The Student Union Advisory Board (S.U.A.B) held its first-ever open elections last Thursday. In the past the elections have been for S.U.A.B members only.  The elections were held in Webb Hall Auditorium last Thursday.

According to the outgoing Vice President, Brandon Cyrus, S.U.A.B. realized that they needed more student involvement. “Students were not able to have a lot of input in the past. This is the first step of many to transform S.U.A.B. into a campus activity board.”

Cyrus credits this first step to the Calvin Thompson administration. It was during the Thompson Administration that the idea of an open election occurred, and the Dominique Trent administration continued and followed through with the vision.

The election process went as followed: There was an interest meeting; those who applied were later notified of their eligibility. Once notified, they were free to campaign.

In order to run for any committee chair position the candidate must have been a member of a S.U.A.B. committee.

To run for Secretary the candidate had to be a member of S.U.A.B for at least a year, and to run for president or vice president the candidate had to be a part of the E-Board for at least one year.  The position of Miss SUAB was open to all students. All candidates must have had 2.3 GPA or higher to run.

The winners were announced soon after voting closed and are as followed:

President – Latasha Hilton

Vice President – Alexius Dorsey

Secretary – Porschia Mitchell

Rules & Regulation – Kwanna Foster

Miss S.U.A.B – Torrie Burgess

Cultural Affairs – Tabitha Williams

Decoration & Environment – Ashley Echols

Film Video & Photography – Robert Hill

Games & Tournaments  – Bryan Keller

International & Minority Affairs – Alicia Richardson

Marketing & Promotions – Jeremy Knight

Social Affairs – Travis Jackson

Hopefully this first effort doesn’t go unnoticed. Jazmine Travis, a sophomore Computer Engineer major, didn’t feel the gesture. “No one really campaigned to me. I saw most of them for the first time on the day of the elections.

They would just say, “vote for me” but no one explained why I should. I didn’t know who to vote for; I was just picking random names when I voted.”

When asked about the possible issue of people not knowing who was best for each position Alexius Dorsey, the incoming vice president, says “We encouraged students to attend the candidate speeches the day elections took place for that very reason.”

Dorsey also expressed that overall S.U.A.B as a whole was excited about the elections being open to the student body. “When you think about, all of S.U.A.B’s money comes from student fee’s so it only makes sense for students to have a say,” said Dorsey.

Incoming president, Latasha Hilton, reiterates Cyrus’ and Dorsey’s comments, “This is definitely the first step to make S.U.A.B more known to the student body. We are the premiere activity board on campus and our programs should effectively reflect that. “

Hilton also shares, “Our goal for next year is to hold our elections the same day as SGA elections and use the same process they do.”

• Sylvia Obell