Differing tactics in endorsement and financial campaign strategies are what set apart this year’s student body president and vice president elections when it came down to two different tickets: Khari Cyrus and Nate Bridgers against Gavin Harrison and Meredith Mason, with Cyrus and Bridgers coming out ahead in the runoff election March 5.
One tangible difference in the two tickets was the amount of personal funds and donations that candidate spent during the campaign. Cyrus-Bridgers spent $804.44 while Harrison-Mason spent $1445.77 during the week of the campaign and the additional runoff, according to the campaign expense report.
The candidates relied on endorsements from organizations and individuals on campus as a measure of their ability to come through on their platforms. Endorsements were based on relationships that the candidate built in their time on campus, along with the ones they could earn in the week of the campaign. How candidates spent the week from 8 a.m. Monday, Feb. 23 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 was the difference in the election, according to Zach Goodman, co-campaign manager for Cyrus-Bridgers.
“Part of endorsements is knowing people. You’ll say, ‘Hey, do you feel passionate enough about our campaign that you would endorse us?’ Some of them did so without us asking,” said Goodman.
The Harrison-Mason campaign listed more than 70 endorsements on its campaign website, consisting largely of people connected to events on campus such as the Krispy Kreme Challenge, varsity athletes, members of the scholars program and traditions committee and various Greek organizations.
Cyrus said listening to students was the best way to find out what they want out of their university.
“We didn’t want to go out and tell students we were making changes if we hadn’t actually asked to see if changes were necessary,” Cyrus said. “Being plugged in on campus in various organizations allows you to hear what students are upset about and the types of things that aren’t working for them.”
Carson Shepherd, director of University Affairs and ‘It’s on Us’ coordinator, said she felt Cyrus and Bridgers had the best grasp on how to represent the needs of the university.
“Out of the six candidates, Khari and Nate were the only ones that truly, actively supported the [It’s on Us] campaign and the cause about sexual assault against women on college campuses, so they truly proved that they are an ally of women on this campus,” Shepherd said.
The Cyrus-Bridgers campaign sought student support through mutual friends and social links, according to Owen Webster, a member of University Affairs and the financial director for Engineers Without Borders.
“We tried to look at which organizations on campus we had connections to through the people that were working on the campaign to see if we had a large group of students that we didn’t have any direct connection with,” Shepherd said.
Ideologies are what makes or breaks a campaign, not physical goods, Cyrus said.
“People recognize that when campaign season comes around, there are going to be tons of students changing Facebook profile pictures, tons of signs across campus and candidates coming to speak to their organizations,” Cyrus said. “I think it’s easy for students to see through all of that stuff, and I don’t believe it’s what really sways them one way or another.”
However, Harrison-Mason’s campaign focused heavily on campaign material.
“Financially, we spent a lot on giveaways, a lot on buttons, koozies, the mason jars to get students’ attention, because unfortunately a lot of students don’t really care about student elections,” Harrison said. “You really have to get them out there and make them interested in it.”
Goodman said the signs made little difference in this year’s campaign because of the snow days and the fact that the campaign period was shortened from two and a half weeks to one.
“Obviously, you need a good set of students in Student Government to make sure that money is being handled properly,” Webster said. “Our organization is very heavily dependent on appropriations money from student government and from organizations on campus. In order to do our international projects, like the ones we have in Sierra Leone and Bolivia, we particularly need money from the university because some of these projects can end up having budgets in the tens of thousands of dollars, and appropriations doesn’t even begin to cover that.”
