By Carin Holmes
Assistant News Editor

The Student Government Board (SGB) election for the 2021-22 school year is officially underway. 

Students are running to become representatives for the entire student body (at-large) or for their own college, which includes the College of Business, College of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“I am very happy,” said SGB Vice President Jenny Wallace when asked if she was pleased by the amount of students who nominated themselves. “Every seat will be filled.”

Wallace said there is one more nominee than there are seats in the elections for the College of Education and College of Visual and Performing Arts representatives. 

“Competition is great,” Wallace said. “We are just glad to have every seat filled.”

Laura Gahagan, a College of Education nominee, is excited for the possibility of another term.

“Since I am going into my senior year, I have found that there are things I wish I knew when I started college,” Gahagan said. “I am interested in another term because I love being able to be a person people can turn to.”

If elected to another term, Gahagan is interested in continuing her advocacy for students to have better access to counseling services on campus.

Ciara Long, who is a nominee for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is excited about being a part of an organization she has heard so much about. 

“I became interested in becoming a representative for my college because I want to have a voice for others that are afraid to speak up,” Long said. “Also, some of my friends are on the board and they told me how awesome the SGB organization is.”

Long is concerned about communication issues from KU to the students, and if elected, she hopes to use her platform to advocate for better communication from the school.

Victoria Fischer, who is a Visual and Performing Arts nominee, is looking forward to the possibility of representing the college that has supported her.

“It’s definitely an amazing place to learn and grow as a person, so being a VPA representative would mean a lot to have the chance to advocate and assist in for a better environment on campus from an artistic standpoint and help others who need a voice, which is something I try to do through my content/videos,” Fischer said. “The opportunity to be a VPA representative would be a great new experience to meet new people, have more involvement on campus and create meaningful change at the university.”

Fischer feels that staff at KU, such as workers in the dining halls and janitors/cleaning crew, deserve more recognition for their efforts this year. She is also excited for this opportunity to step outside of her comfort zone.

All students can vote in the SGB election until Mar. 30 by filling out the ENGAGE form here. Students will be able to vote for the at-large nominees and for the nominees from their college.