VCU SGA Elections Spring 2013: Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidate Profiles

Each spring, the Monroe Park Student Government Association holds their most important elections. On the ballot this time around are thirty seats in the SGA senate, as well as the presidential and vice presidential seats. We asked the presidential and vice presidential candidates why they thought they were fit to serve the student body.

Read about the candidates below, and then vote in the SGA election HERE. Voting opened on Tuesday morning and is open through midnight on Thursday, March 21st.

 

Presidential Candidates:

Omnia Khaled Elgoodah
Age: 22
Class Rank: Junior
Major: Human Rights and Non Profit Organizations
Semesters in the SGA: 2

Omnia Khaled Elgoodah said she is running for president to serve the student body more effectively. If elected, Elgoodah believes she will be able to increase student awareness of the SGA and in doing so, increase their awareness to their voice at VCU.

“Through my semesters of service at the SGA and the surveys I have done in the student body, I have learned a lot about the issues affecting the student body and I believe that as a president, I can solve these issues faster than as a Vice Chairwoman,” Elgoodah said

Elgoodah is involved in the following student organizations: Muslim Student Association, Arab Student Association, Sudanese Student Organization, Arabic Student Association, Students at Risk Mentor, Next Generation and the NAACP.

“I want everyone to know that even if I don’t win, I am always ready to serve the student body. Anyone can come to me with issues about the school and I will still do my best to solve them as a Chairwoman or a Senator,” she said

 

Vikhyath Veeramachaneni
Age: 21
Class Rank: Junior
Major: Information Systems
Semesters in the SGA: 2

Vikhyath Verramachaneni is running to be a representative of the student body because he believes that, in its current state, the SGA is not as effective as it could be.

“I think there are people (who) do not fully understand the purpose and difference between the Senate and the President,” Veeramachaneni said. “The president has to be the voice of the student body. He has to be actively engaged in student affairs and be accessible to communicate with. I think we lack that here. I hope to change this.”

Verramachaneni is currently the president of the Theta Chi fraternity, a delegate to the Student Health Committee, a Chair of Project REACH and a member of the Cancer Awareness Team.

Verramachaneni hopes to remind the student body that they have a voice in their own school.

“I think the biggest goal or issue that bothers me is that only three percent of students voted on the election. In an urban campus with thirty thousand plus students, more people should be aware of their voice. This is my primary goal,” he said.

 

Vice Presidential Candidates:

Matthew Bacon
Age: 19
Class Rank: Sophomore
Major: Broadcast Journalism
Semesters in the SGA: 1

Matthew Bacon hopes to assist the president in his or her endeavors and to make sure that the ideas and issues of the student body are addressed in the Senate and the Executive Branch.

“I am running to be a voice of the students and to make sure that the ideas of the president are also set out in the front,” Bacon said. “I also plan on making sure that the ideas of the students get into Senate and are solved. By accomplishing this, I hope to make this school, the kind of school the students would be proud of and to make other students want to come here,” he said.

Bacon was a member of the Emerging Leaders program in his first year of college.

According to Bacon, he is in the SGA for the students and the president and not himself.

“I consider myself a loud voice in the student body,” Bacon said. “I plan on using this loud voice in getting idea across to the students and the senate and being the voice of the student body rather than in the student body. My actions in office will not be for personal gain, they will be for the student body.”

 

Yousef Nikzai
Age: 19
Class Rank: Sophomore
Major: Exercise Science with a minor in Biology.
Semesters in the SGA: 4

Yousef Nikzai came to VCU and saw a lot of flaws. He was proud to see the changes the past SGAs had done for the university and wishes to be able to accomplish the same things for the upcoming years and semesters.

“I see some flaws now. I am sure the students see it too,” Nikzai said. “I hope to solve these flaws as orderly and efficiently as possible. By doing so, I hope to make this university something the students are proud to be a part of.”

Because of his four semesters in the SGA and seats in the Student Life and Academic Affairs Committees, Nikzai believes that he is qualified for the position of the Vice President.

“In my years in the SGA, I have shadowed the Vice President and the President,” said Nikzai. “A responsibility of the Vice President is to run the Senate meetings as orderly and efficiently as possible and in order to do that you need to know Robert’s Rules. I know Robert’s Rules like the back of my hand.”

Nikzai said he is a very ambitious person and most of the goals he has planned for, he has attained. Nikzai, loves representing his constituents and hopes to represent the entire student body as well.

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