The two candidates for next year’s Student Government Assembly chairperson are slated to begin campaigning on Thursday, after being officially approved at the group’s last meeting before spring break. The candidates are running in SGA’s first popular election, which will allow the NYU student body to vote rather than leaving it up to members of the student government.
The approvals came after around an hour of deliberations, where candidates discussed how to handle political concerns on campus and advocate for international and minority students. While there were three applications for the position, one candidate did not show up and subsequently did not advance. The other two candidates will now be included on the SGA chair Google Form ballot, set to open this Thursday.
“I’m really looking forward to how the popular elections turn out, because it is our first year doing it,” SGA chair Angela Chou said in an interview with WSN. “We have amazing candidates running who will bring a lot of amazing skillsets and focuses.”
The first candidate to speak was Ashlie Oxford, a second-year graduate student studying global affairs and senator-at-large for student activists at the SGA. Oxford said she plans to organize more forums for students to voice their concerns and communicate directly with administrators, particularly in the wake of heightened protest and university crackdowns. She also said she hopes to raise awareness about the SGA’s resources by bolstering its event promotions and engaging more with the student body.
Emma Bell, a junior and CAS senator, took the floor and referenced her work to improve disability resources and accessibility concerns on campus prior to joining student government. She said she aimed to foster community across campus and bring more non-SGA members to regular meetings by increasing tabling efforts and surveying students on their main concerns. She also cited experience on the Basic Needs Task Force to create more affordable housing, and specifically to support international students’ ability to stay in New York.
“Making students feel like their voices are heard is critical,” Bell said. “We need to make it clear that the Student Government Assembly is not just for senators.”
Student government members at the meeting asked both candidates about how they would respond to conflicts with administration, support minority students and advocate for students’ interests with university leadership. Bell said she would prompt more discourse among students, and Oxford said she would focus on transparent responses to political concerns.
“Especially with the political climate we have, it’s so unpredictable — we can say we know what’s coming, but we really don’t,” Oxford said. “It’s about keeping students calm and knowing that answers will come.”
The third applicant allegedly did not respond to SGA’s outreach about their attendance, nor did they submit the required letters of recommendation. Oxford and Bell both received the required over-50% approval to proceed to the next step, and will appear on the Google Form for students to vote for their preferred candidate.
Candidates — who already submitted a 10-page application — will now campaign over social media for a two-week period, with ballots closing April 18. SGA’s elections committee will disqualify those who use “personal, organization and/or university spending” to create flyers and other physical content for their campaign, in an effort to standardize resources. The new election system comes after years of surveying students to restructure student government’s engagement with the NYU community.
“Although we only have two candidates moving on to popular elections, I do think that we have amazing candidates running who have proved to be suitable to serve as chair,” Chou told WSN. “We’re really prioritizing the quality of candidates, which will be perfect for all the students.”
Correction, April 1: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Emma Bell founded the Basic Needs Task Force. The article has been updated and WSN regrets the error.
Contact Graylin Lucas at [email protected].