By Isabelle Veloz
Voting for the Purchase Student Government Association (PSGA) spring primary election closes on March 11, with several Executive Board (E-Board) positions running unopposed.
The election features uncontested races, including positions for president, chair of senate, coordinator of finance, coordinator of clubs and organizations, and general programming coordinator.
The races for coordinator of public affairs and relations along with the senator for the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences are the only contested positions with more than one candidate running. Meanwhile, no candidates are running for vice president.
The current Coordinator of Public Affairs and Relation Sedajah Lance-Stewart doesn’t like the idea of there only being one candidate to choose from. “Normally, in any election when there’s only one choice, it doesn’t really work out well for the people,” she said. “But this is just Purchase College, so it could work out well, but I'm not too hopeful.”
Sophia Pallozzi, the current president, has confirmed she will not seek re-election, explaining the stress associated with the position. “I decided not to run because I want to get another job,” she said. “It was a great experience, but I feel like I should let someone else take over now. I’ve been involved since 2023, and I feel like it’s time for me to move on.”
While she values her time in the position, Pallozzi acknowledges the challenges that come with it. “I love what I do, but it’s stressful. What gives it a lower rating is how students take a lot out of us that we can’t change,” she said.
“We get a bad rep, but we’re doing so much that people don’t see. The downside is the misunderstanding between students because they don’t inform themselves,” Pallozzi said.
Pallozzi also notes that the demands of the position may be discouraging student body members from joining the PSGA. “I honestly feel like the positions aren’t being filled because no one wants to do them,” Pallozzi said. “People don’t want to run because it’s so much work. We work all day, every day—even on weekends and breaks—and we don’t get paid for that. We definitely get paid less than we deserve, but it is what it is.”
As she steps away from the role, Pallozzi reflected on criticism faced throughout her presidency and says, “to the people that didn’t really like how I ran things, try and sit in my position for a day and see how it is.”
Rachael Girsang, the current vice president, has confirmed she is also not seeking re-election, citing both the demands associated with the role and her upcoming graduation. “Even if I was still returning to school next semester, I think my time here is done. I’ve gained all the experience that I wanted to get out of this,” she said. “I've reached a point where it's time to move on. It’s definitely been a journey of growth, and I truly believe that I’ve learned a lot along the way.”
“It gets stressful sometimes; a lot of things get thrown at you left and right, and you have to learn how to manage your job on top of school,” Girsang continued. “We do get underpaid for the amount of work that we do, but it's not about the money when you're in a leadership position. It's definitely more about passion and dedication than making sure you get paid the right amount of money. I would love to get paid more, but I understand the circumstances that we’re in.”
“Being such close friends with the past president from the beginning of her presidency to the end I saw how much mental effect it had on Me'ilani [the previous PSGA president] and I think that no one wants that role because it's never good for anyone in it,” Lance-Stewart said.
Lance-Stewart noted that Pallozzi is “doing a great job,” but appears to be under a lot of stress, something Pallozzi has acknowledged herself. “I can understand that it's a tremendous amount of work to be the PSGA president. Not only is it a lot of work, but you open yourself up to a lot of criticism and bullying,”
Lance-Stewart made clear that “everyone kind of understands at this point that being president of the PSGA is not a good job, and they probably don't think it's worth the pay, which I don't think it is either.”
Nellie Duggan-Haas, the current PSGA office manager, is running for the presidential election unopposed in hopes of resolving various challenges that the PSGA faces.
“There are a lot of issues that I have with the PSGA, and that's one of the things I want to work on as president. I want to help keep the PSGA more efficient and productive,” said Duggan-Haas. “One thing I think we need to work on is the internal systems that we use to keep people in check, like HR [Human Resources] meetings.”
“We don't have anyone who’s HR trained or trained for mediation, so if someone thinks you're not doing your job well enough, they can request an HR meeting for you,” continued Duggan-Haas. “The term 'HR meeting' is used for all kinds of issues; for example, if a club has an issue with the way that you’re speaking with them, it becomes a very he said she said situation where everyone complains about each other and it doesn’t seem so productive.
As president, I would be the primary liaison between the student body and administration. The administration can recognize that [the PSGA president’s voice] does represent the mass, and hopefully they’ll have a little more grace with me and I'll be able to speak on behalf to the students,” Duggan-Haas added. “One of the things I want to work on is shared governance… this is the way that faculty, staff, and students can all have a voice to give to administration regarding anything that affects the campus.”
Duggan-Haas also notes drama as an additional issue faced and says, “Everyone at this school knows something about everyone, and it's gonna be kind of unavoidable. I want to work on acting professionally in and out of the workplace.”
Duggan-Haas continued by highlighting the conflict of our shared governance and aims to incorporate the goals of the student body into the decisions made by the PSGA.
“The easiest way to do that would be through a survey where there’s a Google form and we put QR codes around and advertise it. This way, I can have something that's open all the time that people can add to throughout the year,” Duggan-Haas said. “I also think that town halls are a great idea. [former president] Me'ilani was the one who started with them, and I do think we should continue with that.”
The problem is it's not decision making, so you can do anything through the college senate, but it'll just be like, ‘please admin we really want this’ and admin will just be like ‘no.',” said Duggan-Haas. “Our governance has not been productive and organized in a way that makes sense.”
As Pallozzi considers the future of her position, she expresses confidence in Duggan-Haas and says, “I know Nellie really well, they've been involved too, and they know the bylaws and the constitution too. I'm not nervous for them to run, I'm just nervous that once they get into the position, they’re gonna be bombarded like I was, and I know they can probably handle it. I have a lot of faith in them.”
“I would have preferred if there was more than one option for a presidential candidate, but I think it truly reflects the current state of the PSGA,” said Jason Berry, a student running for coordinator of public affairs and relations.
“Five E-Board Positions are uncontested, and the Vice President position is vacant; It’s a matter of low turnout and involvement from the student body and it’s unfortunate,” Berry said. “However, I personally know Nellie, and I can say for certainty that they are highly qualified for this position. I know how insanely dedicated they are to their work, and I’m excited to witness all they have planned. I only wish they were able to receive this position in a proper election that provided the people with another choice.”
Berry further noted advertising conflicts, claiming that he believes the elections were handled poorly. “There was an original election timeline set in mid-February, however, it was only advertised on Instagram. Not every student has Instagram,” he said.
“The coordinator of public affairs can send blast emails out to the student body, but there was no email, nor were there any physical flyers advertising these positions,” Berry continued.
Ryan Hobson, a freshman English and global literature major noted he doesn’t care for the current state of the campaign. “If people are up and arms about Nellies lack of opposition somebody should step up to the occasion,” Hobson said.
“In this new election timeline we are in, problems continued to rise with advertising. The announcement of the poll's opening and the candidate introductions was done in an Instagram reel posted late at night, the night before the Senate meeting,” Berry said. “Not only that, but a voting link wasn’t provided, and neither was the location of the Senate. A blast email with the appropriate information was finally sent two days after the polls officially opened and hours after the candidate intros took place.”
Duggan-Haas later went on to say, “I do think some people in the PSGA just had faith in me and don't feel the need to run against me, thats not to say there’s no one who could do it other than be but I think that some of the people who would be good at it are buddies of mine and would rather just work with me.”
The election results will be announced during the Senate meeting on March 12 at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Services Building.
Comments