On Feb. 1, the student government at Sacred Heart University held a winter election for the vacant positions for the spring semester. The theme for this winter election was “Looking for the BERRY Best Candidates!” The positions that were available to run for are as follows, Executive Board: Director of Public Relations, First Year: Class Relations Chair, Senate: Senator Positions, Judicial: Justice Positions.
The winners of each position were announced on Feb. 5.
Source: Caleb Jean-Pierre, Sacred Heart University
Source: Caleb Jean-Pierre, Sacred Heart University
Abigail Lyons was elected as Director of Public Relations. Nolan Baszkiewicz was elected as First Year Class Relations Chair. Ella Eagle, Annika Westra, Talia Torrens and Laurel Hanrahan into Senator positions. Annamarie Mirando and Madison McDonald Vitale were elected into Justice Positions.
Throughout the beginning of the semester, there were information sessions that students were able to attend if they were interested in running for a position.
“The information sessions that we hold, particularly in the winter, are relatively quick, but they are designed to explain to students who are interested in applying the basic structure of Student Government, eligibility requirements, what the purpose of each board/position is, and the timeline for the elections process and the regulations for campaigning,” said Maeve Cahill, Student Government President.
At some universities, including Sacred Heart, student government positions bridge the gap between the university and its students, in an effort to enhance student life on campus.
The student government works to create a seamless process for these elections to occur.
“Student Government creates an elections commission for each election cycle. Anyone in all of SG is eligible to join the commission,” said Cahill. “Once the commission is formed, we work backward based on the ideal election date to create a timeline of what needs to be done.”
The applicants were required to submit an application packet in order to run for the position they were interested in.
“The application packet just requires students to indicate what position they are interested in, a short-written summary on why they would be good for that position, and a headshot,” Cahill said.
Table times, information sessions, and an engaging theme are all key to a successful election process, according to Cahill.
“There are a plethora of different reasons we have vacant positions in the spring, some people studied abroad, transferred, etc. College life is busy, and sometimes students need to prioritize other commitments, but we are lucky enough to have many great applicants to fill these positions,” said Cahill.
