SGA elections will take place in the student center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11 for officers and senators. The election for senators-at-large will be Thursday, April 13.
Brandon Cunningham, Brent Horswell, Vince Law, Matthew Jafari, Rebecca Robertson and Mitchell Wood are running for the five open senior senator seats.
The choices for the five junior senator seats are Cole Buttrey, Brooklyn Chalfant, Ralston Drake, Hannah Fox, Leslie Shakira Garcia, Emilee Goss, Hope Harmon, Ben Hemby, Hope Mironas, Mason Price, Myron Sailors, Kenan Sakic, Jobane Stockard, Matt Welborn, Jordan Whitfield, Hanyi Yin and Kegan York.
Breckin Horton, Annie Moore and Jack Webber are the candidates for the three sophomore seats.
The candidate for treasurer, Tyler Dove, and secretary, Sierra Sparks, are both running unopposed.
Presidential Candidates:
Gabby Cannone
Why are you running for president?
“I spent a lot of time praying about it this semester, and the Lord placed it on my heart that this is something I needed to do. As I’ve stepped into campaigning and the conversation revolving around SGA president specifically, I’m coming to see more of why the Lord was pushing me in that way.
“More specifically, I’m running for SGA president because I have a huge heart for the Lipscomb student body, and I love seeing things being united and restored and people coming together for the same reason. I think one of the coolest opportunities I had this past year as the SGA Spiritual Life Committee Chair was being able to plan events on campus to see students from all different diverse backgrounds come together on campus when they wouldn’t have normally seen each other and participate in the same events.
“I also have loved the opportunity to get to work alongside administration as I’ve been pursuing those things. I’ve enjoyed getting to hear their side of the story which is so easily tainted and ignored, because it’s like they’re the bearers of bad news all the time. Getting to see their hearts has been such a gift.”
Have you served on SGA before and in what ways? Are you involved in other groups on campus?
“I was on SGA the spring I got back from studying abroad my sophomore year of college. Then I ran for junior senator which I am now. Then I told Jackson Smith, the current president, I was really interested in being the Spiritual Life Committee Chair which is what I’ve been for the past year. I am also the Joshua Project intern for campus ministry, and I’m in Phi Sigma.”
If elected, what goals do you hope to accomplish?
“I have been telling people that I don’t want to run on empty promises. I’m a big believer in vision. I always need to know what the big picture is and what I’m working towards, so it’s been really great as I’ve been campaigning to not have a set platform of, “I want to do x, y and z.” But instead, I’ve been able to go up to students and ask, “Hey, what’s your experience been?” and then hear the holes they’ve seen or experienced and gather ideas that those are the things I need to be focusing on if I was to be elected president. I don’t want to give student’s this Christmas list of things that I’m promising, and then not be able to fulfill them.”
What sets you apart from the other candidate?
“Whenever I go into an event or a meeting or whatever it may be, my number one agenda is to take the student body’s opinion and then to put that first into whatever it is that I’m pursuing. I never go in unprepared. I always go in having the opinions of a random group or two of students that I talked to and know how they feel about it. Sometimes it’s something as small as not liking t-shirt colors or designs. Something that definitely sets me apart is that I spend, and I will continue to spend, time really investing in the student body and hearing their needs and desires.”
Anything else?
“Thankfully, regardless of who gets this office, the parking issue will be solved. I can say that with confidence. We are in the works of solving it now. The administration is working to solve it. That’s encouraging to the student body, and I think there is a lot of grace needed for that.
“It’s so important to just come out and vote on Tuesday. I think in general people don’t have the best perception of SGA. They think they know what SGA is, but they don’t really get to see the behind the scenes action so I’ve been encouraging students to talk to their friends who are on SGA, and ask us who we are as leaders and find out what or hearts are. Don’t just take what we’re saying for face value because there is so much there for everyone.”
Carson Panovec
Why are you running for president?
“After my first semester on SGA sophomore year, I knew I wanted to be president. Seeing how SGA gets to sponsor so many events for students on campus, as well as be a voice for students when they feel they don’t have one sparked my passion. This past year, I became vice president. After working with the president and seeing what he does, the thought of president became more and more exciting to me. I want to provide the framework, vision, and accountability for an outstanding group of peer selected students to make tangible improvements in the Lipscomb student experience. I want to make Lipscomb even better.”
Have you served on SGA before and in what ways? Are you involved in other groups on campus?
“I have served as a sophomore senator and currently serve as the Vice President of SGA. I am a member of the men’s tennis team, a member and returning member of the Presidential Ambassador Council (a group of students that represents the office of the president to students, donors and alumni) and a former member of SPB, a co-ed service club.”
If elected, what goals do you hope to accomplish?
“As president, I would stress advocating for students and communicating with administration. I would use SGA’s two most underused committees to:
- Get ideas, feedback, and concerns from students
- Increase communication and build relationships with the administration.
This would allow SGA to take the thoughts and ideas of students to the administration to accomplish things that SGA couldn’t accomplish on its own. For the things SGA could do on its own, I would get every senator to have one thing that they want to change. One thing that would improve students experience on campus. I want this to be their own dream and passion and I want it to be influenced by the people that elected them. This would create 28 tangible changes in students experience on campus, which is more than I could do by myself. My hope is that this will take SGA from just being a budgeting committee to being a student advocacy committee that makes real changes.”
What sets you apart from the other candidate?
“As VP I have been able to see SGA from the executive side. I’ve gotten to see firsthand what the president does, how he has done it and ways it could be done better. My time in the Presidential Ambassador Council will help me talk with administration and members of the board of trustees about the concerns of students because I know the administrators and trustees and have relationships with them. Tennis has taught me how to be a part of a team and encourage and lead through adversity.”
Anything else?
