By Jessica Dillon
News Assignment Editor
The results of the 2017-2018 Student Government Association (SGA) election, announced last Friday, had multiple vacancies.
The winning ballot, published via the university Notice Board, revealed ten of the 32 existing positions had not been filled.
The vacancies prompted some to question why levels of involvement in this year’s election were so low.
“I think that had a lot to do with rewriting the by-laws of the constitution,” said M.K. Killen, a junior journalism and mass communication major and club senator for the College Republicans.
“Perhaps it was because some of the decisions were newer and people did not know about them.”
Others cited the “well-documented drama” they said they associate with SGA.
Last year, the 2016-2017 election was invalidated after a careful reading of the SGA constitution. Only weeks prior, the SGA executive board discovered that any amendments made since 2011 had been invalid.
“I don’t blame people for not wanting to be involved with the chaos,” Michael O’Malley, a junior English major, said.
However, the results of the election indicated that the lowest levels of engagement were seen among those not present during those tumultuous times for SGA—the freshman class.
Alexis Christakes, a freshman accounting major and newly elected vice president of the class of 2020, first heard about SGA from Ian Coyne, a freshman political science major.
“He [Coyne] always talked very highly about it and over time I developed an interest,” Christakes said. “He was a secretary this year in SGA, along with a few friends of his. Whenever they talked about the things they did in SGA, a majority of the things were positive.”
Despite this, there were three vacancies in the class of 2020’s ballot—a treasurer, a secretary and a class senator.
Haylei John, recently elected executive board president, said this disparity was “definitely concerning.”
“The involvement of freshmen and sophomores is essential in continuing active involvement in SGA in the future,” John, a junior international studies and Spanish major, said. “But my feeling of concern over these vacancies has now been replaced with concerns of all the eager students sending me requests to get involved.”
Other vacant positions included two senators-at-large, two club senators, one class senator each for the class of 2018 and 2019 and a treasurer for the class of 2018.
The responsibility of filling the vacant positions falls to John, according to the SGA constitution.
John said she was not hoping for the task.
“I would much rather have had people run and be voted in by their peers,” John said. But “to keep the process fair and balanced,” John said she has begun reaching out to other members of SGA for suggestions.
“We’re looking for eager, passionate and fun new additions to SGA,” said John, who has witnessed an increase in interest in SGA. “I’m feeling very optimistic.”
dillonj15@bonaventure.edu
