Updated on 4/13 at 12:22 p.m.
The executive team RenewTU and five Parliament candidates won their elections, with 139 to serve in the 2021-22 Temple Student Government administration, TSG announced today. Students casted 141 votes in the Parliament races.
Student Body President-elect Bradley Smutek, a junior history major, and Samantha Quinlan, the vice president-elect and a sophomore media studies and production major, of RenewTU ran unopposed after their former opponents, FireOwlsTU, dropped out of the race on March 17 after just two days of campaigning, The Temple News reported.
“First and foremost, we could not be more excited to be the next President and Vice President of the Temple student body,” wrote Smutek and Quinlan in a statement to The Temple News. “This campaign has been long, but it has been the most rewarding journey we could have asked for.”
RenewTU was looking forward to competing against another campaign, said Billy Boyer, a junior adult and organizational development major and RenewTU’s campaign manager.
“We wanted to run an entire campaign and we wanted competing ideas and we wanted the best ideas to win,” Boyer said. “But at the same time, it was, I mean I’ll be realistic, it was a sense of relief for us to be like, ‘Okay, well now we can share with the students our platform without having to worry about the nature of TSG elections, which tends to be somewhat contentious at points.’”
Last year’s winning executive team, BloomTU, also ran unopposed after its opponent ListenTU dropped out, alleging ethical violations by TSG members, The Temple News reported.
RenewTU fielded questions from students at two town halls on March 25 and April 5 about their proposals for addressing sexual assault awareness and prevention on campus, community relations, mental health and other topics.
Smutek, Quinlan and the Parliament candidates will be inaugurated on April 26.
The campaign will share more details on their platform as the transition to their administration continues, Boyer said.
The following five candidates won seats in Parliament, TSG’s 30-seat legislative branch:
Antonio Mendoza— At-large Representative
Manny Herrera— Second Year Representative
Townley Sorge— College of Public Health Representative
“I’m happy to have won, but I do feel a bit disheartened at the lack of people running,” wrote Sorge, a junior public health major, in an email to The Temple News. “Getting people to fill positions is a necessity if we want to accomplish what we say we’re going to accomplish.”
Kyle Sheaff— Disability Resources and Services Representative
“I’m so excited to be in this position to represent other Temple students and help them out,” wrote Sheaff, a freshman graphic design major, in an email to The Temple News. “I want to do the best things I can and try my best to support students with disabilities.”
Lillian Sclafani— Fox School of Business Representative
“I thought the election season went well, as I was prepared to run against others in the race, I was shocked to find that every position in Parliament ran unopposed,” wrote Sclafani, a junior marketing major, in an email to The Temple News. “As we expect to adapt/adjust to new conditions in the upcoming months, there will be a lot of opportunities for TSG to get involved and become larger advocates for change.”
Interest in running for Parliament has remained low in recent years, with just six unopposed candidates running for seats in last year’s election.
Editor’s note: Samantha Quinlan is a freelance reporter for The Temple News. She played no role in the reporting, writing or editing of this story.
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