Student body officer elections are far from over, with three of the four elections coming down to a ticket-on-ticket set of runoffs.
In the secretary of the assembly, speaker of the assembly (formerly vice president) and presidential races, none of the candidates were able to earn more than 50 percent of the vote. Therefore, runoff elections will be held on April 8 and 9 for the positions.
Navid Kassam of the Blue Ticket, next year’s secretary of finance (formerly treasurer), was the only candidate to earn enough votes to secure his position.
Each runoff hosts the two candidates with the highest ballot count as the contenders for the position. This year, the races are split down the middle on the tickets: both tickets, the Blue Ticket and the BUnited ticket, have a representative in each race.
The BUnited Ticket consists of Dashawn Cason for president, Russell Howland for speaker of the assembly and Kelsie Smith for secretary of the assembly.
Cason is a sophomore accounting major with minors in international studies and economics. During the last year he served as the secretary of the assembly and the special events reserve fund coordinator of the Activities Council of Bradley University. He is a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and the Student Activities Budget Review Committee.
Howland is a junior political science and LAS economics major. He is serving as the vice president for internal affairs on Student Senate and the director of philanthropy on the Interfraternity Council. He is also a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.
Smith is a sophomore biology and Spanish major who has worked with Student Senate for one year.
The BUnited Ticket said it’s their time to step up to the plate and tackle the big issues that students are facing such as tuition while still focusing on the problems that students face every day.
“Someone needs to step up,” said Howland in an interview on March 27. “[Our ticket is] the ticket that can do that.”
Cason said he agreed.
“[We have] five years of combined experience on our ticket,” Cason said. “We think that we’re ready.”
The Blue Ticket consists of Zack Shaw for president, Jonathan Teich for speaker of the assembly and Brain Deal for the secretary of the assembly.
Shaw is a junior health science major with minors in psychology and biology. He works through the university as a residential advisor. Currently, he is the president of Rotaract. He is a member of Student Senate, the Health Science Organization and Student Advisory Committee.
Teich is a junior sports communication major who works as a student aide for Bradley. He is currently serving as the public relations chair of Rotaract. He is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and works as a sports information intern through the Bradley Athletics Department.
Deal is a sophomore psychology major. He represents Bradley as an assistant resident advisor and as a student admissions representative.
In the Blue Ticket statement, the ticket discusses the importance of improving Bradley from within the student body itself. They stated that, as a team, they could help each student contribute their own “ideals and visions” of Bradley’s future.
“We are men from diverse backgrounds on this campus,” the statement reads. “Common values have brought us together … the Blue Ticket will work to make your dreams a reality.”
