Ahead of the elections for 2022-23 Student Body Officers, which are slated for March 30-31, two campaigns for the chief positions have emerged and begun promoting over the past week, getting the word out on their values and the ideas they have for the Bradley community. To help you be informed, here are recaps of the SBO candidates.
David Daye
David Daye, junior political science major, is running independently for student body president. He had previously run for the position in the spring semester of the 2020-21 school year as part of the “Building a Better Bradley” ticket.
His current campaign, which carries the slogan “Bringing out the best of Bradley,” has promoted an overarching vision of campus-wide unity, especially moving forward from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a campaign announcement video, Daye stated that his plan is to be a student leader reflective of the community and willing to work with experience and integrity to optimize the university.
“Despite so much changing around us, one thing remains the same, and that is we are the Bradley Braves,” Daye said in his video. “We are resilient. We are bold. We are courageous. Our strength lies in knowing that we are so much stronger when we come together and we need student leaders who share that collective value of unity.”
Having reportedly engaged in discussions with students for several months, Daye’s campaign has promoted four platforms that constitute a portion of the work that he plans to do as student body president. These platforms are:
- Administration accountability – Having tough conversations about administrative decisions regarding the impact they have on students
- Mental health – Responding to student demand for more diverse mental health staff and requesting university research on the long-term effects of the pandemic on student mental health
- Student organizations – Connecting with student organizations by organizing “listening tours” for Senate members to attend organization meetings and report back to Senate leadership
- Greek life – Strengthening Senate’s relationship with Greek organizations by reaching out for one-on-one talks with the presidents of each organization
Lydia’s Leaders
“Lydia’s Leaders” is a ticket composed of four students: Kaitlyn Morrison, Branden Magdaleno, Krima Thakkar and Talia Elliott. The students, all current chairpeople and senators within Bradley Student Senate, are respectively running for student body president, speaker of assembly, director of administration and chief of staff.
According to advertisements posted to their Instagram, the group’s collective goals include advocating for a property agreement between Greek life and the university, researching green cleaning and improving maintenance for Bradley, adding more mental health support options and addressing accessibility issues through replacing desks.
Kaitlyn Morrison, a sophomore history secondary education major, has been in Student Senate since fall 2020 and currently serves as chair of academic affairs. She is also a secretary for the Bradley Student Education Association, and further works as a member of SERVE and Braves L.E.A.D.
Branden Magdaleno, a junior political science and business double major, currently serves as chairperson of diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) in Student Senate. His work in the role this semester has included organizing forums and initiatives for DEI alongside different causes including Black History Month and Women’s History Month, and keeping a line of direct correspondence with the current vice president of DEI, Warren Anderson.
Talia Elliott, junior philosophy major, joined Student Senate in fall 2021. In an Instagram highlight post, she stated that despite her being a relative newcomer, she has used this school year to be productive through working as a LAS Academic Senator. She has also served on the Library Executive Director Search committee.
Krima Thakkar, junior engineering major, currently serves as co-chairperson of public relations. This semester, she has assisted in organizing Rise of the Red and spotlighting different committees, as well as forums which include the aforementioned DEI forums.
The first public forum for the SBO candidates will be a debate scheduled for Monday at 5 p.m. Attendees are welcome both in person at the Garrett Center and virtually through Zoom.
