Emory students elected Lori Steffel (21B) as the next Student Government Association (SGA) president on April 5. As the only candidate running for the position, she earned 1085 votes (81.9%) while 239 students (18.1%) cast a no confidence vote. Steffel previously served as SGA vice president.
Steffel’s election comes in the throes of remote learning as a result of the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. The departure of nearly all students from campus in mid-March conflicted with the election’s previous March 20 timeline.
The Elections Board postponed the election to Thursday, April 2 at 8 p.m. Ballots closed on Sunday at 8 p.m.
Mikko Biana (21C) was elected SGA vice president, earning 1073 votes (81.3%) and 247 students (18.7%) cast a no confidence vote. Biana previously served as SGA chief of staff. Both Steffel and Biana ran unopposed and, while candidates cannot officially run on a joint-ticket, they coordinated their campaigns.
Steffel said that SGA should continue holding the University administration accountable during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We want to ensure they aren’t hiding behind emails,” Steffel said, citing the miscommunication regarding the $1,000 Student Support Stipend and its subsequent correction as a positive effect of communication between student leaders and the University.
Outgoing SGA President Ben Palmer (18Ox, 20C) said the next administration will have to focus on strengthening relationships with divisional councils, Campus Life administration and the University’s communications team. He also noted the gravity of student leadership while the undergraduate body learns remotely.
“In the context of COVID, we don’t know how long this is going to go, we don’t know if this is going to lead into the fall, unfortunately,” Palmer said. “Her and Mikko are going to have to be really flexible and attentive to student needs and making sure there is some semblance of community identity -- if it has to remain remote -- or create one if people come back.”
Palmer said he had full confidence in Steffel and Biana’s ability to continue and expand on the projects he started. “Lori has been running the show for a year already."
Aditya Jhavari (21C) was elected College Council president with 577 votes (59.2%), beating Brad Bennett (22C), who received 186 votes (19.1%) and Matthew Sistrunk (21C) who received 44 votes (4.5%).
College Council vice presidential candidates Alex Koo (21C) and Ash Addanki (21C) received 406 (41.6%) and 385 (39.4%) votes respectively. Neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote so they will compete in a run-off election scheduled for April 8.
Emily Ferguson (21B) was elected BBA Council president with 124 votes (51.9%), beating Aditya Govidraj (21B), who received 93 votes (38.9%).
In the race for BBA Council vice president, Katie Lee (22B) received 109 votes (46.8%) and Rhea Kumar (22B) received 86 votes (36.9%). The candidates will compete in the April 8 run-off election because neither received over 50% of the votes
Students voting for BBA Council candidates encountered issues accessing the voting platform when ballots were first released. The issue stemmed from a technical error involving student NetID’s, according to Elections Board Chair Yiyang Mao (21B), but was quickly resolved.
Ninad Kulkarni contirbuted reporting.
