Opinions Editor
After weeks of campaigning, posting flyers, getting signatures and spreading the word, the Springfield College Student Government elections are over. With several positions open for election, the current members of the SGA Executive board worked with the class senators and boards to get Springfield College students involved and voting in this year’s elections.
“Overall, they went well. We had a lot of votes. It was a very, very good election,” said SGA President Kristina Dupuis. “We had two candidates for my position, so there was competition.”
Brian Cupole, a junior who transferred to Springfield from the University of Rhode Island defeated sophomore Dillon Shepard for the spot that Dupuis is vacating.
The combination of a good voter turnout and the competition for elected positions were encouraging signs for those involved with the SGA.
“[It was] more than we’ve gotten before, it was well over five hundred,” said Director of Student Activities Carl Stiles “It was a very significant increase, so it was really nice to see awareness on campus, an increase in student voter turnout and candidates out there campaigning; it was very positive.”
In the past two years, the candidate for the office of Student Government Association has run unopposed. Having two candidates campaigning for the position was an encouraging sign for Stiles and Dupuis. Dupuis attributes the competition and the large voter turnout to the hard work the SGA has done over the past few months.
“We had a lot of students who were doing a lot of promotions,” said Dupuis. “My Coordinator of Public Relations, Becca Jacobson, was phenomenal. She worked her butt off [with] tons of flyers. We talked it up a lot in our other meetings and other events we had on campus, so I’m really impressed.”
In addition to the SGA President, the class boards and senates were all filled. The senators and class officers were a mix of faces new to student government and students who have worked with the SGA in the past. The class board positions are Class President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary.
All of the new officials will begin their duties in the fall semester. The SGA will be busy in the upcoming weeks preparing for fundraisers during Sti-Yu-Ka. The class senators are holding a car wash for faculty and staff, as well as a balloon toss challenge where students will pay for the privilege of throwing water balloons at Stiles and Vice President of Business Affairs Mike Rama.
Josh Ernst may be reached at jernst@springfieldcollege.edu