Students have three slates to choose from in this year's Student Government Association election after University Coalition, formerly Cardinal Coalition, found replacements for an ineligible member and another and got approval from the Elections Board.
Elections Board Sheriff Nicole Akey said William Garnes and Damon Clevenger, former treasurer and secretary candidates respectively, were replaced by sophomore elementary education major Derrick Stalbaum, running for treasurer, and junior public relations and French major Megan Veit, running for secretary.
Akey said University Coalition re-submitted its elections packet Sunday and didn't have any problems. She said she didn't know why the slate had replaced two members.
Presidential candidate Kerri Cropper said the second replacement came after either Garnes, sophomore business administration major, or Clevenger, junior music education major, decided another person would be better suited to handle the stress of SGA. The slate's campaign team wants to reach all of the more than 20,000 students on campus. Cropper said the stress can be intense and that person wasn't comfortable taking that role.
Cropper declined to say which slate member was ineligible and which dropped out. She said she didn't feel that information was important to what the slate represents and she wanted to respect Garnes' and Clevenger's privacy and the Elections Code. The election is about what University Coalition can do to help campus and not about the individual members of the slate, Cropper said.
The slate didn't have a problem finding replacements, she said, because campus is full of student leaders willing to step up. Garnes and Clevenger will continue to work with the slate.
Akey said the slate can begin campaigning today when the official ballots are posted.
"They cannot release their platform until [today] at 9 a.m. but they said they have one in place and it's very solid."
Cropper said University Coalition has solidified its platform and is "ready to rock" once it becomes eligible to campaign. The new members didn't significantly change the platform ideas, she said, but the slate wanted to change its name because they are campaigning as a new slate and want to avoid any confusion.
"We're definitely ready to start campaigning," Cropper said. "We've been listening to students for a while and we're definitely ready to bring them the changes they requested."
Jennifer Wright contributed to this report.
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