For the second year in a row, the
newest Student Government, Inc. board
will be made up of students from opposing
tickets.
The UNITE ticket took four positions
and the Progressing in Academics
Revamping Traditions and Enhancing
Your Experience (P.A.R.T.Y.) ticket took
three.
From the P.A.R.T.Y. ticket, Patrick
Brewer won President, Tami Telford won
Vice President and Tiffany Marmol won
Junior Senator.
From the UNITE ticket Dan LoBrace
won Secretary, Gerard Murrell won Senior
Senator, Andre McDonald won Treasurer,
and Bill Conallen won Sophomore
Senator.
According to Chenele Francis, chair
of the SGI Elections Committee, there
was a 14.6 percent voter turnout. Of
10,351 potential student voters, 1,619
participated in the election.
“There was definitely more
involvement with students than last year,
but I wish there was better voter turnout,”
said senior Cheryl Robinson after the
elections statistics and results were
announced.
Candidates sat together as the results
were announced, some holding hands in
anticipation.
“When we were waiting for the
presidential announcements, I was
gripping onto Patrick for dear life,” Tami
Telford, vice-president-elect said.
Elected Sophomore Senator Bill
Conallen shook hands with members of
his party as well as his opponents with
a huge smile on his face saying he felt
“speechless.”
“It’s still sinking in!” Conallen said.
“I’m very excited to be given a chance to
represent the sophomore class.”
Once the results were revealed, the
elected candidates hugged, shook hands,
and seemed relieved. In tears, President-
Elect Patrick Brewer described his
outlook for the upcoming year.
“I am beside myself right now, it’s a
good group of people and we’re going to
make it work,” he said. “I’m most excited
to bring a lot of new people into SGI next
year, we’re going to have a lot of fresh
eyes.”
Christina Zaccarelli, a senior and
current SGI Vice President, described her
view of the election’s turnout.
“The most challenging thing is going
to be bringing these two tickets together.
But for right now, there’s a lot of emotion
in this room,” Zaccarelli said.
The split of the two tickets furnished
mixed opinions from the candidates and
students in attendance.
“My anxiety is fi nally over but I’m
disappointed my whole ticket didn’t win,”
McDonald said.
Senior Megan McMahon said she
voted even though she was not going to
be at St. John’s next year.
“Even though it won’t affect me, I
think the best people for the positions
were elected,” McMahon said.
Darren Morton, assistant vice
president for Student Affairs talked about
the challenges that SGI will face next
year, as well as the positive aspects of the
split results.
“I’m always happy for the student
elections and this year was a good, close
race. The good thing is we are seeing that
students are voting more for individual
candidates instead of just along ticket
lines,” Morton said.
“The challenge for Student
Government will be, once again, for them
to come together under one leadership.”
Patrick McBurney, a senior and
current SGI President, watched as the
candidates celebrated their victories.
“We’re excited to be ending our
year and transitioning to the next group.
Hopefully the new e-board will heed our
success and learn from our mistakes,”
McBurney said
