Tomorrow, polls will open at noon for the election of a new student government. These annual elections result in a complete turnover of the Illinois Student Council along with the student senators and Student Organization Resource Fee Board. Elections run until Thursday.
Four pairs of candidates are in a race to fill the shoes left by current Student Body President Abby McGuire and Vice President Alex Koscielski. Each duo finds themselves built upon a foundation of mental health advocacy and increasing student financial security; however, their differences are what may be the deciding factor in this race.
Presidential candidate Jack Lemorte and running mate Alyla Ditiangkin differentiate themselves with goals of decreasing targeted acts of violence, increasing post-graduate opportunities and ensuring food security on campus. According to the two, implementing their aspirations would take the form of increased access to pre-professional clubs and distribution of meal tickets.
Competing candidates, Bill Liu and James Yang plan to leverage their technical expertise to aid in environmental sustainability and promote diversity and inclusion, which they say are at the heart of their campaign. Collaboration with dining halls to reduce waste, promotion of multicultural events and improving disability accessibility are on this partnership’s agenda if elected.
Carter Cohen and Viktoriya Dragnevska, former student representatives from ACES, plan to expand student safety and environmental and community advocacy, accomplishing this through the enhancement of the SafeWalk program and adjusting the Illinois Promise Scholarship for economic shifts.
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Hunter Farnham and Rudy LaFave distinguish themselves from the common goal of financial security with a commitment to increasing the student worker’s minimum wage to $15. The two also seek to be more transparent with the council’s finances and transform the University into the sustainable technology leader of the Big Ten.
For a better overview of these candidates, visit their profiles or watch a recorded stream of their open forum from Feb. 19.
Alongside the presidential positions, the Student Organization Resource Fee Board, student senate, student trustees and student representatives are all receiving a makeover.
The Student Organization Resource Fee is a $5.50 fee collected from every student each semester that is used to help fund programs and/or services of registered student organizations. The board is established each year to allocate this collective budget.
The Senate is a legislative body composed of about 200 faculty, 50 students and 10 academic professional members. Its duties include but are not limited to the exercise of legislative functions regarding education policy, admission, athletics, research and inclusion.
Student representatives are more localized and are selected by their respective colleges to represent students’ interests within the college.
Only one student from the University is selected to be a student trustee and will join two other students from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois at Springfield on the board of trustees. Among these three students, the governor selects one to have an official vote to use on issues of University health care, governance, budget and student affairs.
Interested students can vote online on the Campus Student Election Commission’s website starting tomorrow at noon.
