While most of the campus was sleeping early Friday morning, a contingent of die-hard Student Association want-to-be members was wide awake.
Dozens of students gathered in Kogan Plaza and at the stroke of 7 a.m., a mad scramble began across H Street in an effort to grab prime real estate on the Marvin Center’s exterior walls in the annual start of the election postering season.
Student Association, Marvin Center Governing Board and Program Board candidates and their supporters braved cold and icy conditions to tape their posters to the walls.
“The sprint across the street was so fun,” said SoB-U candidate Ethan Elser, a freshman, as he held coveted wall space near the entrance of J Street.
The poster-hangers’ strategies were straightforward.
“Just hustle, get in front of the line,” said freshman Shakir Cannon as he held up posters with his hands, elbows and hips supporting CCAS-U candidate Eric Woodard, a junior.
“We have big boys, and they’re going to rush in,” said sophomore Amanda Asgeirsson, a supporter of PB chair candidate junior Peter Fu, just before the 7 a.m. rush.
The candidates and their supporters were excited and did not shy away from getting physical in their quest for the best poster positions.
“They put their full body weight against me. They kicked my best friend,” said presidential candidate Nicole Capp, a sophomore, as she was trying to defend her spots.
“How fabulous is that?” she exclaimed after hanging a poster in what she thought was a prime spot outside of the Academic Center.
Executive Vice Presidential candidate Nick D’Addario focused on hanging posters on the Academic Center for himself and Marc Abanto, the Student Union presidential candidate whereas most candidates focused on lining the Marvin Center walls with the campaign material.
“We probably had 100 to 120 people turn out for the Student Union,” said Abanto, a junior. “That made me happy”
Temperatures dropped to the teens Friday morning, according to The Weather Channel’s Web site.
“My fingers … I can’t feel them but they’re burning,” said CCAS-U candidate Eric Woodard. Woodard and his supporters had some trouble getting their posters to stick to the plaster walls outside of the Marvin Center, “but we’re in good spirits,” he said.
The cold seemed to cut back on the number of people who showed up this year, said sophomore Laura Bentele, chair of the Joint Elections Committee, a five-person body that is overseeing the elections. The event was “pretty subdued because of the weather,” she said. “Definitely because of the cold we had less people show up.”
Bentele and other JEC officials oversaw the event to make sure the candidates and their supporters followed proper procedures. As the excitement from the initial rush calmed down, she had yet to witness any violations of the election rules, but said JEC officials would survey the posters to make sure all candidates complied with the rules. For example, candidates can be charged with a violation of the JEC charter if posters overlap one another or if they are too high off the ground.
In addition to the Marvin Center and the Academic Center, posters were hung at the Law School near University Yard and outside of Funger Hall.
Not all the candidates for SA President made the run across H Sstreet Friday morning.
“(David) Tito (Wilkinson) is at Mount Vernon,” said EVP candidate Brand Kroeger, referring to his running mate Wilkinson, a junior who is running for SA president.
“We sent the president out there. They need a special love,” said Kroeger, a sophomore.
