By Abigail Passafiume
The Student Association Elections took place Thursday, April 10, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the group has been working hard to ensure students remember to vote.
During the Student Association Senate meeting on April 2, the board brainstormed new ways to get students to participate in picking their new student leaders.
The election was one of the more competitive the Student Association has seen in many years with multiple candidates running for each position. There are over 20 total candidates running for a spot on the senate.
Running for President were Garrett Monette and Charlotte Feliz. Vice President Candidates were Jack Sweet and Mrudangi Purvesh Trivedi.
Running for Treasurer were Jana Bar, Arshita Pandey and Christina Gruchy. Running for Coordinator of Student Affairs and Diversity were Elishua Oviedo, Allyson White, Kimolie Heslop and Storme Hutton.
For Coordinator of Arts, the candidates were Grace Pamaka Ebre, Britney Bartley and Virginia Lucchetti.
The board wanted such a competitive race to be broadcast to as many students as possible, so that results can represent as much of the student body as possible. This was the main topic of discussion at the meeting.
“Talk with your friends, ask your friends to talk with their friends and with others in your classes,” Vice President Sandesh Poudel said.
A goal for the Student Association is to get 20 percent of the student body to vote.
Getting the word out in as many places as possible is important in reaching all students on campus, not just ones that live in dorms. Senator Charlotte Feliz is looking for methods other than just word of mouth to reach new demographics.
“I am also proposing getting QR codes so we all have them to pass around in all of the academic buildings and food areas, because even if you are an off campus student you will most likely be in one of those common spaces throughout the day,” Feliz said.
The group also talked about working with Chartwells to hand out snacks with the QR codes to students. Senator Jack Sweet’s proposal to ask professors to promote the QR code in classes well received by the other senators.
“We can send an email out to professors and say to encourage students during classes, which would definitely increase the amount of students that are going to be voting,” Sweet said.
It is also suggested that students take the time to learn about their candidates and vote for the ones that values align with theirs the most. The senate considered ways to make relevant information accessible for voters.
“Creating a bio gives them an idea of why they are running and what their future plans are if they win the election,” Poudel said.
The senate has found great help in spreading notice of the election from a familiar campus tool. Through Cardinal Link, the senate has scouted club events and their time and location. This has given the current board access to this past week’s events, where they could stop by and spread the word about Thursday’s election, and even drop off copies of the QR code.
Student Association Advisor Tyler Hargraves has seen his fair share of elections in his tenure with the SA.
“This is the first competitive election we’ve had in the Student Association in a very long time. Before last year there were seven senators that ran and seven open seats, this year we have 22 senators running for the position,” Hargraves said.
