Throughout this school year, I’ve enjoyed the distinct honor of serving as the Student Government Association (SGA) President. When I first began my campaign, the SGA was facing a tumultuous period of seemingly never-ending problems including budget shortfalls, a tense campus climate, rising costs of living and a lack of sufficient services for our students.

Unlike the candidates of old who talked a big game but didn’t deliver, I am proud to say my administration has followed up challenges with tangible results. For example, we have secured the opening of an on-campus food pantry, increased funding for student groups, initiated substantial reforms to our financial processes and created a Demonstration Response Advisory Board to ensure student and faculty voices are included in the demonstration response process. This year we have observed substantial improvements to the state of our Student Government and our campus that many thought not to be possible a year ago. However, there is still a lot of work to be done.

These improvements were never intended to be a one-year process but rather a revolution in student advocacy on this campus. If we want to see more reforms implemented and the continued improvement of student life, then we must have the right leaders in place to get the job done. Hence why I am proud to endorse Hadiya Ahmad and Dale Leone as Write In candidates for President/Vice President and Ava Marino for Student Trustee.

Hadiya and Dale are the only candidates in this race who don’t just talk about change but have proven that they will get the job done. Hadiya has played an instrumental role in expanding the SGA’s Outreach and increasing transparency with the student body.

Prior to Hadiya’s tenure as Secretary of Public Relations, hardly anyone on campus even knew what the Student Government Association was. Now we have seen a significant increase in voter turnout, interest in positions and respondents on student consultation forms. Additionally, Hadiya has demonstrated strong and passionate leadership through the Pakistani Student Organization (PSO), the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the Legal Studies Undergraduate Board (LSUB). Hadiya’s experience in leading several RSOs provides her with a firsthand perspective of the issues facing RSOs and a clear vision for how the Student Government must address them.

Dale Leone has served as my Vice President throughout the past year and has been instrumental in our administration’s many victories. In particular, Vice President Leone has successfully led the Code of Conduct Reform effort with a focus on restorative justice and protecting First Amendment rights.

While we have the ability to effect great change on our own campus, it is equally important that we have a fierce student advocate on the Board of Trustees which oversees tuition increases, campus policies, and financial investments. I believe that Ava Marino is the best choice for this role.

I first met Ava a few months ago and her passion for students immediately stood out to me. I was particularly impressed with her strong business and sustainability background serving as a member of the Isenburg Sustainability Club and on her House Council. Ava holds the strongest stances on opposing tuition increases, ending harmful financial investments and reaching Carbon Zero of any candidate in this race. I believe that her strong pro-student convictions combined with her extensive business and marketing experience will make her the perfect candidate to advocate the needs of the Student Body to the Board of Trustees.

You will hear the other candidates in this race talk a big game about how they will solve every problem we are facing, but I implore you to ask them what they have accomplished in their current roles to achieve this feat. Unfortunately, many of the alternatives in this race have resorted to playing political games all year rather than collaborating to solve the problems we are currently facing. If they aren’t doing anything in their current roles as Chair, Senator, etc. to work towards solutions why should we expect them to do so in the positions they are seeking?

We cannot return to a time when our SGA puts petty drama over delivering tangible results. If you want to see the great work we began this year continue it is essential to write in Hadiya Ahmad and Dale Leone for President and vote for Ava Marino for Student Trustee between March 4th-7th on Campus Pulse.

Thank You,

Colin Humphries, Student Government Association President

Colin Humphries can be reached at [email protected].