Student Association President Kris Hart announced this week that he will not seek another term in office.
Hart said his goals for next year include a possible internship, business goals, spending time with friends and studying.
“Part of (the decision) was for personal reasons,” he said. “I wanted more time for other things. I wanted to get more involved in my fraternity.”
Hart, a junior, said he was planning on running again throughout most of this term, but after talking to friends, he “decided (he) needed to move on.”
Hart said he will work closely with the next SA president because it takes a few months to figure out how to do the job.
However, he said he is not looking forward to the coming election.
“I already see in this election that people are going negative,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of mudslinging, and that really turned me away. I think it turns a lot of people away.”
Sen. Ben Traverse (U-CCAS), who is running for SA president, said Hart “took the SA away from the students,” and spent too much time building relationships with administrators.
“I think (students) would rather have had Kris fight for student rights and student orgs.,” Traverse said.
Hart said he hopes his presidency will be remembered for its “great relationship with the administration,” services such as AskGeorge and the Foggy Bottom entertainment guide and its positive attitude.
Traverse also said Hart kept a financial discrepancy concerning its records between the University and the SA secret for four to five months.
Omar Woodard, who is also running for SA president, said Hart’s dropping out changes the dynamics of the election, and is sure Hart made the best decision for himself.
“The issue isn’t ‘can I do a better job’ but ‘can I build upon’ (what Hart did),” Woodard said.
He said SA president is a “tough job” and Hart “has done the best job he could.”
The third student who announced his candidacy for president, SA Vice President for Undergraduate Student Policy Isaiah Pickens, said there is now more “equal footing” between candidates because Hart has name recognition.
He said he is excited for the election, and there are several qualified candidates.
He said he wants to make the SA the type of organization that fosters school spirit.
“(It should make students) proud to say they’re Colonials,” Pickens said. “It’s the same type of spirit that makes Georgetown Hoyas say they’re proud to be Hoyas or Syracuse Orangemen proud to say they’re Orangemen.”
