After Monday night’s debate, hanging fliers around campus and lots of campaigning, the time has come to elect your Student Government Association for next school year. The elections began at midnight Tuesday, April 19, and will continue for the next 24 hours.
The SGA candidate list, excluding the senate positions, is as follows:
President- Kirk Averitt and Daniel Wakefield
Vice-President- Alé Dalton and Amy Estepp
Treasurer- Patrick Grace and Leah Raich
Secretary- Kenneth Coca and Thomas Whisenant
Jackson Sprayberry, the 2010-2011 SGA President had many great things to say about the candidates.
“From what I know of each of the candidates, they bring a vast array of experiences and qualifications that would allow them to serve in the executive council of SGA in an effective manner,” Sprayberry said.
Sprayberry doesn’t think that any candidate is favored to win by a landslide.
“SGA elections are an interesting breed of elections,” Sprayberry said. “Those that appear to be a front-runner may not be the one who actually wins. At this point, I’m not sure there is a clear front-runner in any race.”
One of the main issues that Sprayberry said would be a focus each candidate is the continued commitment “of creating community for all of our students through planning events, the shaping of university policies, and by making capital investments across campus.”
When emails went out across campus urging students to place an intent-to-run form in the SGA elections, they emphasized the SGA’s ability to take affect the lives of students on campus.
“I feel students are looking to elect individuals who will continue to unashamedly and persistently express student concerns to the administration,” Sprayberry said.
Alé Dalton, a candidate for vice president, expressed her desire to make this upcoming year the most memorable it can be for students when it comes to their campus experience.
“Put simply, I love Lipscomb and I love serving the student body,” Dalton said.
So why should you for for Dalton as next year’s vice president?
“I have experience not only serving on SGA, but with other essential things a vice president needs, like parliamentary procedure and rules of order,” Dalton said. “One of the reasons we have been so effective this past year is because of [Sprayberry’s] implementation of Robert’s Rules, which have streamlined meetings and allowed us to do twice as much with the time we have.
“The SGA vice president is the member in charge of conducting meetings. Having experience with rules of order and procedure is an essential asset to continuing the productivity and momentum SGA gained this past year.”
Patrick Grace, candidate for treasurer believes he is a good fit for the position he seeks.
“I believe that I could easily handle balancing SGA’s budget by responsibly monitoring our receipts and documenting all our spending,” Grace said. “I understand the work this position requires, and I am ready to make the commitment to do so.”
Grace noted that he would like to, if possible, improve Beaman Library both in its hours of operation and the quality of the material that is offered there.
Secretarial candidate Thomas Whisenant said he wanted to create a voice for the students and that he has a strong work ethic. Whisenant plans to bring his experience as Chairman of the Freshman Advisory Council at Freed Hardeman University to this position.
“I want to create more dialogue between the student body and SGA,” Whisenant said. “I’m not a person who believes in promises, especially promises on things I can’t control.
“But I can promise one thing – to work hard for the Lipscomb student body.”
Voting will run through tonight at midnight.