On Feb. 27 applications were handed in for next year’s SGA president and vice president positions.
The offical candidates for the office of president of the Student Government Association are Juniors Scott McCarty, Kesha Ram, Lydia Morin, Adam Crawford, Nick Meltzer, Christina Wehry and Sophomore Ross Nizlek.
Vice president candidates are Juniors DaVaughn Bryan, Ben Porter and Lizzy Mazer.
Kesha Ram and DaVaughn Bryan, Scott McCarty and Lizzy Mazer, and Lydia Morin and Ben Porter are running on a mock ticket, as current President Seth Bowden and Vice President Ajay Schmidt did in last year’s elections.
One issue students are looking into, as they have in the past is whether or not previous experience on The Senate matters or not.
Only two of the candidates.Nick Meltzer and Christina Wehry are not SGA senators.
“One girl came by asking for signatures in Cook,” freshman Kaylyn O’Leary said. “She said she wasn’t on SGA, but she was really dedicated to certain issues. I signed her nomination paper.”
“I don’t think it’s a problem, as long as they’re dedicated,” freshman Mike Spillane said.
Another important issue is in reaching the student body. Candidates are using a variety of media in order to get their name known, using posters in the halls and Facebook groups.
Next year’s president and vice president also have new issues to deal with.
The new executives will have to manage a new committee, The Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Environment, recently voted in by this year’s SGA.
Many students say that the key arguments facing candidates in this year’s elections are those of student safety, livable wages, staying Green and keeping SGA up to par with student issues as the student population increases.
The vice presidential debate has been scheduled for 7 p.m. in Billing’s Marsh Lounge on Mar. 21.
The Presidential debate will be held at 7 p.m. in Memo-rial Lounge on March 22.
The format of questions was discussed during the SGA meeting on Feb. 28. “The tentative idea would be a collection of student designed questions. Candidates will not know what questions will be asked during the debate,” Senator Renee Lariviere, who heads the election committee, said.
The election has been scheduled to take place on March 27 and March 28.
Throughout the academic year, elections were discussed at multiple SGA meetings. Many Senators were in favor of an online election. However, President Bowdon made it clear that there was no way of securing an online election with the University’s current software. For this reason, elec-tions will be standard ballots.
Students are free to choose any president and any vice president they deem worthy of the job. Given this, students do not have to choose specific campaigning tickets such as the Ram/Bryan pair.
