Texas Beta Phi Colton Becker was elected Student Body President of The University of Texas at Austin on March 22, 2018. He and his running mate, Mehraz Rahman, received 8,250 votes — the largest number of votes in UT’s history. Their platform is focused on improving student quality of life through initiatives targeting interpersonal violence prevention, mental health, and inclusivity, among others. They will also be lobbying the Texas Legislature and U.S. Congress for UT and other higher education institutions over the course of the next year. As Student Body President, Becker will serve as Chair of the UT Presidents Student Advisory Committee and the Campus Climate Advisory Board, as well as sit on numerous other committees across campus as part of his duties.
Becker is a fourth-year Honors in Advanced Nutritional Sciences major from Alvin, Texas. He joined Phi Delta Theta in the fall of 2014 and has served as both an officer and committee member within his chapter. Becker attended the Kleberg Emerging Leaders Institute in summer 2017 and is a recipient of a Whole Man Scholarship.
In addition to his involvement with Texas Beta, Becker is a recognized student leader on campus for his extensive contributions to Student Government, the Interfraternity Council, and Not On My Campus, a student-led sexual assault prevention organization that teaches hundreds of students about consent and bystander intervention each year. In the fall of 2016, Becker helped launch the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Coalition, which brings students from across campus together to collaborate on various annual programming events aimed at reducing sexual assault and harassment. And in spring 2017, Becker helped launch UT’s first ever Energy Olympiad, which is a partnership between The University of Texas at Austin, the United Nations Global Youth Envoy, and the Energy Institute bringing a state-wide case competition focused on energy innovation to UT each year. Becker is also a member of the Order of Omega Honor Society and the Texas Unions Board of Directors.
For his work with the non profit SafeHorns to improve safety in the student-populated neighborhood off campus, they presented him a Community Impact Award in fall 2017. He has also been a recipient of UT’s Outstanding Student Health Leadership Award, and the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Achievement Scholarship
After college, Becker plans to attend law school and remain an active member of his community – wherever that ends up being.
