On April 12 and 13, Sacred Heart University Student Government held its annual Spring Elections.
Dozens of positions were filled as students ran in one of the University’s most participated in elections.
“My commission and I worked really hard to get the word out about elections and we received the most amount of Student Government applications in the last decade,” said Chair of Elections Commission Sam DeLiguori.
“This hard work greatly benefited the process of elections as a whole because we got to tailor the experience to what would be best fit,” said DeLiguori.
This election featured some updated campaign policies.
“Many of our election’s rules were rather outdated for the current campus experience,” said DeLiguori. “I worked with our advisor and the other commission members to come up with new rules that better fit our campus.”
Those rule changes included allowing clubs and organizations to endorse candidates and the usage of social media for promotion.
“I realized that campaigning for the position of Director of Public Relations was not going to be as simple as my previous election process,” said the newly elected Director of Public Relations, freshman Anthony Marino. “The whole election period had me sitting on the edge of my seat, excited to see where my path in SG was going to lead me.”
A graphic highlighting some of the many SHU Student Government candidates for this spring’s elections.
Source: Instagram, @shustudentgov
The goal of Student Government is to continue keeping the students’ best interests in mind and improving campus life.
“Student Government works with all aspects of campus by bringing forward concerns, creating class and campus unity, and supporting students and their initiatives,” said DeLiguori. “Student Government has worked towards so much change this past year and will continue to serve the campus community for years to come.”
Elections taking place in the spring semester gives Student Government time to organize and prepare for next year. Class of 2024 President and staff writer for The Spectrum Erin Clark understands the importance of planning ahead for the graduating class.
“We will host senior pub nights as well as post-grad info sessions. We hope to get the senior class together for an awesome last year full of memories and an amazing senior week,” said Clark.
The spring election saw voters select junior Megan Clifford as their new Student Government President.
“Being elected into my position means a lot to me. I have the responsibility of being the representative of the entire student body for our university,” said Clifford. “I’m very honored to be trusted in this role by my peers to represent them”.
Raising awareness of Student Government’s role on campus is one of the newly elected officials’ primary goals.
“A change I am looking to make in this position is to build a relationship between Student Government and the student body,” said Clifford. “We are an organization in which students should feel comfortable talking to.”
“I plan on strengthening the connection between the student body and Student Government and making sure students are more informed about us as an organization around campus, said Marino.
Anyone can join Student Government by running in the organization’s fall, winter, or spring elections. Board and Senate meetings are also open to the public for those interested in getting involved.
“We are here to listen to and amplify the voices of our peers,” said Clifford. “Our goal is to make everyone’s experience at Sacred Heart the best it can be.
