Elections for Student Government Inc. (SGi) are currently underway, with two tickets — R.A.I.N. and L.O.V.E. — vying for the highest executive board positions.
Students can cast their votes until tomorrow, April 5 at 11:59 p.m. via an eBallot provided to their St. John’s emails. Each undergraduate student was provided a unique username and password via email to prevent double-voting or any form of cheating. Elections began on Sunday, April 3 at noon. The election was briefly paused due to technical issues, but reopened less than two hours after.
The positions that are currently under election include president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, senior programming coordinator and press secretary.
Below are the two tickets competing for SGi E-Board:
The R.A.I.N. Ticket
- President: Ethan Burrell
- Vice President: Andrea Vizzuett
- Secretary: Julie Lomonte
- Treasurer: David Diano
- Senior Programming Coordinator: Jess Siniscalchi
- Press Secretary: Jonathan Wilds
The L.O.V.E. Ticket
- President: Laiba Amin
- Vice President: Nawsin Kamal
- Secretary: William Pierre
- Treasurer: Christopher Lucik
- Press Secretary: Sara Khan
There is no one on the L.O.V.E. ticket running for senior programming coordinator.
R.A.I.N. — which stands for ‘Resourceful, Accountable, Innovative, Noteworthy’ — is headed by current SGi president Ethan Burrell. As seen on their Instagram, R.A.I.N. is running on the platform of empowering student leaders and organizations, strengthening internal functions and continuing the previous accomplishments of the last E-Board.
These previous accomplishments, as found in their platform, include the partnering with WHEELS and Aunt Flow, a Free Grammarly Premium subscriptions to students, the restructuring of the Legislative Branch and Executive Branch, as well as other initiatives and programming.
L.O.V.E. also provides their platform — as well as detailed information regarding each applicant— through their Instagram. The ticket, which stands for ‘Limitless, Organized, Versatile, Efficient’ is led by presidential candidate Laiba Amin. Enrolled at St. John’s at age 16, her previous involvement in SGi includes serving as Junior Senator on the SGi E-Board last year, a position which will be abolished following the election. The senator position was previously reserved for a single member of a class year; however, the role has since been deemed inconsequential after the government’s restructuring altered the makeup of the Student Senate. Amin was also Sophomore Representative for the Collins College of Professional Studies and the Assistant Chair of the Research & Development Committee in previous years.
The platform details the ticket’s plan to improve student facilities — including the need to provide students access to reproductive and sexual health resources, addition of ablution rooms for Muslim students and improve lighting on campus at night — redefine dining services and reform Student Government to be more publicized and transparent.
“As President next year,” Amin states through the platform, “I will enhance student facilities by providing resources for commuter students, accommodating students of different faiths through the construction of ablution rooms, as well as focusing on reforming dining services through partnerships with dining companies.”
Despite the two tickets running against one another, voters are not required to solely vote along one ticket. In previous years — including last year — the winners of each position have come from different tickets.
Further explanations regarding the election process and requirements for candidates can be found in Article IV of the SGi Constitution.
For students experiencing trouble voting, email [email protected] for assistance.
