Students Elect SGA President

By Kristen Griffith and Brittany Wilson (Whetstone Staff Writers)

After two weeks of campaigning and debates, Savannah Durham was elected next year’s Student Government Association president, Samantha Misner became vice president, Kylie Liberty treasurer, and Destiny Hollis secretary.

After a week of voting, students cast 407 ballots to elect Durham, who defeated her opponent, Kenneth Ciccoli, with 60 percent of the vote; Misner won with 52 percent of the vote.

The presidential race was close, said Cynthia Newton, SGA adviser.

“At the end of the day, Savannah did win by a comfortable margin,” she said.

Durham said she is confident in her ability to successfully lead SGA in the coming academic year.

“I’m someone with experience that will allow SGA to function smoothly and efficiently,” she said.

Five days before the election began, Students for Political Awareness organized a presidential debate between presidential candidates, Durham and Ciccoli.

“I’m someone with experience that will enable student organizations to schedule, plan, and hold events without jumping through all of the hoops we have right now,” Durham had said. “I can hit the ground running, whereas my opponent would spend at least a semester playing catch up.”

Ciccoli said he has better connections with students.

“I personally believe Savannah is not as in touch with the student population as I am,” he said.

Ciccoli said he ran for president to make SGA “personal to every student,” but he felt Durham was looking to build her resume.

“I think her reasons are very internal, and mine are not,” he said.

Durham said she has a good relationship with the students.

“I developed so many different friendships over the past two years, and the majority of those people come to me when they want to see different things, or changes on campus,” she said.

During the debate, Ciccoli said if he won the election, he would ask Durham to join him on the Executive Board.

“The winning president could have the opportunity to have the losing president on the Board,” he said. “I don’t think there’s room to neglect people that really care.”

He said after Abraham Lincoln won his election, he sent letters to his opponents, asking them to join his cabinet.

Durham said this idea showed Ciccoli’s lack of understanding of SGA procedures.

“All of the Board members are elected by the student body, as there should not be anyone on the Board that the students do not want there,” she said.

Durham said she would not work with Ciccoli if he won because it would not be her place.

“If the students want him as president, then he should be able to fulfill that role without me,” she said.

Both candidates said they were satisfied with what they said at the debate.

“[Ciccoli] definitely approached the debate differently than me, but everyone has their own style when it comes to things like that,” Durham said.

Ciccoli said he was not fond of Durham’s style.

“I didn’t like way she read off of her notecards,” he said. “You have to be you, and that is what I did.”

Current SGA President, Fred Sottnick, said he favored one candidate’s answers over the other.

“It seemed that one of the candidates was well prepared, and answered the questions thoroughly without going on any irrelevant tangents,” he said.

After the election, Ciccoli said that even though he will not be SGA President, there are still different outlets for him to initiate change at Wesley.

“The biggest thing for me is I don’t want to seem like the upset, crazy, loser of the election,” he said. “But there are still a lot of things I still think need to be done differently.”

Ciccoli said he should have campaigned harder.

“I wanted to get more people involved, get people to care, and make it very personal to each and every individual here,” he said. “Savannah was good at politics. I wasn’t. That’s what it came down to.”

Newton said she was happy with the competitive campaigning process, and was generally unconcerned about the outcome.

“I didn’t even go to the debate because I’m going to work with whoever is elected,” she said. “I don’t have a vested interest in the outcome.”

Durham said her current position as vice president will strengthen her ability to serve as president in the fall.

“I have built positive relationships with faculty, staff, and administration, and have developed an understanding of how the college and SGA functions,” she said.

Durham said she wants to enhance communication within the Executive Board with student organizations.

“I think that the process to become an organization, reserve rooms, receive funding, etc., should be easier with less paperwork,” she said. “I would also push Orgsync (an activities calendar website) more. I think that the program could be a real asset to the Wesley community, if the students utilize all of its functions.”

Misner said she and Savannah have similar leadership styles and will work well together.

“Savannah did a wonderful job as vice president of SGA and she will be an excellent president,” she said. “I am hoping to do the same as the new vice president.”

 

SGA Presidential Candidates: Savannah- 246 votes (60%), Kenny- 161 votes (40%)

SGA Vice-Presidential Candidates: Samantha- 212 votes (52%), Jabresha- 195 votes (48%)