Campaigning for Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) President and Vice President started Feb. 4 at 12:01 a.m. This kicks off a two-week period of campaigns and debates, ending with election day on Feb. 18.
Candidates had to officially file with the GUSA Election Commission by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 3. There are only two pairs of candidates running for the positions. The contenders for President and Vice President, respectively, are Enushe Khan (MSB ‘17) and Chris Fisk (COL ‘17), and Tony Pezzullo (MSB ’17) and A.J. Serlemitsos (COL ’17).
Candidates who file a budget proposal by Feb. 9 will be invited to participate in a series of debates. The first debate is the Vice Presidential Debate on Feb. 10, followed by the Presidential Debate on Jan. 15, President’s Day.
The candidates have a campaign budget of $300 for all expenses, and financial aid is available, according to Erika Cohen-Derr, Assistant Dean for Student Engagement and GUSA’s Advisor. Candidates must submit their receipts for all purchases to the Election Commission before election results can be finalized.
Giving advice to the candidates, current GUSA Vice President Connor Rohan (COL ‘16) said “Don’t take yourselves too seriously, because if you take yourselves too seriously, I don’t want you to run. Have fun. Be yourselves.” [Full disclosure: Rohan is a former Voice staffer.]
According to Grady Willard (SFS ‘18), Election Commission Vice Chair, the electoral system is an instant run-off in which after each round, the pair of candidates with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes redistributed to the remaining candidates. Voting starts at 10 p.m. on Feb. 17 and closes at midnight on Feb. 18.
