SGA elections for the 2022-2023 academic year are underway. However, all of the candidates are running for their positions uncontested, and many other positions have no one running. 

This is unusual, as election year can usually be characterized by students campaigning, and those who are not running checking election results to see who will represent the student body for the upcoming academic year. Although none of the races was contested, elections were still held from Tuesday March 15 through Wednesday March 16. All students whose names appeared on the ballots in turn became members of SGA for the positions they were running for, regardless of how the voting went. In an email from the SGA voting commission, the importance of the election process regardless of the uncontested races was emphasized. 

“Even though there are no contested races within SGA this Spring semester, which means all students on the ballot will be members of SGA, it is still important for students to be a part of and become familiar with the election process,” the SGA Elections Committee said.

Although many SGA positions are still vacant, SGA is encouraging students to sign up for these positions through Wednesday, March 23. Through the form, students can sign up for vacant executive board positions that SGA is hoping to fill before the start of the Fall 2022 semester. The positions that still need filling are Chief of Staff, Director of Finance, Director of Public Relations, Director of Programming, Director of Athletics, and Chief Justice.

In addition to the executive board positions that need filling, there are also openings for positions within the Senate, Legislative and Executive Branches. Through a different link sent in the same email as the link for executive board applications on Saturday, March 19, students can sign up for several positions within those branches. The areas of SGA needing positions filled include Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Executive Administration, Finance, Public Relations and Athletic/Basketball Lottery, as well as Judicial under the Programming branch. 

Only three positions on the executive board have been filled so far: President, Vice President and Vice President of the DEI nominee. The student body president for the upcoming academic year will be junior Jose Garcia, and his running mate and incoming student body vice president is sophomore Thomas Dessoye. The incoming vice president of DEI is junior Kamil Vickers.

Despite the uncontested races, the incoming president and vice president want to assure University students that they are ready and prepared to represent and advocate for everyone. 

“In terms of running uncontested, this is one of the only times in SGA’s history where it has actually happened for both student body president and vice president positions,” Dessoye said. “Even though we did not have to campaign as much, Jose and I still want to build a strong relationship with the Villanova community by holding tabling events across campus where students get to know more about us, what we stand for, and how we can represent them to the best of our ability.” 

As a team, Dessoye and Garcia want to use their time serving to “bridge the gap between other organizations and student leaders on campus, advocate and push for more diversity and representation at Villanova and listen to all students.” 

While there are still several positions that need filling, students can be sure that Dessoye and Garcia will do their best to represent and advocate for the community as a whole. To help with their transition and to make sure students have a voice within SGA, make sure to check the emails and apply to the open positions by Wednesday, March 23 through the links included in the SGA emails.