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Meet the candidates: SGA 2016

The two sets of candidates running for president and vice president were announced on March 20 during lip sync. Matthew Cassidy and Deanna Loew are running against Dylan Bassham and Angel Whetstone.

On March 20, at Rollins’ annual LipSync competition, the candidates for the Student Government Association (SGA) presidency and vice presidency announced their campaigns. Cortlandt (CJ) Dunn ‘16 and Gabrielle Masse ‘16 served as president and vice president, respectively, this past school year. The tickets are Matthew Cassidy for president with Deanna Loew as vice president and Dylan Bassham as president with Angel Whetstone as vice president.

Communication between students and the SGA, renovations to the Alfond Sports Center, and creating better and more inclusive learning environments for all Rollins students are some of the main concerns discussed in this election.

The election will be on April 11-15.

Matthew Cassidy & Deanna Loew

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Matthew Cassidy ‘18 and Deanna Loew ’17 have been working with the SGA for a collective total of three years and hope to become president and vice president to achieve their larger goals for Rollins.

“Currently, [we] have begun the process of remodeling the gym, however, our goal is to have a complete remodel in the works,” the candidates said in an email.

“We also plan to create a new bus shuttle service to take students to and from the airport over winter break. Additionally, we plan on beginning a Rollins Homecoming tradition in the fall. Finally, we plan on implementing a blended learning community in the Holt School so that Holt students can join in on homecoming, Fox Day, and fall break.”

Among other things, Cassidy and Loew would encourage stronger collaboration between the SGA and student media in order to foster greater communication between students and SGA.

“The vast majority of students don’t know the work senators like [us] are doing and what services are available,” they said. “[We] want to make collaborative change with the student body to make their Rollins experience the best it can be.”

Dylan Bassham & Angel Whetstone

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Dylan Bassham ‘17 and Angel Whetstone ‘17 have extensive campus involvement and aim to encourage leadership skills and opportunities in students. They hope to give back to the Rollins community by being leaders within SGA.

“We are student leaders who are committed to being progressive, transparent and equal for all members of our community and will do everything in our power to get your voices to be heard,” the candidates said in an email.
The pair would also like to work with student media to keep students informed on SGA news.

“It is the right of every student on this campus to know the truth about what is going on and if we are elected, we would like to have a representative from each branch of the student media to cover our biggest initiatives along with an inside look into what is going on behind the scenes,” they said.

Some of Bassham and Whetstone’s primary goals include creating a better learning environment by improving faculty-student relations, renaming Neighborhoods classes, and increasing transparency and communication between students and the SGA.

They said, “We are running because we want students like this to be able to have an impact on our community today, and an impact on our school’s reputation in the future.”

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