2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 104
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sg elections
L
ike typical politics, LSU gives every one of its
students a right to vote. In the fall and spring,
student government elections are held. The
elections in the fall include the positions on the Legislative
Branch (or Student Senate) In the Spring, elections are held
for the Student Body President, Student Body Vice President,
College Council officers and the Student Senate. The
Judicial Branch positions are appointed by the Student Body
President and confirmed by the Student Senate.
With every election comes a ballot and individual tickets.
Throughout the past year, student candidates at LSU created
tickets alongside people who they thought would be best
suited to stand alongside them. With each ballot, students
ran for president, vice president, and college council seats,
which are divided by major.
Three tickets were on the ballot for the spring election,
including “UNITY: Better Together” with Amina Meselhe and
Preston White, “It’s Time” with Mia LeJeune and Angelina
Cantelli and “Bowman/Milligan: Unapologetic Advocacy”
with Javin Bowman and Abbie Grace Milligan. Each ticket
actively campaigned and held ticket meetings to prepare for
the election on March 24, 2021.
Amina Meselhe, presidential candidate for the “UNITY:
Better Together” ticket, is a junior civil engineering major
who has been in student government for one year. She
took part in student government as a Freshman Leadership
Council small group leader where she was able to delegate
future student leaders and foster relationships with student
government members.
“UNITY is a grassroots campaign created for students by
students.” Meselhe said. “Our two main outreach branches
are our Tiger Talks that promote the resources that exist on
campus and in the community, and the Initiatives that are
created to improve campus culture in sustainability, safety
and smart goals.
Meselhe added that their biggest plan for LSU is the
vision of mobilizing students. It is UNITY’s mission to amplify
student voices and movements, so students are always
leading the conversations that directly impact themselves.
Along with Preston White, vice presidential candidate, the
two were focused on student advocacy and accountability.
“It’s Time” is a ticket that has a goal to #MeetTheMoment
and has Mia LeJeune as presidential candidate and Angelina
Cantelli as vice presidential candidate. They focused
on several plans in their campaign, including equity
and diversity, sexual assault advocacy, student health,
sustainability, and many other policies.
In her three years in student government, Cantelli, 19,
held the assistant director and director of nontraditional
students position and has been deputy chief of staff. She
said the most impactful thing about being on this ticket was
being able to hear so many students’ testimonies of what
they have experienced at LSU and how they want to change
it.
“Mia and I complement each other perfectly in my
opinion.” Cantelli said. “We are opposite, but in the best way.
For example, I bring a lot of student government experience,
while she brings real world government experience!”
The third and elected presidential ticket, “Bowman/
Milligan: Unapologetic Advocacy,” made Javin Bowman and
Abbie Grace Milligan LSU’s student body president and vice
president. Their biggest plan is to shift the culture of LSU
to one that is proactive and always fighting against racism,
hazing, sexual assault, etc. This is a constant battle that the
ticket wants to uphold and stay fighting against.
Bowman has been in student government for three
years and has been heavily involved. He was a member
of Freshman Leadership Council then served as assistant
director of the same department. While being on this
council, he was also on the parking appeals board and the
organization relief fund committee. He then served as Senior
Advisor to the Student Body President then in Student Senate
as the Vice Chair of Academic Affairs.
“What separated our ticket from others is the experience
and involvement the students of this ticket have.” Bowman
said. “Abbie Grace and I along with our entire ticket have
been fighting for students since we stepped foot on this
campus and our genuine nature is what really and truly got
us the victory.”