Student Government Association Elections See Contested Presidency, VP of Multicultural Affairs

Shawn Olstein ’22

News Editor

Next week, Trinity College’s Student Government Association (SGA) will be holding elections for the organization’s executive board. Elections will be held online from Monday, Sept. 14 to Wednesday, Sept. 16. Ballots will be electronically distributed by the Student Activities Involvement and Leadership Office (S.A.I.L.). The executive board positions open for elections are the SGA President, SGA Vice President, Vice President of Communications, Vice President of Finance, as well as Vice President of Multicultural Affairs. Beyond these SGA executive board positions, the classes of ’21, ’22, ’23, will be holding their presidential elections. All class senator elections as well as the class of ’24 class president election will be held in the coming weeks. Traditionally, SGA executive board and class presidential elections are held at the end of the spring semester, however these elections were delayed until the start of this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite a combined total of eight elected offices up for election between the SGA executive board and class presidencies, only three elections are contested. SGA Vice President, Vice President of Communications, Vice President of Finance, as well as the classes of ’22 and ’23 presidential elections are uncontested. The candidates for these elections are as follows: Jack Stone ’22 SGA Vice President, Maddy White ’22 and Jordan Lewis ’22 Vice President of Communications (serving alternative semesters), Camille Valentincic ’22, Vice President of Finance, Drew Gardner Class of ’21, President, Leah Herbin, Class of ’22 President.

The three contested elections are SGA President, Vice President of Multicultural Affairs, and Class of ’23 president. Felicia McDevitt ’21 and Giovanni Jones ’21 are running for SGA President. Jederick Estrella ’22 and Renita Washington ’22 are running for Vice President of Multicultural Affairs. Jason Farrell Jr. ’23 and Thursday Williams ’23 are running for Class of ’23 president.

In a statement to the Tripod on his SGA presidential candidacy, Jones ’21 stated, “For the longest time, I’ve appreciated being able to work from behind the scenes. I grew comfortable in positions where one does not hold the title nor receives the credit. Because of this, I’ve developed a mindset where everything became secondary to ensuring that the work got done.” Presidential candidate McDevitt ’21  touted her three years of SGA experience as informative to her a “fierce dedication” to serving the interests and concerns of the students. Furthermore, both candidates identified the problems of racial injustices and sexual assault on campus as key issues. McDevitt stated, “As a community, as student organizations, and as individuals, we are met with a critical opportunity to build upon dedicated student activists’ work this summer (namely Instagram accounts @Blackattrin and @trinsurvivors).” Jones stated, “As Trinity must navigate through, and address, 3 pandemics, COVID-19, racial injustice, and sexual misconduct, it is imperative that we bring to office an executive board that is committed to working to get to solutions.”