The Student Government Association’s spring election applications opened April 22 for students interested in serving as SGA representatives throughout the 2024-2025 term.
Under the New Constitution, all serving members will be elected, excluding the 12 candidates who represent first, second, third and fourth/fifth-year students, who will be elected next fall. The number of representatives for each college has been apportioned based on enrollment. Additionally, SGA members will have to serve at least one full term as a representative, chair, student body officer or equivalent to run for president and vice president.
“What’s really important for this specific election is that we have the cabinet positions being elected – president, vice president and treasurer,” Chair of the Election Operations Board (EOB), Masum Taqvi said. “The president and vice president are only elected in the spring quarter. They are essential to SGA and how SGA will operate.”
The deadline to gather all petition signatures, originally May 6, was extended to May 9. Signature requirements varied amongst differing positions: representatives with 20, chairs and treasures with 35 and the president and vice-president had to collect 70 signatures from student body members.
Voting will open May 20 and run through May 28. Ballots will be sent out via email, and students can cast votes using their CampusConnect credentials.
A ‘Meet the Candidates’ event was hosted virtually on May 16 at 6 p.m. During this time, attendees asked prospective representatives about initiatives, what they plan to do with their roles and other related information. Students can register to attend via DeHub.
“I just hope that more are involved and aware of the process,” SGA executive vice president for academic affairs Victoria Tuuvan said. “The more people who vote and understand how the student election goes on, it’s beneficial no matter what you’re studying or where you’re coming from. It makes me so happy to see people involved in the university.”
In addition to candidate elections, the 2024 ballot will include a referendum asking students if they believe the administration should disclose its investment portfolio. This referendum will give a general understanding of the student body’s feelings toward divestment.
The referendum was sent to EOB Chair Taqvi and approved for the ballot after receiving 1000 petition signatures in its favor. Once election results are released, the EOB will pass down the results to student government and administration.
Election results will be published to the DePaul community May 29.
Those interested who missed the deadline for petition signatures are still able to be elected as write-in candidates. There will be a blank space on the ballot to vote for said individuals. For consideration, they must also submit a letter of intent to Taqvi no later than 24 hours before the ballot closes. If the candidate submits the letter on time and gets the majority of votes, they automatically receive the position.
If additional positions are available post-election, students can still apply. The president, vice president and chief-of-staff work together to appoint empty positions. Information will be released by SGA with a list of unfilled positions at a later date.
“No one has anything to lose by running (for SGA),” Senator for Community and Government Relations, Will McRae said. “The more people that run, the more perspectives are represented in SGA. If you’re even thinking about it and you’ve never done it before, jump on it. It’s a great experience for anyone.”
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