Belmont’s Student Government Association is holding elections from March 5-7 for students to vote on the next president and vice-president.
The two primary campaigns are for junior Frank Reed and junior Abi Daugherty and sophomore Sierra Byrd and sophomore Greiner Gumerson.
Both campaigns have been stumping since Feb. 25.
Succeed with Reed
Succeed with Reed, the name of Reed’s campaign, has several goals including to build better commuter spaces, provide new furniture in the Janet Ayers Academic Center and have more accessible practice rooms and instruments.
Reed has been involved in SGA for the last three years and looks to bring that experience to the presidency.
“I have learned a lot about the ins and outs of the organization,” Reed said. “I have had quite a storied history with student government, enough to where I know for a fact that I can solidify Carter's gains in many ways, and that I'm the right person for the job.”
Carter Barnett was the previous student body president and ushered in programs such as the Period Product Program and additional changes to dining hours.
Reed has actionable steps to make his campaign promises a reality by doing the research and planning out solutions before giving them to administration.
“My goal is to look into these issues... to make the change for administration be as simple as signing a piece of paper to have everything laid out for them professionally in an organized manner, so that they can take that last step,” said Reed.
His campaign led by Austin Cobb has focused around making students aware that he and Daugherty are committed to listening to their concerns.
Abi Daugherty was not available for an interview at the publication of this article.
Sierra Byrd HQ
Byrd’s campaign has been running under the acronym of S.E.R.V.E, which stands for the five pillars of the campaign: safety, emotional wellness, representation, voice and excellence.
Byrd has served on SGA for the past two years as a senator, and Gumerson is in his second year as a senator
Byrd’s campaign’s primary policy concerns are to improve campus mental health services, continuing existing relationships with Campus Security to improve safety on campus and continuing SGA’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in meaningful ways.
“It's students serving students,” said Gumerson. “It is representing the student body as beautiful and diverse as it is and making sure we represent them and making sure we emphasize diversity in our DEI chair.”
Under the campaign’s plan, they would also like to create a chair for emotional wellness to emphasize students’ mental health on campus.
“We're not just like faces behind a screen or just names on a ballot, like we are real people. We all have emotions, and we all have feelings. We're all putting blood, sweat and tears into this,” said Byrd campaign manager Ana Martinez.
Byrd and Gumerson have campaigning in lieu of the death of freshman Nate Tisherman.
Byrd declined to interview because of the campaign’s pause on any further campaign events.
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This article was written by Braden Simmons with contributory reporting from Ria Skyer