Graduate Student Government Association (GSGA) extended the declaration deadline for executive vice president after receiving no candidate declarations in time.

The initial declaration deadline, March 16, was extended to March 18, according to Chief of Staff Alys Brown (19L). Ballots for the graduate-wide campus election for GSGA president and vice president will be open between March 26 and March 29.

After the extension, Meghna Ravi (23G) and Taylor Thul (17G, 19N, 22G) declared their candidacies for vice president. Only one student, Student Bar Association (SBA) Vice President of Academic Affairs Cody Long (20L), declared his candidacy for president.

The winners of those races will replace current President Sydney Kaplan (19L) and Executive Vice President Elyse Cooke (20T).

The ballot will include “no confidence” and “write-in” options. In a March 17 email to the GSGA legislature, Brown encouraged those interested in running for president to reach out to her as “write-in” candidates in order to make the election competitive.

When asked why she thought so few people had stepped forward for both positions, Brown speculated that potential candidates might have been worried about the time commitment.

“I think they saw how much Sydney worked this past year and so they thought it would be a little bit too much,” Brown said.

Brown added that several GSGA members are currently in their later years of graduate school, which require more intensive study and would leave them less time to commit to an executive role.

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Caroline Catherman (20C) is a Psychology and English double-major from Atlanta, GA. She likes dogs, hiking and traveling!