Written for The Argo by Brianna Bracey, Student Senate President

Another end to an academic year means one thing to Stockton University’s Student Senate– another election year! The Student Senate is the governing entity of the clubs and Organizations affiliated with Stockton University; it is a representation of the student population. The Student Senate shall consist of one branch, composed of twenty-seven (27) students, duly elected in the spring and the fall. The Senate is composed of six committees: Student Affairs, Finance, Governmental, Public Relations, Academic Affairs, and the newly formed Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Each elected Senator is appointed to a committee and is charged with helping to provide for the student’s intellectual, social, and economic needs by acting as a liaison between the student body and administration.  On April 19th-21st, we will be voting for our 23/27 members of the Student Senate, as well as our President, Vice President, and Student Board of Trustee member. 

This academic year, we have two potential candidates for the Presidency position– our current President Brianna Bracey and our current Vice President Irenonsen Eigbe. 

President Bracey is currently working immensely to ensure her placement as our 2022-2023 President. To give a little background about President Bracey, she is currently a Junior Criminal Justice major and Victimology and Victim Services minor. She is currently enrolled in the Dual BA/MA Degree Program in Criminal Justice in hopes to achieve her Masters in Criminal Justice by 2024, a year after achieving her Bachelors Degree.

Her reasoning to rerun for her Presidency position is simple– she loves Stockton. “My academic career at Stockton has been so rewarding and my hope is to be able to continue helping Stockton’s student body in any way I can” 

Her future career as a Victims Advocate consists of her being a voice for the voiceless and ensuring survivors know the resources they have after an injustice has been done. She feels her Presidential role has enabled her to practice this mindset of speaking up and speaking out for those who do not feel comfortable speaking with administration. President Bracey has worked diligently with President Kesselman, as well as the rest of administration in various initiatives including the mask optional policy as well as the vaccination and booster requirement. She has also worked in the production of different sectors of Stockton life so she gives an accurate representation of the students to administration, whether that entails MLK Day of Service, working at basketball games, working at the annual Woodstockton concert, creating a team for Circle K’s Relay for Life, etc. 

She has also spoke to students directly at events such as the Student Multicultural Brunch (10/5/21), Stockton’s Tree-dition (12/8/21), Coalition for Women’s Rights’ March to End Rape Culture (03/25/2022) to express her passions on bettering the Stockton community and bring awareness to important issues. 

She constantly works to better her leadership skills by attending Leadership Lunch Series hosted by the Office of Student Development where she participates in interactive discussion on a variety of leadership topics with various guest speakers. 

President Bracey has one wish for the next academic year– to stay in her President’s role so she can continue doing what she loves– helping people. 

“I want every student at Stockton to feel appreciated and celebrated for who they are and what they believe in. I also want Stockton students to know that their student government cares about their needs and that what we do revolves around ensuring that they are cared for. Part of that is having a reliable and helpful leader, and I know I spend every day working to ensure I am a reliable and helpful leader for students. And I would continue to do that. Even if I do not win, I want students to feel comfortable approaching me in the hallways and feeling like they have someone to go to with any problem they may have.”

Make sure to go vote for Brianna Bracey to be the 2022-2023 Academic Year Student Senate President.

Elections are from April 19th-21st on Ospreyhub. Please make sure to participate in the elections by voting, and to vote for the candidate you feel is best.