Candidates for DePaul Student Government Association (SGA) advocated for their campaigns at the Meet the Candidates event on Friday.

Submissions to apply to run for SGA office were due by May 1, and the election will take place from May 6-9. When asked about the quick turnover for the election, Election and Community Engagement Coordinator Anna Pierce explained the organization has recently focused their attention on the Jason Hill scandal.

“It’s just the way it worked this year. I think we had a lot going on with the Jason Hill situation and so we believed it was more important to put a lot of stress on that situation rather than elections just because students’ voices needed to be heard in this situation,” Pierce said.  “We wanted to make sure we were getting a referendum, a resolution out and so we weren’t focusing on the election so then, at the end, we really had to push it.”

Students running for SGA office gathered in the Student Center to speak on their platforms and what they hoped to bring to the organization.

In their speech, candidates for president and vice president Giselle Cervantes and Landon Campbell stated their campaign is focused on “accessibility, sustainability and visibility.”

“One of the initiatives we are focused on is getting free feminine hygiene products on campus,” Campbell said. “It’s something that’s been spoken about for a while but we’re looking to really take care of that early on.”

Cervantes went on to say that their campaign wants to improve accessibility for mental health services on campus.

“Another thing we’re also looking to do is have University Counseling Services offer three free counseling sessions for all students because we believe mental health is a right; it’s not a privilege,” Cervantes said. “So everyone should have access to the resources that they need here at DePaul.”

Alexis Pottebaum is a sophomore running for treasurer. She hopes that by having SGA stepping in for funding events, the organization will be able to build a larger presence on campus.

“We find that there are a lot of events we want to do but we need to find a consistent source of funding for them, and so there will kind of be a lull in between planning ideas and then actually getting a consistent source of funding for them,” Pottebaum said. “What I think is a good idea is for SGA to be stepping into the interim and being able to fund these types of events for long-term programs so they can be on campus sooner and have a bigger presence on campus, instead of having the lull in between finding long-term funding and actually planning the event.”

Voting for SGA elections ends on May 9 at 5 p.m. and winners will be announced shortly after.

“I joined SGA exactly a year ago and throughout this past year I’ve served as the senator for the College of Communications,” Campbell said. “I was looking to get involved on campus, but not only as an individual. I wanted to also partnered up with like-minded individuals who shared that same drive, determination and motivation to make DePaul a better place.”

Giselle Cervantes – President and Landon Campbell – Vice President

Giselle Cervantes and Landon Campbell are running for president and vice president, respectively. For their campaign, they want to focus on “accessibility, sustainability and visibility,” including providing free feminine hygiene products on campus, more accessible mental health services on campus, and boosting awareness for the Monarch Butterfly Scholarship.

Alexis Pottebaum – Treasurer

Alexis Pottebaum is running for treasurer. She would like for SGA to step into the interim for funding on-campus events and continue to have the Student Activity Fee Board (SAF-B) prioritize funding for campus events for SGA.

Misael Alejandre – Executive Vice President of Student Affairs

Misael Alejandre is running for Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs. He would like to make course evaluations available to students in order to increase transparency about courses and professors. Additionally, he wants to promote “diversity and equity” in each college. Alejandre would also like to increase student engagement by way of creating more commuter lounges and expanding on existing student lounges.

Kaitlyn Pike – Executive Vice President of Operations

Kaitlyn Pike is running for Executive Vice President of Operations. Pike would like to expand on her current work as Senator for Sustainability by working with student organizations to increase awareness on sustainability initiatives on campus and work with different colleges across Chicago to “create a more robust network for sustainability across Chicago.”

Kennedy Cadichon – Senator for CSH

Kennedy Cadichon is running for the Senator for the College of Science and Health. Cadichon stated she wants she wants to bring developmental workshops to the College of Science and Health to help students “grow as individuals” and create more opportunities for internships and study abroad for students in the College of Science and Health.

Camila Barrientos – Senator for Intercultural Awareness

Camila Barrientos is running for Senator for Intercultural Awareness. Barrientos would like to have DePaul registered as an Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Additionally, Barrientos would like to start a quarterly culturefest, in which students of all cultures can make food, listen to music and dance, among other activities.

Piper Law – Senator for Mission and Ministry

Piper Law is running for the Senator for Mission and Ministry. Law is one of the few candidates who is not running unopposed. Law stated that, if elected, she wants to emphasize “what it means to be a Vincentian today” and how to apply Vincentian Values to the daily life of a college student.