SGA election ballots are up — and are looking noticeably more scant compared with last year’s ballots.
While three groups of candidates ran for Executive Board president and vice president, only one group is running this year.
Executive Board president candidate Haylei John, said she feels the student body has been generally disinterested in SGA matters recently.
“I’ve been pretty disappointed with the lack of involvement in voting in SGA matters that affect the entirety of the student body over the past semester,” John, a junior international studies and Spanish major said. “Some are just disinterested, already busy, or perceive SGA to be a super serious, exclusive club.”
Her running mate, Michael O’Malley, a junior English major, agreed, and added that SGA may have some negative connotations to it.
“SGA has had some well-documented drama, and I don’t blame people for not wanting to be involved with the chaos,” O’Malley said.
However, he added, he hopes people in the future will be more motivated to join student government.
As to the lack of competition, O’Malley thinks John’s presence on the ticket has something to do with it.
“I think, foremost, that hearing Haylei John was running for executive board president must’ve discouraged anyone else who was considering running,” he said. “She’s one of the most prolific, accomplished and well-liked individuals on this campus, and I wouldn’t be surprised if potential candidates elected to run for other positions with less formidable competition instead.”
Looking into the future, John and O’Malley hope to unite the board.
“One of our biggest goals for next year is to address the lack of involvement and participation from the student body in SGA,” John said. “SGA is going to be aimed more towards supporting the efforts of classes and clubs to better engage the entire campus,” she said.
O’Malley said the board’s interest in clubs will include supporting the clubs’ efforts.
“[John] and I have a primary interest in being very accessible to the needs of clubs on campus and in making conscientious efforts toward supporting our campus’ clubs, as they provide so much for the student body,” he said. “Collaborative efforts with large-scale clubs and supportive efforts with smaller-scale clubs will hopefully bring a greater sense of unity to the student body.”
He said they hope to make the board’s meetings more streamlined, saying they “can get muddled through a swath of issues.”
O’Malley said as the university changes, “synergy on both an internal and external scale will be paramount to the continuation and development of social, professional and academic progress at St. Bonaventure.”
mcelefrdh14@bonaventure.edu
