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SGA hopefuls gathering signatures as elections approach

Rachel Newville0

Student Government Association elections are fast approaching, with less than a month until voting opens. Leading up until Feb. 28, students will see more and more SGA senators and hopeful senators petitioning and campaigning to get seats.

According to the SGA website, the organization serves as a bridge between the students and the South Dakota Board of Regents, among other purposes.

“SGA is responsible for allocating money to student organizations each year to provide cultural, recreational, educational and social opportunities outside of the classroom,” the website adds.

There are currently 25 senators serving the student body.

Epiphany Knedler, a fine arts representative since March 2016 and a former Volante staffer, said her experience being elected to represent a college was fairly straightforward.

“As a college senator, I first had to declare my candidacy with a petition,” she said. “I had to get a certain number of signatures based on the population of the school I was representing – for the fine arts it was around 30.”

There are strict rules governing how SGA hopefuls may conduct their campaigns. Knedler said she was able to successfully orchestrate her campaign within the confines of SGA rules.

“As a senator we are not allowed to spend money on our campaign, so I could only campaign by word of mouth,” Knedler said. “This was fairly easy since I know many students in each of the departments in the college. Since it is a small college, there is only one spot for representation.
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Half-way through the campaign my only opponent dropped out so I ran unopposed. I was successful and began my term in March.”

Depending on the college, students running for a senate seat have to get a designated number of signatures from people in their respective college and return the petitions to the SGA office by 5 p.m. on Feb. 14.
Once the petitions are turned in, the candidate is put on the ballot. Voting on myUSDportal opens Feb. 28 and ends March 1 at 5 p.m.
First-year business major Dane La Fleur said while he wasn’t overly familiar with SGA, he realizes the organization’s importance on campus.
“Yeah, I think it’s important, because they fund all the groups on campus,” he said.
Sophomore psychology major Leah Pechacek and fellow sophomore Kinesiology major Katie Eining weren’t exactly sure what SGA’s purpose was.
“Right now I personally don’t care and don’t really know what they do,” Pechacek said.
“I’ve seen stuff on the tables, but just never taken the time to learn what they do,” Eining said in agreement.
Knedler said she thinks not enough students are informed about the SGA election process.
“I think there is definitely more to be done to educate students in electing senators,” she said. “I was aware of the process because I had an interest in government, but many students do not know how students are elected or when they can vote. I believe this past election saw a voter turnout in the teens, which is very low.
The rules set forward by SGA itself may be a stumbling block for students who would like to be involved but find the process daunting, Knedler said.
“I think more could be done if the regulations were to be changed, for example being able to do anything besides word of mouth,” she said. “Otherwise, administration should be aware of how the process works so they can continue to educate students as there is constant student turnover.”
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