“I’d encourage every student to come out and vote. At a school this size, every vote makes a huge difference. I would be honored to have your vote. #CP4P”
Vice Presidential Candidates:
Cheyenne Gavin
Why are you running for vice president?
“I am running for vice president because I love Lipscomb and have a heart for enacting meaningful change on campus. Because of my job in admissions, I get to witness many prospective students visit our campus and find their home, and it is my priority that those students continue to feel at home when they get to our campus. I think one of the best ways to ensure that is by noticing places where incoming and current students might struggle socially, academically or spiritually and working to breach those gaps.”
Have you served on SGA before and in what ways? Are you involved in other groups on campus?
“This spring, I have served on the SGA Social Committee. Specifically, I have helped plan spring concert, and have coordinated catering for the spring concert. I work for the admissions office and am the student events coordinator, so I help organize events like Lipscomb Friday, Presidential Weekend, and the like. Over the summer, I also worked for the office of admissions and coordinated all of the camps travel and catering for Lipscomb Summer Scholars. These different places where I have served on Lipscomb’s campus display my attention to detail and my ability to manage large tasks.”
If elected, what goals do you hope to accomplish?
“I hope to maintain an awareness of the diversity of our student body. When you’re campaigning, it’s really easy to notice student demographics that, in your day-to-day routine, might go unnoticed because you don’t run in the same social circles. Our student body is so much greater than the faces you see every day at Starbucks. There are students doing incredible behind-the-scenes work to serve our campus. I would hope to make their voice heard if I were elected by maintaining the same level of intentionality — if not more intentionality — after the election that I have had during the election.”
What sets you apart from the other candidate?
“Honestly, I think very highly of Stephen and believe that we are both well qualified for the position. I would say that I have a really big heart for Lipscomb’s campus and an empathy for the quiet, behind-the-scenes leaders and it would be my priority to uplift them. However, regardless of how the election goes, I am sure that SGA is going to be in good hands next year.”
Stephen Hemmerly
Why are you running for vice president?
“Lipscomb is an incredibly special place for me. The experiences I have had with the faculty investing in my academic career have shown me that the faculty here are second to none in the way that they invest in students.
“At the end of the day what is most important is that you are at a school that you feel at home. Lipscomb has felt incredibly like home to me so I want to run for vice president so that I can also help Lipscomb feel like home, not only for the students who already enjoy themselves, but students who are less publicized, like the students in the College of Entertainment and the Arts, who have incredibly talented people. I want to put them in the spotlight as well as minority students, and people who may not be Christians.
“If you go through the commuter lounge, it is like a diversity lounge. If you’ve ever been in there, it’s kind of ridiculous that they feel like they have to use a secondary space for their entertainment. I don’t know why that is, but I want to get people who are typically not in the mainstream of campus as involved on campus as they can get. ”
Have you served on SGA before and in what ways? Are you involved in other groups on campus?
“Through my time here, I’ve been able to be involved on the Presidential Ambassadors Council, as a tour guide for the Office of Admissions, and I’ve been able to serve on this year’s SGA Academic Committee. I feel like those things have given me unique access to different side of the school that will allow me to serve really well as the vice president.”
If elected, what goals do you hope to accomplish?
“As vice president, I would want to be able to empower the senators. Because senators in the past, unless you take your own initiative, can go unnoticed. They don’t feel like they need to speak up as much. I really want to allow them to have their own ideas, pursue them on their own and not have me as a micromanager, but as a resource and encourager for them.
“I want to tackle student issues that may not seem as serious to start with, but make a difference in the long run. So it’s no secret that the printing situation on campus has never been ideal, but what you may not know is that through the academic committee we have been able to get a printer in the bottom of the student center this semester, and that’s something I’m really interested in continuing.
“I want to continue to pursue parking. This semester, I’ve had the opportunity to be in meetings with Jackson Smith, our current president, as well as Josh Roberts, the SGA sponsor and one of the deans of student life, and security about the parking situation. We are very aware that it has been a problem in the past. I can’t promise you that as vice president it will be perfect, but I can promise you that it will improve.
“Through academic committee, I’ve been able to sit in meetings with the provost, Dr. Craig Bledsoe, and we’ve been able to talk about different student issues. He’s a great listener, and one of the things we’ve talked about are bible classes. Having bible classes that are geared more towards students have never seen the bible and not just our students who have been through 12 years of Christian education. It would be a much more beginner class, and even though the bible faculty has a lot of pride in what they cover, we need a class that is going to put all students on the same level. That’s already being done, but we need to make sure that we don’t have any students, especially international students, who feel left out by the classes.
What sets you apart from the other candidate?
“I would like to see SGA become more of a student advocacy outlet for when students have issues and see areas of improvement, they can come to SGA and we can be that outlet for them because we do have unique access to higher level administration, especially in the executive office and with the deans. In reality there is only so much the SGA can do, but what we can do is start conversations based on a need. When we identify a need in the student body, and a place where the student body needs to be advocated for, we can start that conversation with administrators on their behalf and empower them to do that as well.
“What I have found is that when students need something, it often stops at a complaint to friends. People will identify a need and it will stop there because the reality is they think they can’t do anything about it. So SGA needs to do a good job of making sure their voices are heard. What you may not know is that we have office hours. We’ve had hours in the past where we’ve sat in the SGA office, and we’re there for students, and the majority of the time we’d just sit there and do homework. I want to make the students aware that they have a student government that is capable of having unique access to administrators, that is capable of taking your complaints or ideas for improvement and starting conversations. I think it’s all about communication and awareness.”
Anything else?
“I think we’d both do a really good job at this. I’ve never come into an election for the student body more confident in the direction of our school simply because of the quality of people on the ballot, and whether I am vice president, senator or I don’t have any position, I am still willing to serve this campus and student body.”