Six pairs of candidates for president and vice president of the Georgetown University Student Association announced their candidacy last Friday.
The six tickets are: Johnson Elugbadebo (SFS ‘02) and Amar Weisman (CAS ‘03), Joe Kildea (MSB ‘02) and Byron LaMotte (CAS ‘03), Bill Jarvis (MSB ‘02) and Doug Herrema (CAS ‘02), Mike Green (CAS ‘02) and Jeff Watkinson (MSB ‘02), Ryan Dubose (CAS ‘02) and Brian Walsh (CAS ‘02), and Brian Dunleavy (MSB ‘02) and Rena Borucki (CAS ‘02). Hector Lopez (SFS ‘02) and Scott Holmer (CAS ‘02) also announced their candidacy but withdrew Tues.
Elugbadebo said he and Weisman are running primarily because they support the Yard. “The representatives that we have are better at communicating with themselves than with students. And when you have a situation like that, students don’t care,” Elugbadebo said. Elugbadebo said he and Weisman are not involved in any campus activities.
Kildea said he and LaMotte want to improve student activities on campus. Their campaign slogan is “no propaganda,” Kildea said.
Kildea said that he does not know very much about the Yard, but he would like to see GUSA be more effective. Neither Kildea nor La Motte have been on GUSA. They are both on the sailing team.
Jarvis and Herrema are running because they “are regular students and feel the need for a change on campus,” Herrema said. “We feel the need for a student government that works for the students that includes all the students,” he said.
Herrema said that he has not yet decided his opinion on the Yard. “Whether or not I agree with the Yard constitution … Bill and I support the idea of change,” he said.
Green and Watkinson are focusing their platform on increasing communication between everyone on campus. “Jeff and I have been upset about things on campus. The main thing was the lack of block party this year. We saw it as the university taking a step away from the students,” Green said.
Green said he and Watkinson have not come to a definite conclusion of their opinion on the Yard. “Anything that gives students more power in where money goes is beneficial, but we are not sure the Yard would do that,” Green said.
Dubose and Walsh are running because they feel the have the experience to make many positive changes on campus, Walsh said. “We are going to be issue and results oriented in our campaign,” he said.
“We do support change because we think students deserve the most effective student government. We different groups can get together and formulate a government that the entire student body can stand behind,” Walsh said. Walsh has been on GUSA for the past two years, and Dubose holds a GUSA appointed position on the Main Campus Planning Committee this year. Walsh is station manager for Georgetown University Television and Dubose is chair of Hoya Blue.
Dunleavey said he and Borucki decided to run because of low voter turnout in past GUSA elections. They are centering their platform on getting the One Card, creating a better form of late transportation around Georgetown, and allowing students to have inter-school majors.
“We don’t think that the Yard is a solution to the problem … It gives students some power, but not enough,” Dunleavey said. Dunleavey and Borucki have not been on GUSA. Dunleavey is incolced in intramurals and Borucki is in the biology club.
Lopez said that he and Holmer would still like to run and that they are working on rescheduling conflicting engagements.
The GUSA executive election is scheduled for Feb. 26.
