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Student Life

After inauguration, Matthew Diaz is eager to get to work

Posted by Alissa Jones ⋅ April 20, 2011

After being sworn in Wednesday afternoon in the Marshall Student Center’s Oval Theater, incoming student body president Matthew Diaz, a junior majoring in political science and philosophy, said he was prepared to start working.

Diaz, who will receive a salary of $22,000, previously ran for vice president in 2010 alongside Andrew Cohen. In February, Diaz ran for president with Zachary Johnson with the idea that he called “TBM”—the Total Bull Movement. Diaz and Johnson won with more than 50 percent of the vote without a runoff.

Diaz said hiring is the top priority now that Hernandez’s staff is on the way out.

“Realistically, the first thing that we’re going to do is hiring,” Diaz said. “Hiring is going to be the main focus because until we get a staff together, we can’t really accomplish much. That’ll be one of our major priorities in the month of May.”

Out of several topics in his inaugural speech, Diaz spoke fervently about the rising cost of education, and also said he is eager to start working more with the Florida Student Association.

“I’ve already started a good relationship with the Florida Student Association, really speaking with those other presidents from the other 10 state and public universities, and I’m ready to start talking about next year,” Diaz said.

Diaz also explained how important it was to reach out to Gov. Rick Scott and Florida legislators.

“I think that’s a major priority, reaching out to [Scott]. It’s a major priority to reach out to him and to the Florida Legislature because ultimately, it’s those individuals who decide whether our educations dollars go up or down, and we have to work on that relationship with them.” Diaz said. “That’s something that I will be fighting for along with the Florida Student Association to make sure the student interest is heard, and that we’re put in the forefront of those legislatures.”

As a candidate