Having returned to (graduate) school has sensitized me to a host of things academic: from the calendar itself, to current trends among students, to the agenda that some professors seem to be promoting to campus leadership. Speaking of the latter, a March article in the _New York Times_ about an illegal immigrant running for student body president remains of interest as this is the season of graduations (one more thing to which I have been sensitized!) Texas A&M University is the place. Jose Luis Zelaya, an illegal immigrant who came from Honduras at the age of 14, is the student. This year, Mr. Zelaya campaigned against five other students to lead the student body of 50,000. At the end of the election, Mr. Zelaya came in fourth. As reported in the _New York Times_, “Students said that Mr. Zelaya lost votes for reasons that had nothing to do with his status, like lack of name recognition.” Mr. Zelaya, although asked, did not say whether or not he thinks that his status impacted his loss. read more