Matthew von Nida and Christina Vera led a full ticket for the Student Government Association’s (SGA) executive board to victory in last weeks election.
Von Nida and Vera ran unopposed, but Vanessa Cadavillo and Khalil Pillai who ran on their ticket faced challenges by candidates from OneDePaul, an unofficial student group who sought to reform SGA.
Cadavillo won her race for Executive Vice President (EVP) for Student Affairs over OneDePaul candidate Nassir Faulkner. Pillai won his bid for EVP of Academic Affairs over OneDePaul’s Kevin Brooks.
The race for EVP of Operations was won by Jake Boria, the current Senator for First Year Students. He was running against Pierre Anderson who is the current senator for Third Year Students. Von Nida supported Boria in his bid.
OneDePaul didn’t win any of their bids for SGA’s executive board, but Joseph Arcus won his bid to be the Senator for Sustainability and Luke Kula will be a Senator for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
“OneDePaul will continue to be an active member of political discourse and discussion here at our University,” Michael J. Rance, a spokesperson from OneDePaul, said. “Our dream and our vision of fostering a community of engaged and active students will continue onwards, and we look forward to working with DePaul SGA in efforts to make DePaul University a better place for all.”
“Every student elected to SGA worked hard to be elected,” von Nida said about working with next year’s senators. “We believe every voice will be important to SGA’s process this next school year. Everyone offers unique viewpoints, and we look forward to hearing those diverse voices.”
One of their top priorities is addressing student concerns over the cost of their education.
“College is expensive, textbooks are expensive, and living in this city is expensive,” von Nida said. “We plan to continue SGA’s efforts working with state legislators on enhancing Monetary Award Program, or MAP, grants available to students. Moreover, we hope to work with the university to increase opportunities for students on the DePaul scholarship portal.”