Today’s senior class president runoff is the first since 2007

Approaching a rare runoff election, the two pairs of senior class president candidates have honed their messages to present to voters.

Nora Chan and Tim Palmer, who received the most votes in the general election Feb. 14, said they are going to emphasize inclusivity among the senior class.

“We have a diverse range of events for the senior class so that we can all come together,” Chan said. “These are things that people can enjoy regardless of their interests.”

Some of these events are an 80s-themed “Dean Dome Dance” benefiting Dance Marathon, a spring beach volleyball tournament and cookout and a senior stand-up comedy night.
Adam Jutha said he and Sarah Kaminer did not have a specific platform point they wanted to emphasize to voters.

“Every student has different priorities for their senior year,” Jutha said.

He said service work is a large component of the platform, as are social events and networking dinners.

“We have a holistic and well-rounded platform that meets the needs of the entire class,” he said.

Runoff elections for senior class presidents haven’t been common because usually only two pairs of candidates run, said Shruthi Sundaram, chairwoman of the Board of Elections.

She said the last senior class runoff election was in 2007.

Candidates said they have not changed their campaign approaches since the general election, in which Chan and Palmer got 621 votes and Jutha and Kaminer got 466.

The candidates said they worked hard to reach out to as many people as possible.

“We went out and gathered the highest number of signatures of all the (senior class president) candidates without using an electronic petition, so we are hoping that going out and meeting so many new people will help us gain an edge,” Palmer said in an email.

Jutha said he and Kaminer got to know their classmates by campaigning in the Pit.

The two also said they will bring something different to the election.

“We have unique backgrounds,” Jutha said. “We can come together with the goal of making our senior year the best it can be for everyone in our class.”

Chan said she and Palmer have a good chemistry that lets them work well together.

The Feb. 14 election saw some students complaining that their senior status kept them from voting while allowing some sophomores to vote.

But Sundaram said that problem has been taken care of with students now voting based on the number of completed semesters —five or six — instead of credit hours.

And candidates said they are confident that today’s election will not see the same glitches.

“I have every bit of confidence in the Board of Elections to make sure the elections run smoothly,” Jutha said.

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