Student Government Association elections take place every April, but this year the running is looking less competitive than last year’s record-breaking race.
A highly public campaign for the executive board last April ended with the election of president senior Maggie Stewart, vice president junior Nate Riedy, treasurer junior Ian Hoffman and secretary junior Beth Sherron.
However, none of these officers will be returning for another term.
According to Stewart, who is graduating in May, Riedy will be graduating in December, Hoffman is planning to study abroad in Korea and Sherron will be student teaching next spring.
Five positions on the executive board will be available and senate positions may also be up for grabs.
“As far as I know, all positions could be open,” Stewart said.
To run for an executive board position, a student must be at least a sophomore, and to run for a class officer position a student only needs to be in the class year he or she is representing.
“You don’t need to have been in SGA (previously),” Stewart said. “Nate was never in SGA before, and he’s done an excellent job. He’s blown me away.”
Stewart hopes that new faces will emerge to represent the student body.
“I’m sick of seeing the same people in SGA,” Stewart said. “We have a lot of smart white kids and no other voices. That’s really difficult for me to deal with.
“It wasn’t always like that,” Stewart said, referring to past officers such as President Marvin Jones who graduated in 2008.
Stewart encourages any student interested in joining SGA to contact an executive board officer.
“You don’t need to be experienced,” Stewart said. “You just need a passion to be the bridge between the students and administrators and everyone who isn’t a student.”