The unsigned editorial is the opinion of Technician’s editorial board and is the responsibility of the editor-in-chief.
As Technician predicted in 2025, this year has been extremely consequential for NC State. Student organizations have been stripped of their official statuses, faculty have been dismissed, federal actions have threatened students and concerns about environmental contamination and student fee increases have dominated the scene on campus. Technician’s Editorial Board believes that when they were needed the most, Student Government failed to show up.
The 105th session of Student Government can be characterized as disconnected from the student body, focusing almost exclusively on internal struggles and personal disputes rather than legislation that benefits the student body.
Amid these issues, student leadership feels absent. Student Body President Isaac Carreno has acted more as a trustee than a representative of the student body, as expected, delaying legislation that is important to students and not even attempting to use his position to attempt to unite Student Government in key moments of division, such as the attempted removal of GRO Chair Tan Francis.
With these concerns in mind, Technician’s Editorial Board endorses Taquan Dewberry and Ava Butler for student body president and vice president.
Dewberry’s campaign seeks to address specific issues students are facing, including affordability, holding SG accountable for representing the needs of students and standing up to administrators across the UNC System and the NC State Board of Trustees.
The Dewberry-Butler campaign provides actionable plans to re-engage with students, establish a fund for struggling students and student organizations and implement systems to make SG initiatives and progress more transparent.
The Editorial Board finds Eddinger and Rivas’s campaign good-natured, though obviously pandering for Student Media’s endorsement. We find their commitment to students through the “Odyssey Initiative” to be thoughtful and genuinely concerned with uplifting student voices.
Nonetheless, we were put off by Rivas’s misguided comments on supporting Student Media and Technician’s print publication. As a former correspondent for The Nubian Message, he framed print editions as gratifying for writers to see their faces in print, instead of providing an accessible and memorable method for delivering campus news to students. We feel that Rivas is painting himself as a representative of Student Media, although he is inexperienced, distant and not particularly qualified to speak on our behalf.
Additionally, while Eddinger and Rivas said their political differences serve as a strength rather than a weakness, we’re concerned that friction between their personalities and politics might come to fruition in the executive branch.
Issues on campus are inherently political, such as how to respond to local federal law enforcement deployments, and we suspect Eddinger and Rivas would quickly find the line of neutrality impossible to walk.
When moderators at the student body president debate asked candidates if they would take a stance on political matters publicly during the debate, Dewberry and Butler were the only pair to say yes.
The other two tickets’ platforms are insignificant compared to Dewberry and Butler’s, and what was provided in interviews and the student body president debate felt noticeably general.
Eddinger and Rivas’s vision offers some specific solutions, such as their boots-on-the-ground approach coined the “Odyssey Initiative,” but other ideas lack direction. Eddinger spoke about expanding the Know Your Rights campaign, but didn’t explain what this would look like.
On the other hand, we see absolutely no passion for student governance in Knox Trask and Hubbard Stack’s campaign. We see only a desire for power and living up to prestigious family standards. Their campaign feels the least relatable, as Trask and Stack have mostly touted their connections to wealthy and influential families and leadership in Greek Life organizations.
Compared to the other candidates, Trask and Stack’s vision can hardly be called one. They failed to offer tangible solutions to the many problems facing the majority of students. The closest they got was Trask talking about how he wants to collaborate with the Interfraternity Council and sorority presidents to help “make their lives easier.”
Last we checked, the Black Student Board saw their recognition as a student organization retracted and professors afraid to speak their minds in fear of facing the same fate as Jae Edwards, but sure, Greek Life has a pretty difficult time on campus.
Moreover, Technician finds the possibility of the Trask-Stack ticket winning incredibly concerning, as Stack is the daughter of the current NC State Board of Trustees Chair Ed Stack, and we find it unrealistic that her administration could oppose the Board without her being grounded.
In 2025, Technician’s endorsement of the Dewberry-Womble ticket was not a favorable one. We were highly critical of his campaign, but Dewberry sat down and listened. The fact that he took our criticisms to heart and worked to be a leader students can trust speaks volumes to his candidacy and makes this year’s endorsement an enthusiastic one.
When it comes to the student senate, “unfocused” would be a generous term to describe current Student Senate President Naila Din’s performance, following a disorganized, chaotic and misguided effort to remove Government Relations and Oversight Chair Tan Francis, ostensibly over excessive absences. The vote to do so failed by a 0-52 margin with 6 abstentions.
The Student Senate requires new, bold leadership — not more of the same dysfunction. This is why Technician endorses Mordecai Mengesteab for the position of student senate president.
The current political climate and state of the UNC System demand candidates willing to fight for students and their rights when necessary, and Mengesteab highlighted his willingness to do so, whether against a hostile administration or through political advocacy.
Mengesteab said he would advocate for students on campus, as well as in the political arena, drawing on the example of former student body president Cathy Sterling, who fought for students in the senate on day-to-day issues and led protests against the Vietnam War.
This advocacy is critical as the U.S. is amid another conflict in the Middle East, and as disadvantaged students fear losing their rights due to a hostile administration and often unfriendly UNC System.
Mengesteab highlighted a focus on protecting NC State’s early voting site in Talley Student Union as other universities face a loss of these sites, defending staff against hostile attacks from so-called “media watchdogs” that seek to attack staff and students’ rights and stated he was willing to combat a hostile administration if in the interest of students.
Meanwhile, Nandula models more of the same. He presided over the aforementioned disaster of a hearing to remove committee chair Tan Francis, demonstrating an inability to control a raucous chamber. And he sought to maintain a positive relationship with administration, seeming less willing to combat a hostile university administration, Board of Trustees and UNC Board of Governors.
It’s ideal, of course, to maintain a positive relationship with administration. But it cannot be in spite of students’ interests and in the face of constant attacks on their rights and freedoms.
Mengesteab presented the choice between political advocacy for students and concrete action in government as a false dichotomy, believing student government could act on behalf of students. This is seen through the organization’s political advocacy, creation of Wolfline night services and Student Legal Services, although the latter is currently under attack by the UNC Board of Governors.
Mordecai Mengesteab is the right choice to meet the moment.
For student body treasurer, Mikiya Hedgepeth is the practical choice. Similar to Dewberry, Hedgepeth possesses a down-to-earth nature and shows a passion and excitement for the position, alongside an understanding of issues impacting the current treasurer. Our campus would benefit from streamlining and automating financial procedures, like the struggling club appropriations process.
While other candidates like Aleena Kollu provided tangible solutions, Hedgepeth portrayed a solid understanding of what is being asked of the job without overcalculating or crafting infeasible answers. Though an enthusiasm for student connections is appreciated, a treasurer is not responsible for networking initiatives between organizations — Hedgepeth’s platform was the only one which remained focused on the scope of the position.
This election presents a defining moment for the student body. Will we select representatives who choose to stand up to administrative overreach, attacks on free speech and academic freedom, or will we invite another year of wannabe politicians who fight amongst themselves, abandoning the issues that affect their community?
