Courtesy of USF
By Sofía García Vargas
USF St. Petersburg will choose the next set of Student Government (SG) representatives in the upcoming general elections from Feb. 28 to March 3.
Thirteen candidates are campaigning to fill Governor, Senate, Campus Council and Lieutenant Governor positions.
Four candidates are running for both Campus Council and Senate, one for both Campus Council, Senate and Governor and one for Campus Council and Lieutenant Governor. If elected, candidates running for two or more positions must choose which position they prefer to fill.
Representatives are expected to participate in decision-making processes during SG meetings, manage campus budget allocations, communicate with campus constituents and conduct audits of student organization events funded by activity and service fees.
Voting will be held in a hybrid modality, with polling stations outside the University Student Center (USC) and access to virtual ballots available through a link on the USF St. Petersburg SG Instagram account.
A Governor and Lieutenant Governor in-person debate will be held at 5 p.m. this Wednesday, Feb. 23 in USC Ballroom A. The event will be also be live-streamed for those unable to make it on campus.
Regarding the relevance of this year’s election involvement, Supervisor of Elections Savannah Carr said, “voting is important because without student votes, [SG] cannot fully support and represent the student body.”
The Crow’s Nest asked each candidate why they chose to run for SG and what they hope to accomplish if elected:
Kenneth Bright, Governor, Senate and Campus Council
Bright is a freshman health sciences major with a communications minor
“I chose to run for [Governor] because I strive to make USFSP a more all-inclusive campus. As a freshman, I can relate to students who are seeking to build relationships, but feel left out due to an already established social scene. The first task I plan to tackle in pursuit of creating a more all-inclusive campus is military inclusivity. Both military veterans and military-connected students make up approximately 15% of our student body population and belong to different groups such as the LGBTQ+ community and BIPOC. Addressing this demographic will give more representation to underrepresented groups on campus. Apart from inclusivity, I believe that incoming students build their first relationships through those they meet in the dorm. Therefore, I plan to organize social events in the dorm to foster that community. Implementing recycling services, complimentary feminine products and laundry supplies are other ideas that I hope to put into action. Lastly, I plan to lighten the strict parking regulations by establishing free parking on weekends for students, family and friends.”
Sean Schrader, Governor
Schrader is a senior business management major
“I want to help make a bigger impact on opportunities and experiences that students can get at USF. This past year, I represented students as a Senator in the Student Government and one of my objectives was to bridge the gap between students and local government. Josh Rampertab, my running mate, and I are running to seek out and create new partnerships and foster existing ones so that together we can enhance and add benefits to the overall student experience. There are three main priorities I’ll focus on: practicing and promoting sustainability, ensuring every student has a voice and building better relationships across the USF community. For example, promoting sustainability can happen through continued partnership with the Student Green Energy Fund (SGEF) and the Fresh and Local Greenhouse Project. Ensuring that every student has a voice is critically important. I think this can be done through the creation of task forces made up of students, charged with examining certain issues, and finding possible solutions which impact the overall student experience.”
Nathan Poinsette, Governor
Poinsette is a junior digital communications and multimedia journalism major
“I chose to run for Governor because I want to inspire my fellow Bulls to be their best selves and flourish here at USFSP. Nonetheless, as Governor I want to make sure that every student on our campus feels welcomed and that this is a safe space for them to master their craft. I also want to bridge the gap between various social cliques on campus to show the importance of joining forces. We are all Bulls at the end of the day. If we lend a helping hand to one another, no one would be able to stop us in our academic and personal endeavors.”
Joshua Rampertab, Lieutenant Governor
Rampertab is a junior criminology major
“I chose to run for Lieutenant Governor to further my leadership and input at the USF St. Petersburg campus and hopefully across OneUSF. Everything I have done in my roles has been to create fun experiences at USF and to help others in the community, so I hope to continue that. We are focusing on ensuring that students have a platform to express their voice, promoting sustainable initiatives and building relationships across USF. We want to implement task forces that are made up of students so we can hear any issues or problems that have come up for them at USF and hopefully work to find a resolution for those problems. Promoting sustainability is also important, so making sure we continue the practicing and implementation of sustainability is a major goal of ours. Building relationships is also a big focus as we are in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg and surrounded by amazing businesses and organizations. Sean and I hope to build relationships with these organizations and bring more opportunities to our campus that students can further utilize and learn from.”
Kaiya Huggins, Lieutenant Governor
“I chose to run for Lieutenant Governor because it is a great way for me to get involved and to participate in creating change for the better on campus. I am a first-year student, so this grants me the opportunity to give a new and fresh perspective on things. If elected, I plan to be a voice for the student body. I would want feedback from students on issues they would like to see resolved, as well as things that they like about USF now that I could make even better. Though I would be in office, it would be the student body that would have great influence on the decisions I make.”
Zackery Morales, Campus Council and Lieutenant Governor
Morales is a junior health sciences major with a concentration in healthcare management
“I chose to run for [Campus Council and Lieutenant Governor] positions because we have seen different issues amongst the USFSP community that need improving, such as dorm life, inclusivity of underrepresented communities and improvements to parking services. We aim to create more campus events to get students connected with one another, possibly provide laundry detergent and fabric softener and overall quality of life improvement for those who call USFSP home. We have also discussed implementing some sort of university-connected daycare program with a local daycare for those students who are also parents and face certain challenges with committing to in- person classes due to parental obligations. We also believe that parking should be free for students, family and friends on the weekends and will be rallying for less citations to be handed out for parking violations. My goal is to make sure that all USFSP students feel at home when they step on campus, that their experience here is not just somewhere you go to class and leave right after, but rather somewhere they feel welcomed and proud of. We may all come from different backgrounds, but at the end of the day, we are all USF Bulls.”
Candidates Elizabeth Olson, Courtney Dalton, Nathan Tout-Puissant, Allison Richards, Lorguens Saintelien, Matthew Ibarra and Trayton White did not immediately respond to The Crow’s Nest request for comment.
