In today’s election, students will pick the person who will be their voice to UNC administration — and also decide the course for the future of student government.
Juniors Hogan Medlin and Shruti Shah will compete in a runoff election today to be the next student body president, the primary student liaison to the administration.
Shah received 16 percent of the vote in last week’s election and hopes to overcome Medlin’s 44 percent with three eliminated candidates’ support and an additional week of campaigning.
The next president will have a chance to influence a variety of issues on campus, including Greek relations, budget matters, grading policy and a new academic plan.
But in addition to influencing policy, Medlin and Shah could alter the role of student government, having taken distinctly different views on how the organization can have the greatest impact on campus.
Medlin wants to expand the cabinet — which currently has more than 40 members — to further incorporate more student participation in the organization and expand the scope of existing and emerging initiatives.
“For me, my vision next year is more inclusive of the student population. It allows more students to get involved,” he said. “Downsizing cabinet, in my opinion, can be a downfall to the student representation.”
But Shah said she intends to streamline student government by connecting committees and projects with existing campus resources to let the organization focus on implementing policy and becoming more efficient.
“I see student government as a connecting organization, one students can come to as a resource,” she said. “Student government should work simply in student policy and cooperate instead of competing with other organizations.”
Shah fell 28 percentage points behind Medlin in the general election and will look to overcome this gap in today’s election, just as current Student Body President Jasmin Jones beat frontrunner Thomas Edwards last year.
Edwards said he thinks eliminated candidate endorsements play a significant role and have the potential to encourage voters to throw their support behind a candidate.
“If you’re in Hogan’s or my situation, people naturally have animosity toward you, and there’s the supporting the underdog concept,” he said.
But unlike last year, not all eliminated candidates have made endorsements, creating a greater sense of unpredictability. Monique Hardin, the third-place candidate who gathered 14 percent of the vote and more than 1,000 votes, has not endorsed either candidate.
Shruti Shah
Year- Junior
Major- Political science
Hometown- Memphis, Tenn.
Goals if elected:
-Restructure student government so that it can become more supportive of students and student organizations by working with them instead of competing with them.
-Work to improve student government’s relationship with the town of Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina
- Do a better job of gauging student opinion by using Carolina Virtual Voice and the newly created Student Life Team as avenues for gathering student feedback about University and community issues
- Implement the goals outlined in my platform for each cabinet committee
- Make student government leaders more visible and accessible
Initial vote amount- 16%
Why should you vote for me?
I have extensive experience in student government, and I am really excited and passionate about my platform ideas and the opportunity to restructure student government so that it can better serve students.
