Two candidates vying for the Student Association’s top spots announced their plan to run together on a joint ticket Tuesday, the body’s first ever in recent history.
SA President Brandon Hill and SA Sen. Kate Carpenter, U-at-Large, announced their bids for president last week and vice president Monday, respectively. The candidates are centering their platforms around “stability, impact and reform,” planning to tackle issues like GW buildings’ compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and financial aid reform.
The senate updated its election procedures last semester for the upcoming virtual election to allow candidates to run joint campaigns. Though the candidates are running together, students will still have the option to vote for only one candidate.
“In a historic move, Brandon Hill and Kate Carpenter will run jointly for president and vice president, respectively, of the Student Association at the George Washington University,” a press release states. “Given the Joint Elections Commission’s new guidelines around slating, the two candidates will provide the most collaborative, transformative vision the SA has seen in over a decade.”
Hill said the body needs “experienced, bold and empowered leaders” during a “crucial” moment of transition in the senate while the SA navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, divisions among the student body and an updated SA constitution that will go into effect next term.
“I would be honored to take my experiences as an EVP and senator to serve the students in this role, ushering in a new era of achievements for the student body,” Hill said in the release.
Carpenter said in an interview that it is “integral” for the students representing the executive branch to advocate for students but also work well together, which she said the two of them are “prepared and ready” to tackle.
“Although this is the first-ever slate that has happened in modern day history, it comes at a time that it’s really needed,” she said. “It comes at a time where the executive branch doesn’t look cohesive, and it comes at a time where it’s shown that when you run on separate platforms and when you run as an individual that things don’t get done as well as they would if you run as a team.”
The pair is running their campaign on issues like increasing textbook affordability and expanding women’s health and mental health services, according to the release. Both candidates outlined some of these initiatives when they originally announced their campaigns.
“Combining their own and their campaign’s broad array of experiences in and outside of the SA, the leaders and their team are set to make history as one of the SA’s most impactful executive teams,” the release states.
