Student elections have been going on at West Texas A&M University and a runoff election will be required to decide who will be the student body president. A runoff election must take place when none of the candidates reach the required majority of the votes. The top two candidates will then take part in a runoff election. The two candidates that will be running for president this year are Edward Akinyemi, a senior biology major and Benton Allen, a senior engineering major.
“I want to represent the students as a whole,” Akinyemi said. “Without the students there will be no president, so if I’m elected to this position I want to represent all of the students and organizations and unite WTAMU as a family.”
Akinyemi has been president of the United Student Alliance and four other organizations on campus as well. Akinyemi has many goals if he is elected. He would like to help everyone within the university be acknowledged, no matter the size of the organization or department. He would like to make sure that all of the students’ hard work is recognized.
“I want to promote an environment of communication between students and faculty members,” Allen said. “I want to improve the ability of different organizations, departments, and officers on campus to advertise their events.”
Allen has been involved in many organizations such as Buffs for Christ, Readership Ambassador his freshman year, and is currently the Vice President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Allen wants to improve the relationship between students and faculty and believes that students should be able to communicate with their professors and have access to their grades whenever they need them.
If students want to see change in the university, the best way to make that happen is to vote in the election.
“All elections are important,” Nune Perez, junior political science major, said. “Elections are very powerful.”
The runoff election will take place March 31 and April 1. Both of the candidates have platforms that will help improve WT as a whole. More information can be found on the Student Government Facebook page (West Texas A&M Student Government) or on the university website.
