In possibly the closest race SGA elections have ever seen, Eduardo Arabu Jr. beat out Melina Rodriguez for Student Trustee 256 to 255.
The race for President was just as close; Jason Garcia got 210 votes and won by 19, beating out David Benjaih and Mark Banks who both received 191 votes. Steven Jerome had the easiest win with 457 votes to grab the Vice President post; Jerome ran uncontested.
“I look forward to working with the new Executive Board,” said Jerome.
“I think the other candidate was better prepared and more liked, but I feel he lost due to poor voter turnout,” said former Illinois Board of Higher Education Student Advisory Committee (IBHE-SAC) representative Eduardo Arabu Jr., commenting on David Benjaih’s win over Miguel Loeza. Benjaih won 264-247. Arabu went on to say, “I’m not criticizing him, and we have to give him the chance.”
Arabu was the IBHE-SAC representative for three years straight. He commented on the lack of student involvement; roughly 7 percent of the campus voted. The past three years have seen an average of less than 10 percent. Previous years saw slightly higher numbers.
Other elected officers are Melina Rodriguez, who won over Eunjoo Yoo for Secretary.
Senators elect are Yair Cardenas, Marilyn Adler, Cezary Jurewicz, Regina Torres, Jennifer Wyatt and Paul Harris.
The $5 referendum for the Campus Safety Fee passed through the student body vote. But, it did not receive the 75 percent vote it needed to bypass the Board of Trustees, the governing body of the university, like the Green Fee had last year. It is now up to the Board to decide at their next meeting in June. The fee would fund public address and notification systems, upkeep of Code Blue phones and more. This referendum came to be in response to the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois shootings.