Most students know of the Student Government Association and that they hold elections every spring which involve strenuous campaigning from two or more tickets and several senators.
This year is unique due to having not just two but four tickets and one single running for executive positions in SGA.
The tickets and their candidates are listed as:
“PGM” stands for Pooja Shah for president, Greyson Jennings for vice president and Meredith Bell for secretary, running on the platform idea, “Ensuring Student Safety, Academic Justice (or Fairness) and Unity, Opportunity and Transparency.”
They plan to increase safety at night for students by increased lighting and golf cart transportation, creating a standard scale for grading in all departments on campus and having more transparency through “Speak with SGA” monthly meetings about legislation and other issues.
“MNE” consists of Martin Tompkins for president, Nathan Farnor for vice president and Emily Marmon for secretary; their campaign slogan is, “We Are Students, We Are Diverse and We Matter,” holding focus on reforms for the funding process through BUC Fund and Student Activities Allocation Committee, extending fall break and being more inclusive so that all students have the same opportunities.
“RCE” consists of Ryan Baird for president, Chase Coleman for vice president and Emma Stewart for secretary, focusing on “Sustainability, Safety and Student Engagement.” They plan to make promote a green campus and increase importance on student safety.
“WSD” is Will Ellis for president, Sam Arnold for vice president and Dustin Gilmer for secretary; this ticket heavily opposes the mandatory freshman meal plan, aspires to condense the spring and fall concert to one in order to have money for more desirable musical guests and bringing TED Talks to campus.
“BJ” is the campaign name for Brandon Johnson, who is running individually for the vice president position. Johnson is campaigning on the idea of his years of experience in SGA involving legislation and parliamentary procedures and his strong opposition to raising student fees.
“My goal is to keep your money in your pocket in order for you to spend it the way you want,” Johnson said.
While tickets have their different focuses, some tend to overlap.
For those interested in making the library 24 hours, five days a week, two tickets — MNE and WSD — are in full support of bringing this back to the table after it was struck down by Tennessee Board of Regents.
“We believe that students should have all resources and opportunities available to them in order to ensure success,” Farnor said. “Some students need that extra time in the library, and they especially need printing in late night.”
Many of the tickets are for increasing sexual assault policies and ensuring the safety of students on campus.
“We need to understand that students are the backbone for everything we do,” Baird said. “Whether the issue is big or small it still matters to a student here at ETSU and if it matters to even just one student then it matters to us too.”
If you want to know who to vote for or have further questions about their platforms, you can always visit locations where volunteers and candidates are campaigning to speak to them directly.
