a poll on our Instagram where people can fill out anything they’ve dealt with regarding financial aid. We had one student tell us she bought a car based on the money she’d have, and then the school was asking for the money back, and her car got repoed. Some students aren’t getting the money to live, and they’re either dropping out of classes, withdrawing from SF, or becoming homeless just because they don’t have the money they need to survive. One woman I talked to had to pull her kid out of daycare because she didn’t get the money. We’ve heard a lot of different horror stories, and we want to make it more transparent so this doesn’t continue happening and people can be successful in college.
Q: Who would you want to bring on campus for speaking events?
Gillingham: We’d like to bring in professionals like attorneys, law students, and CEOs. We don’t have exact names, but we have a lot of connections. I know a lot of accountants and attorneys through my trial experience. We have the connections to bring people to campus that we feel the students could learn from and benefit from.
Q: What do you think the main issues with academic advising are?
Gillingham: The advisory system is, to put it bluntly, flawed, you could say. We've heard too many stories, truthfully, about students who have gone to the academic advisors, and they have had conflicting information, they haven't gotten an answer, or the answer is wrong…. Academic advising is pivotal to so many students, especially if you’re a first-generation college student or just don’t know how to navigate the college landscape. We want to talk with academic advisors and find the disconnect…. We want to have a new system where academic advisors can get a student intern who learns from the advisor and can be available to answer those more simple questions so students aren't waiting for weeks.
Q: Does Forward have a treasurer you’re putting up?
Gillingham: We do not; right now it's just myself for president and Jessenia Almanzar for vice president.
Q: Do you think there needs to be any improvements to counseling services at SF?
Gillingham: Fortunately, we have not heard any complaints with the counseling center…. We don’t really have a strong answer to that question because we haven't gotten any complaints, not to say the center is perfect, but if there is anything we’re unaware of it.
Q: Are there any particular clubs you think need more funding?
Gillingham: Club funding is definitely a big topic in this election…. Just last week I did my budget hearing for DECA to basically fight for the money that the club needs to survive and thrive. For a specific number of how much it should be increased to, I’d say about $2,000 for an entire year. New clubs here don’t get any funding, and they have to fill out an overflow funding request form, and you need to submit it 30 business days before you actually need the money. Once you get approved, you have to submit a purchase request form, which you need to do 15 days before you get the money. These dates make it so hard to plan anything…. Getting money to clubs is important, but so is making money more accessible to clubs. Some student organizations don’t spend any money but get $1,600. You also need 75% senate attendance to get a budget at all. Sometimes when going through leadership changes, it can be really hard to make sure you’re at senate every week. We want to make the club funding systems a little more equitable so the people who really need the money have easier access to the money.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Santa Fe College Police Department (SFPD)?
Almanzar: I haven’t had too many run-ins with them personally, but here and there I’ve seen a problem. A couple of months ago, I saw some body-camera footage, which is not acceptable. They’re on the job and representing the school, and I don’t agree with what he said on camera. I haven’t met the officers involved in that incident, but every cop I have met here has been super helpful and really sweet and approachable. The vast majority do make our community a better place, and I do feel safer knowing that when someone brings a gun on campus; they’ll deal with it.
Q: Aside from Davis’ inappropriate comments, do you agree with how they handled the gun possession incident from a general standpoint?
Almanzar: I’m from Broward, so I was near [Parkland] when that happened in 2018, and I know a lot of people who were affected by it. Gun violence is a very big issue in this world and this country, and I’m very glad for what happened that day, whether or not he had ill intent, guns have no place on our campus, and I’m glad the cops handled that.
Q: Have you seen the full body cam?
Almanzar: I have not.
Q: I think after viewing the footage, it's clear he didn't intend to commit a shooting.
Almanzar: I don’t think he did either, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. You never know; he seemed like an okay kid, but he should know.
Q: I’ll tell you what happened to the officer. He did have some consequences. I’m still doing my investigation. I have to check for history with the departments he used to work in, but as far as SFPD goes, he did have consequences.
[An employee corrective action report shows SFPD Officer Christopher Davis was placed on a six-month probation and required to attend crisis intervention and QPR suicide training for "making unprofessional comments concerning the [U.S. presidential] election, mental health, and suicide hotlines," while investigating a gun possession incident on campus. After the interview, Almanzar viewed the report and commented on SFPD's decision.]
Almanzar: I think the action in this particular situation was correct. Obviously we don’t want any situations like this happening, and who knows how that comment may have affected that individual who the officer directed it to, whether they heard it or not. It can be very harmful, especially from people who are supposed to be leaders within our community. It's good they set the example and continue to create trust with the community; otherwise, it falters that line with how much you can really trust the police…. I think to become a law enforcement officer in Florida, the process is designed to weed out those who are not meant to be officers even though they think they might be. It's a flawed system because it's a human-created system, and it's unfortunate people who are not fit for the job end up as police officers. I’m not saying that's this particular officer, but I’m hoping he can learn from his mistakes going forward. If this is an isolated incident and this is the only violation, then I like to see the better in people and think he can move forward past this and realize his mistake and the damage it caused. I think we should hold officers to a high standard and priority because they have a badge and have a gun at their side.
Students can vote by clicking a link on an email they were sent on Esantafe. Results will be announced on Wednesday, March 12 at 4:00 p.m. in room WA-108.
