Members of SGA cannot explain why there is such a low candidate turnout this year. About 35 students came out for the information session and took petitions, but only 13 people came out, said Knapp. The volume of students that attended the information session was actually higher than in previous years. Lauren Kattany, nursing senator and co-election commissioner, said, It s a shame that there isn t a race. In the past, said Kattany, SGA was a more social organization to its members rather than one focused on improving the University for the student body.
Expectations are higher now.
In the past couple of years SGA has switched from being public figure heads to student representatives to the faculty and administration, said Kattany. People are realizing, I think, that running for the SGA is very serious and requires a lot of time and dedication, said Pete Burchett, vice presidential hopeful. Kattany said that although many students showed interest initially, few submitted the required petitions by the deadline. Senator hopefuls were responsible for obtaining 250 signatures, while students hoping to run for executive positions needed 500. Knapp said that some students might have been dissuaded from running because these petitions needed to be completed during midterms.