Two Syracuse University students will run for Student Association president and vice president as write-in candidates, creating some competition in this April’s election.

AJ Abell, a junior broadcast and digital journalism major, and Jonathan Dawson, a junior biology major, are running for SA president and vice president, respectively. Since they did not turn in a petition before the Feb. 20 deadline, Abell and Dawson will not appear on the ballot. Instead, they will run as write-in candidates, something Abell said will be a challenge.

“Obviously it’s going to be a lot more difficult because, first, people have to spell my name right,” he said.

Abell and Dawson are both members of the rowing team at SU, and Dawson is a member of the student-athlete advisory board. They said they hoped to run initially, but found out about the deadline a couple days after it had passed. Instead, they opted to run as write-in candidates.

The only candidate to announce her candidacy for SA president so far is Aysha Seedat, a junior policy studies major. Her running mate is Jane Hong, a junior broadcast and digital journalism major. Seedat is currently the chair of the Student Life Committee in SA.

Abell and Dawson said they want to bring awareness to what SA does, and expand its reach to assist more students. Their campaign has a few main points. The first is focused on transparency, and ensuring both SA and the administration include students in decisions, Dawson said.

The second point is centered on improving the relationship between students on campus and the Department of Public Safety. Abell used the example of when parties were no longer allowed at Castle Court, and students began complaining.

“Everyone feels like DPS is out to get them and out to shut down parties,” he said. “If you can just put that out in the open and have a conversation with people, I think that would just alleviate a lot of the problems.”

The third point is focused on student life, specifically dealing with sexual assault and violence that occurs on and off campus.

In the coming weeks leading up to the election in mid-April, Abell said the focus of his campaign will be on getting the word out that he’s running. The two said they are trying to have a large social media presence, and Abell added that word of mouth is key for their campaign.

“We need to get our names out and make sure people know about us to write us in,” he said.

Published on March 17, 2015 at 8:27 pm

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27