PHOTO: Portrait of UH System Student Regent and UHCL Student Derek Delgado. Photo courtesy of Derek Delgado. — Portrait of UH System Student Regent and UHCL Student Derek Delgado. Photo courtesy of Derek Delgado.

Derek Delgado first-ever UHCL student appointed by Governor Abbott as UH System Student Regent

By Miles Shellshear, Editor-in-Chief Last updated Aug 19, 2021 260 0

Texas Governor Greg Abbott named Derek Delgado as Student Regent to the University of Houston System’s Board of Regents as part of the June 1 university student regent appointments.

Although the Student Regent is a non-voting member of the board, they represent the voice of the 74,000 students across the UH System (UHS). For the first time ever, the student regent is a UHCL student.

Delgado has a history of involvement on campus, starting as a representative of the College of Science and Engineering as an undergraduate Student Government Association (SGA) senator and committee member.

“I will admit that I was a little intimidated at my first SGA meeting, but the SGA Executive Council at that time was very welcoming,” Delgado said. “During my first couple of weeks, I went ahead and put my name in for some committees that had vacancies on them.

“I served on the space allocation and usage subcommittee, international scholarship committee, academic honesty panels, and as an undergraduate senator for CSE. I learned a lot during my first year and really enjoyed student advocacy.”

Delgado later worked as an orientation leader, served his community with the Pasadena Volunteer Fire Department, and currently works as a legal assistant at Travis Bryan law group. He will serve as UHS Student Regent until June 1, 2022.

“I would encourage all students to get involved in any way that they can,” Delgado said. “Whether that be in student government or with a student organization. Your experience in higher education is only something that you go through once. Some of the benefits I have had myself is learning how to work effectively with others that have different opinions, gain leadership skills, and make a great group of friends and mentors.”

Delgado said his goals in the position include collaborating with Student Government Associations across the UHS to minimize the disconnect between university administrators and the student bodies on student issues and building communication channels that bring together SGAs from each college in the system to connect and share ideas.