Student Government Association Holds “Meet the Candidates” Event and Uncontested Elections   

Olivia Silvey ’25 

News Editor  

The Student Government Association (SGA) held a “Meet the Candidates” event virtually on Wednesday, Mar. 2 to allow the Trinity community to interact with the SGA’s incoming Executive Board. The candidates included Joshua Jacoves ’23 (Vice President of Finance), Jason Ferrell ’23 (President of the SGA), Kristina Kendall ’23 for (Vice President of Multicultural Affairs), India Bracey ’24 (President of the Class of 2024), Brianna Andrade ’24 (Vice President of SGA), and James Maciel ’25 (President of the Class of 2025). The elections were held from Mar. 8 through Mar 9. and all candidates were uncontested meaning each of the candidates will assume their positions in the fall.   

Ferrell currently serves as President for the Class of 2023, and he is a member of multiple SGA committees including Student Quality of Life and Curriculum. He is also involved in the Honor Council, Campus Climate Incident Response Team, and works at the Underground Coffeehouse as a barista. Some of Ferrell’s biggest priorities as next year’s SGA President include giving the student body more opportunities to connect with each other and empowering students who identify with groups such as the LGBTQ+ community and students of color to overcome the isolating campus culture. He aims to create more open spaces on campus for students to meet new people and become more familiar with the College. Ferrell plans on developing a campaign to make students more aware of the available resources on campus including the Career and Life Design Center, counseling services, and administrative contacts.   

Andrade currently serves as President for the Class of 2024 and has previously served as a Class Senator. She is also a Resident Advisor and choreographer for the Elemental Movement Dance Crew on campus. Her biggest priorities as future Vice President of SGA are fostering a sense of community across campus and increasing student organizations’ involvement in more substantive work. As Vice President, she aims to make SGA more transparent to the community and communicate more effectively with the student body to solve issues.   

“I feel like campus culture right now feels kind of gray and disconnected,” Andrade said during the event. “Even now, when I walk through campus it doesn’t feel like anyone is really on it. I feel like I’m just going about my day just like doing random things. I don’t really feel like I’m on a college campus,” remarked Andrade when discussing campus life.   

Andrade plans on improving the quality of student life and increasing communication and transparency between Trinity administration and the student body. She stated that she feels the college needs to put more effort into listening to student voices rather than brushing off their concerns.   

Kendall also aims to improve Trinity’s sense of community in her position as next year’s Vice President of Multicultural Affairs. She currently serves as Assistant Vice President of the council. On campus, she is Vice President of the Imani Black Student Union, a member of the Public Policy and Law Advisory Board, and an Orientation Leader. In addition to improving Trinity’s sense of community among the student body, she plans to utilize social media to promote SGA events that will foster connection between students and SGA and gain their respect and trust. Some issues that she plans to address in her position next year include improving logistics for students hosting events on campus regarding BantamLink, speaker contracts, and event advisors; and creating a student manual for hosting events so that students feel more comfortable coordinating events on campus.   

Jacoves also plans to improve student events in his future position as Vice President of Finance. He currently serves as SGA Parliamentarian, which means he oversees rules and procedures for meetings and other policies. He has also served on SGA’s Budget Committee for three years. Outside of SGA, Jacoves works at the College’s Admissions Office and is a Quest Leadership Mentor. As VP of Finance, he plans to continue SGA’s budget work from this year which includes helping student organizations with their budgeting, ensuring equitable financing across organizations, hosting budget workshops, and continuing SAIL budget training. Next year, he aims to improve the Bantam Bus Pass system by expanding the range of student transportation on campus. He also plans on funding all the events that student organizations want to host.   

Bracey also shares other candidates’ plans to improve the College’s sense of community. She is currently the social media chair for Trinity’s Black Women Organization and is a member of the Elemental Movement Dance Crew. As next year’s President for Class of 2024, she aims to unify the class and create a more intimate environment among students. She feels that students in the Class of 2024 do not know each other as well as they should, especially because the pandemic began in their first few years of college. She believes that the administration needs to listen to student voices more, especially regarding all decisions that affect the student body in potentially negative ways.   

Maciel also believes that Trinity’s community needs to be improved and aims to change that in his role as next year’s President of Class of 2025. He currently serves as a Senator for the Class of 2025 and serves on SGA’s Student Quality of Life Committee. In his role as Class President, he plans to offer more events on campus for students who want social alternatives to Greek life. He also plans to initiate smaller but impactful actions such as creating group chats for students to learn about on-campus events and performing other day-to-day helpful actions. Maciel aims to hold the College accountable for student complaints such as work orders, and wants to increase help regarding students using Bantam Bucks.   

These candidates will assume their positions next school year. Next year’s Executive Board includes two vacant seats: Vice President of Communications and President of the Class of 2023.