For the first time since 2014, there is a contested race for the Student Government Association’s presidency.
Faith Merriweather and Ryan Honea have begun campaigning for the office.
Last year, 2015-16 SGA President Will Roberts ran unopposed. In a turn of events, there are two students running for president, which gives students the opportunity to hear multiple points of view.
Merriweather and Honea are both competing in an attempt to continue creating a voice for the students of APSU.
Merriweather, a junior political science major, has been part of SGA since her freshman year. She was elected sophomore senator her sophomore year, and the executive secretary her junior year.
Merriweather said she wanted to be president so she could continue the trend of excellent leadership she had seen in SGA.
“I want to be president because I have been a part of great leadership this year and would like to continue the legacy,” Merriweather said. “As Secretary, I have seen the commitment that being a member of the Executive Council takes and I have dedicated myself to doing this.
“I think that becoming the SGA president comes with a lot of accountability and I am ready to take that on. As president, I want to work to ensure that there are no students on our campus that feel underrepresented.”
Honea, a junior mathematics major and member of Kappa Alpha, has been part of SGA since his freshman year as well. He is currently the associate chief justice of the Tribunal Justices, and said he hopes to be president because he want to continue with the trend of accountability.
“The Student Government Association is supposed to be the bridge between the students and the faculty,” Honea said.
During his sophomore year, Honea wrote legislation that required senators to submit two original pieces per year of their own “meaningful” legislation which stopped students from putting their name on other students’ work. This increased the number of resolutions and acts significantly in the following years.
“I want students to know that my office is always open, and if they have a concern I want to hear about it,” Honea said. “That’s how we get things accomplished.”
Along with the candidates running for president, there are other offices open for re-election as well.
The candidates running for vice president include Dylan Kellogg and Austin McKain.
The candidates for executive secretary include Blaine Gundersen, Jonathan Johnson and Julia Matthews.
The candidates for sophomore senator are Luis Amesty and Jordan Kent.
The candidates for junior senator are Frank Burns and William Legier.
The candidates for senior senator are Jordan Burns and Carrie Taylor.
The candidates for College of Science and Math senator are Colin Crist, Dominic Critchlow, Trey Eckel, Dasia Frank, Travis Hodge and Ashlyn Whittaker.
The candidates for College of Arts and Letters senator are Sara Alexander, Timothy Donahoo, Jerrica Proferes, Thomas Murphy, Austin Street and Tyler Tubbs.
The candidates for College of Behavioral and Health Sciences senator are Duane Kessler, Jose Linares and Sierra Salandy.
There are currently no candidates for the senator for the College of Education.
