The Seawolves for Change party came out of USG elections with the Presidency and Senate in its hands.
Sophomore biology major Anna Lubitz will be USG’s next president after beating her two opponents, Adil Hussain of the Students United Party and Juan Cordon, who ran as an independent. Lubitz not only garnered more votes than her opponents but also received more than 50 percent of the vote, which is required to avoid a runoff election.
Lubitz said that her goals consist of “increasing awareness of USG to the SBU student body; implementing an effective communication system between USG and the clubs/organizations and student body as a whole; and creating a sense of community amongst the students of SBU by bringing fun and memorable events/activites to campus.”
Derek Cope, who was also running on the Seawolves for Change ticket, defeated his only opponent, Zachary Guarnero, and will be the vice president of academic affairs.
Amanda Cohen will be the next vice president of clubs and organizations, and Sophie March will be the next vice president of communications. Both ran unopposed as part of the Students United Party.
Allen Abraham of Students Actively Fighting for Equity, or SAFE, beat Cyril Kattuppallil of Seawolves for Change by a mere 28 votes in the race for treasurer.
There will be runoff elections for the positions of executive vice president and vice president of student life. The runoff election for executive vice president will be between Aimee Pomeroy of Seawolves for Change and Jason Sockin of SAFE. Pomeroy beat Sockin by almost 300 votes, but did not receive a majority of votes due to a third candidate, Kia Valkonen.
Patrick Abelein of Seawolves for Change and Nicholas Ela of SAFE will face each other in the runoff election for vice president of student life. Abelein beat Ela by only 25 votes, with Tyrik Jiang coming in third place.
In addition to taking the presidency, Seawolves for Change also swept the Senate, winning 15 out of 16 seats. One such Senator who ran on the Seawolves for Change Party, sophomore chemical and engineering major Kathryn Michaud will be a senator from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Michaud said that she feels “honored to have the opportunity to further help make decisions that will improve our school.”
Also on the ballot was whether or not the Student Activity Fee would be mandatory for students, as it currently is, or voluntary. If the Student Activity Fee became voluntary, USG and clubs would lose a great deal of funding, as no one would be forced to support USG, which distributes funds to clubs. Proponents of the Student Activity Fee made the point that it is the Student Activity Fee that supports USG and clubs and contribute to the campus community. The Student Activity Fee will remain mandatory after passing by 157 votes.
