By Heather Fabritze
Student Life Editor
The elections for the Student Government Association’s 2023-24 term president and vice president formally kicked off with an annual debate in Norman James Theater.
Potential candidates took to the stage on Tuesday, Feb. 28 to share their platforms and goals before the weekly senate session. Students from all areas of campus life came to meet the candidates, learn more about their values, and ask questions.
Those campaigning for SGA president were sophomores Stephen Hook and Miranda Parrish. Juniors Nicole Chimezie and Larissa Conte ran for vice president.
The four candidates were allowed opening and closing statements at the debate. Provost and Dean of Washington College and John S. Toll Professor of Business Management Dr. Michael Harvey and SGA Parliamentarian senior Maegan White moderated.
Dr. Harvey and White asked the candidates about their participation in the campus community and how they would fix what they considered to be the largest problems on campus.
Hook said that his mission statement focuses on the College’s specific issues — food quality, poor campus accessibility, and the approaching graduation of the pre-COVID-19 campus community — which the administration and SGA must face together.
“I know I’m not alone in feeling that all these issues go against the promises that were made to us when we chose Washington College,” Hook said. “It is time that the SGA works together with administration, the Board of Visitors and Governors, and all faculty and staff to begin tackling these issues and allow students to feel proud of their decision to attend our college.”
The presidential candidates were asked about their experience with administration, and those running for vice president shared their plans to make the SGA more welcoming for clubs.
Conte said that she plans to emphasize the role of the vice president as a helping hand to clubs that may have questions or concerns.
“I would hope to increase communication and collaboration between clubs and organizations on campus, so that all clubs and organizations know that they can use the vice president and SGA by extension as a resource for them,” Conte said. “Because everyone has their place in their own clubs and I want every club to be successful and do the events that they want to do, and I want to be able to help in any way I can to accomplish that.”
Following the moderator’s topics, five audience members were allowed to ask questions of candidates of their choosing. These questions involved, for example, further SGA collaboration with the Strategic Diversity Plan and minority groups on campus, while another focused on past club experience.
Parrish said that it was her involvement in campus organizations that granted her the desire to uplift other voices.
“Because of the wide array of clubs that I am in, I understand how different students’ passions are, as well as their fields of knowledge — I guess you could say how diverse students’ needs are, because everyone is so completely different,” Parrish said.
According to Parrish, she wants to take her knowledge and advocate for students, as well as learn to support needs she may not presently be aware of.
Another audience topic involved concerns on how the candidates would work in their positions to improve the confusion of the budgeting process for clubs.
Chimezie, who was the financial controller of the SGA for the 2021-22 term, said that making the budget public and more comprehensible would be a major goal of her campaign if she were elected as vice president.
“I’ve been on that side, where I realized the struggles with finances and money. I started with my own club [ShoreFIT], I’m talking to other club leaders, [and] I’ve seen how much people genuinely struggle,” Chimezie said. “I understood how the budget works and understood what I could ask for, but a lot of other students don’t have that same experience…I really just want to bring information to everyone’s fingertips.”
The election trail continued with a Meet the Candidates night on Hodson Hall’s first floor on Monday, March 6, where students could have direct conversations with all four candidates. This event provided one last chance to ask necessary questions before Election Day on Tuesday, March 7.
Students had the opportunity to vote for each of their preferred candidates from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.