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The voting process for next year's Student Government Association (SGA) representatives begins tomorrow morning, but there aren't many students in the candidate pool.
Out of the nearly 40 positions students can run for, only four of those races are contested. Those races are Sophomore class senator, Sophomore Class Vice President, Love School of Business representative and Executive President. All other candidates are running unopposed and there are no candidates running for senior class board.
It is the job of the elected president to fill these positions by appointments or nominations from other students. Current Student Body President Joe Incorvia says he thinks part of the reason for lack of participation is students don't realize the influence Elon's SGA has on campus.
"You really won't see another university like Elon in the sense that the administration comes to SGA with every single major decision that they make on this campus, I mean every single one," Incorvia said.
Two of SGA's biggest decisions this senate year included the passing of The Acorn Fund, a $200,000 endowment program that gives money to student entrepreneurs and a $110,00 special allocation for the new recreation center that will be located in the Daniel Center.
SGA advisor Dean Jana Lynn Patterson says that other leadership opportunities on campus may be why students aren't joining student government.
"We feel like it is too big of a commitment in student government, is it because people don't feel like they're effective? So we're really gonna ask SGA to look inward this year to see, because we need that student representation, we need people to understand the role because it is an important role," Dean Patterson said.
Voting for SGA begins tomorrow morning, Feb. 17, at 9 a.m.