On Friday evening, results for the 2021 SGA election were announced in a virtual Zoom meeting â and the Forward campaign triumphed.
This was the second election season taking place during a global pandemic, so this naturally altered some aspects of studentsâ campaigns. However, this did not stop them from putting their best efforts forward.
The three campaigns in the running during this election were EMPOWER, Forward and The Volunteer Way. Each campaign promised a fresh start and new ideas should they be elected, but it will be Forwardâs job to put these promises to the test.
Each of the Top Four candidates come from the Forward campaign.
When Walker Hoover ran for student body president with the Promise campaign as a sophomore in 2020, he knew that no sophomore student had ever been elected to the position. But, these odds did not stop him from trying to be the first.
Although Hoover was not elected president last year, he has spent his time since the 2020 election considering whether or not he wanted to run again. Ultimately, he decided that he had some unfinished business he hoped to complete at UT and decided to run again with the Volunteer Way campaign.
âI just go back to that simple fact that we did make these promises,â Hoover said. âNone of these promises that Iâve spoken about in the opening were fulfilled, and thatâs why weâre here.â
Wednesday evening, three Student Government Association campaigns met for a debate prior to the organizationâs annual elections. The hybrid event took place in-person at the Student Union auditorium and was also available to watch on Instagram live.
Three campaigns â Empower, Forward and The Volunteer Way â are running for executive and senatorial positions in SGA this year. From Empower, Aubrey Robinson is running for student body president, Peter Mansfield is running for vice president, Adejah Mack is running for student services director and Brian Lung is running for treasurer.
From Forward, Claire Donelan is running for student body president, Reginald Williams II is running for vice president, Nia Myrthil is running for student services director and Simon Jolly is running for executive treasurer.