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Syracuse University’s spring 2023 Student Association election for president, executive vice president, comptroller and other officials will open for voting at midnight on Monday.

Undergraduate SU and SUNY ESF students will be able to vote for elected SA officials as well as the 2030 Carbon Neutrality referendum, which would show student body support for SA’s goal of accelerating the university’s current carbon neutrality aim by 10 years.

SA’s current President David Bruen was one of the SA leaders behind the carbon neutrality initiative during his years as a leader in the assembly.

“This Student Association, this student government, this student body is really important and plays a vitally important role in serving students and advocating for students wants and needs,” Bruen said.

After serving as SA President for two years, Bruen, along with one-time SA Executive Vice President Adia Santos and two-time SA Comptroller Nyah Jones, will graduate in May, which leaves their positions open for an entirely new set of candidates.

There are two pairs of candidates running for president and vice president, and one candidate, current Associate Comptroller Dylan France, for comptroller. Current Speaker of the Assembly William Treloar is campaigning for president alongside running mate Yasmin Nayrouz, who is currently SA’s vice president of university affairs. Elliot Salas, a member of SA since his freshman year, is running for president with vice-presidential candidate Brendan Murty, also an SA member.

The four candidates for president and vice president participated in an executive debate at the National Veterans Resource Center’s K.G. Tan Auditorium on Thursday night, where they presented their campaign platforms and addressed relevant on-campus issues, like over-enrollment and SU’s Department of Public Safety bias reporting protocol.

In addition to the executive board positions, the student body will vote for select assembly representative positions, including representatives for SU’s 13 schools and colleges, as well as at-large assembly representatives. The representatives will be responsible to draft legislation, collaborate with their committees, review recommendations from SA’s Finance Board and support the organization’s events.

But in elections leading up to this year’s, SA has struggled with declining turnout among student voters. Bruen noted lower turnout for SA elections over the past few years.

In the spring election of 2016, the 3,061 votes cast represented 21.5% of SU’s student body. Last fall, only 676 votes – 4.38% of SU’s student body – were cast for the 19 candidates, despite an increase in the total number of SU’s undergraduate student population.

Bruen said one factor in the disconnect is that a large number of students don’t fully understand SA’s role on campus. He added that many students also aren’t aware of the organization’s efforts and initiatives, including the Grocery Store Trolley Initiative and free menstrual hygiene products on campus.

SA is doing its best to increase voter turnout, Bruen said, which includes incorporating a more creative, layered approach in an effort to reach every student on campus one or more times. SA tries to reach students via communications like fliers, emails and social media posts, and it also connects to students through classes, tabling sessions and town halls.

“Students don’t always know that we’re responsible for some of these things or that we exist or the role that we play,” Bruen said. “But it’s tremendously important what we do, and that we communicate more and more to students to really impress upon them the value that we bring.”

Bruen emphasized SA’s significant role at the university in addressing persisting issues and concerns. These include surrounding Syracuse Graduate Employees United’s unionization campaign and pushes for increased financial accessibility for current students, as well as pertaining to the upcoming Supreme Court decision which could ban affirmative action.

Amid the climate crisis, Bruen contended that success for the ballot’s 2030 Carbon Neutrality referendum would be one of the “most significant things” any student government has done.

“It’s not very often you see some student leaders work with their university on such a significant goal and policy trajectory,” Bruen said.

SA has been working on the carbon neutrality announcement for two years, Bruen said. After releasing its sustainability report in December 2022 — which outlined a recommended update to SU’s 2009 Climate Action plan — SA wants to give students an opportunity through the election to show their support for the changes to the university.

“It is vital – I don’t say this lightly – it is vital that students get involved in student engagement and care, because we will be even more powerful when we’re together,” Bruen said.

The 2023 SA election will be open from midnight on Monday, March 27 until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 31. Students can vote from their SU Google accounts for SA officials and on the 2030 Carbon Neutrality Referendum through a Google Form available on SA’s website.

Published on March 26, 2023 at 10:38 pm

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu