The Election

On Thursday, April 7th, Students gathered in the Howard Performing Arts Center for a special presentation. Before the ceremonies commenced, there was a buzz of energy in the audience for the event to come. The student body was there to listen as the 2022-23 candidates for the Andrews University Student Association (AUSA) gave speeches to prove to the student body that they were the right people to represent them. Some of these candidates had competition for their positions, others ran unopposed, and two were not in attendance and had to prerecord their speeches. The five candidates in attendance sat in a semicircle of chairs with a podium ahead of them in the middle of the stage.

At 11:34 A.M., the lights began to dim as some pre-event announcements flashed on the Howard screen. Once the announcements were finished, the current president of AUSA, Dongchan Kim (senior, religion), came onto the stage and welcomed the audience. He then briefly introduced the positions and their corresponding roles, then prayed. When his section had finished, the current AUSA officers began to come on the stage to introduce the positions they held, describe the skills that were needed for these positions, and the goals should be aimed for in each post.

The first office in contention was the position of “Senator-at-Large,” which was introduced by the position’s current holder, Karenna Lee (sophomore, English). The first candidate to present was Ralph Gifford (sophomore, explore Andrews), who took a less formal approach by wearing his iconic bright orange jacket and signature bike helmet. He built his platform on making co-curricular courses more tailored toward individual majors and student interests and trying to get more items served in the Gazebo. He spoke about his experience in leadership as a TLT (Teen Leader in Training) in the pathfinder program and as a homeschooler, where he was the de facto “president every year.” The other candidate was Rock Choi (sophomore, exercise science), who took a more conventional approach to the office by wearing formal clothing. His platform was based on a desire for students to feel heard by the faculty and for these same students to be confident in their ability to eat something after class. He proposed doing this by introducing a vending machine in the Science Complex and fixing the one in the James White Library.

The following introduction was that of the Student Movement Editor-In-Chief. Its current holder, Alyssa Henriquez (senior, biochemistry and English), introduced this position and the singular candidate for the role. That nominee is Alannah Tjhatra (junior, biochemistry) who is a current member of AUSA in the position of Associate Secretary. She is currently “The Student Movement’s” Pulse Editor. Her speech and platform can be summarized in her statement that she would like to “hear and share your stories.”

The following office in contention was that of the Social Vice President, and it was introduced by Taylor Biek (senior, exercise science). The first candidate, Hailey Prestes (junior, interior design), spoke about her passion for career and event planning and her experience as a current assistant to Biek. She also ran on a platform to expand gym hours and generally give the student body more time to have fun. She stated, “a vote for me is a vote for your dreams.” The next candidate, Denisse Hirujo (sophomore, architecture), mentioned her Caribbean heritage before talking about the campus's diversity. She noted that AU is an international campus with a rich culture that should be tapped into because “if we all [are] united, we can do better things.”

The next position was the executive vice president, which T. Bruggeman (junior, computer science and physics) introduced. Andrew Rappette (senior, business) was the only candidate. He could not come in person as he is currently in Spain, but he submitted a video where he gave multiple examples of what he would like to change on campus to make things better for students. One example was introducing a better voting system for elections. He concluded his video by saying, “A vote for Andrew Rappette is a vote for change.”

The final position was that of the president. The current president, Kim, introduced this position and its candidate. Shanelle Pagunsan (senior, nursing), was also unable to attend in person as she was attending clinicals. She recorded a video for the student body where she spoke about her vision for Andrews. This vision includes revamping programs and adding new ones for the students. Some examples of her vision in practice include increased collaboration with student clubs and creating more programs to increase focus on mental health and relaxation. She concluded by saying that her goal, and the goal of AUSA, “is to serve you” and then said, “a vote for me is a vote for you.”

When the speeches concluded, a QR code was displayed on the big screen for a few moments to scan and submit votes. AUSA also sent out an email to the student body with a link for us to vote. This link will be open until Wednesday, April 13th at 5:00 p.m. and will determine who our leaders are in the new school year.