1. Student Body President Election Predictions
Written by Ilyasah N Shabazz
After dozens of attempts to find out students’ top choice for student body president, it has
become evident that much of the student body is uninformed on the issues candidates plan to
tackle.
So what will voters cast their ballots based on this Tuesday?
During the week of Jan. 31, candidates Mary Cooper, Rick Ingram, Ian Lee and Brooklyn
Stephens, along with their campaign teams, stood out in the Pit holding signs and talking to
students. Some candidates placed signs at other places on campus, while others went dorm-
storming to convince voters that they were the best candidates.
Of all the resources available, most people get their information from the signs in the Pit
and/or The Daily Tar Heel.
On Jan. 31, The DTH ran a story declaring that there was no clear favorite among the
four candidates. This still appears to be true.
First-year Matt Silinski said if he had to predict who would win, he’d guess Mary
Cooper. “She has signs up all the time,” he said. “Dedication? I think so!”
Sophomore Chris Robbins predicts Rick Ingram will be the next student body president
off the basis of dedication as well. “He’s the most visible,” he said. “His signs are always in the
Pit.”
While similar statements were made about Brooklyn Stephens and Ian Lee, there were
underclassmen who couldn’t predict a winner on the basis of visibility, even though there are
signs for all the candidates in both the Pit and on lower quad.
“The Daily Tar Heel is biased. I don’t know what candidates other resources are, but the
information isn’t accessible,” said sophomore Bo Nebolisa.
Junior Emanuela Kucik agreed with Nebolisa and said, “Those who want to be involved
are involved.”
Members of candidates’ campaign teams and friends of candidates appeared to be the
only informed students. Many students didn’t know The Daily Tar Heel was running daily
articles on issues candidates would need to cover. However, those who did know the issues were
well versed in one candidate’s platform.
Junior Ally Hoover said she is leaning more toward Rick Ingram. “I know him so I have
more faith in him because I know his personality,” she says.
CJ Powell, a junior working on Brooklyn Stephens’ campaign, believes she is the best
candidate. “She is truly trying to implement change, while other candidates are making false
promises or are trying to add things that are not plausible,” he said.
Getting information out on the issues out is important, but some candidates solidified
votes by making personal connections with voters.
First-year student Chase Weddington at first thought all the candidates had similar
platforms until having a talk with Brooklyn Stephens. “I like her approach,” he said. “ She told
me about wanting to put more blue light security around campus, and she actually made
conversation with me.”
Ian Lee went dorm-storming late Tuesday night and was able to make a connection with
sophomores Filbert Lawrence and Colby Robbins. They both agreed, “He’s involved,” Robbins
said. “And he knows his stuff about student government.”
Even with the means that were available to voters, for some it still wasn’t enough.
Sophomore Denver Davis felt that he was informed about elections to a certain extent. “I would
like to learn more about each candidate,” he said, “but that would take more time and research on
my part.”