Sarci Wins: Sarci, Mohamed Elected for Student Body President and Executive Vice President 2019-2020

Students filled the Cabaret Wednesday night, as the Student Government Association announced Marist’s 2019-2020 Student Body President and Executive Vice President: Joseph Sarci and Roda Mohamed.

After just one short week of campaigning, debates, interviews, speeches and events attendance, Sarci ‘20 and Mohamed ‘21 defeated opponents Pamela Armas ‘20 and Louis Higuera ‘20, and Mark Palmer ‘20 and John Sasso ‘20 by winning the majority with 40% of the votes. There were 2,104 students who voted in this election.

In his farewell address, Ted Dolce ’19 first gave acknowledgment to the hard work of Erin Eldridge ‘21, Director of Elections Commission.

 Dolce went on to say, “To everyone who came out and has supported, please hold all leaders accountable and make sure all your needs are taken care of.”

 Dolce then shouted out his Executive Vice President, Ankofa Billips ‘19, for her hard work.

“[Billips] has been instrumental part to make sure everything has been completely and outright amazing for this year...And to all members of the Dolce/Billips administration, I thank you and I thank you and I thank you.”

 Before handing the microphone back to Eldridge to announce each winner, Dolce left us by saying, “At end of the day we are all Marist student...in working with each other and collaboration can we surely make Marist a living space for us all.”

The voting period was preceded by, as mentioned, a week of campaigning. Armas, Higuera, Palmer, Sasso, Sarci and Mohamed rallied student support through their speeches, debates, social media and various interviews. In doing so, they shaped the platform they presented to their peers. Each platform had a heavy focus on issues of sexual assault, mental health, inclusivity, and transparency between administration the SGA and students.

On their Instagram account, @teamsarcimohamed, Sarci and Mohamed lay out goals they wish to accomplish in their administration. In their first post, they say, “It is our goal to continue doing great work on our campus and please feel free to let us know anything you’d like to see change/happen. We are here for YOU.”

Throughout much of their campaign, ideas that are reflected on their social media and that were mentioned during the debate, Sarci and Mohamed aim to increase school spirit. In a post they made of screenshots from live tweets by the Marist Circle during the debate, a tweet says, “We are the voice for the voiceless, we are advocating for you because we believe in you”, a quote by Sarci.

In the podcast, The Circle Spotlight, Sarci and Mohamed were asked how they plan on continuing the work of the previous administration, under Dolce and Billips. In the podcast Mohamed says, “With the last administration, Ted’s administration, we have a lot of talk on race and a lot of issues that are being discussed on campus, and I think we are definitely moving in the right direction and having those being more exposed in our administration is something we’re looking forward to.”

 Sarci and Mohamed ran with the slogan: “Vision bigger than the bigger picture.”

 “I would like to thank everyone who chose Roda and I to represent the needs of the human body. We are humbled that you would put your faith and trust in us, and this is not something that we will take lightly. We will represent Marist with the utmost honesty and transparency,” Sarci said.

 “I would like to thank our opponents for keeping us on our toes and for opening our eyes to new perspectives regarding this office,” he adds.  

 The Class of 2020 welcomed back President Eric Johnson, alongside Treasurer Brian Greenberg, and Secretary Nia Walters.

 The Class of 2021 elected President Brendan Carl, Vice President Alycia Pascual-Pena, Treasurer Jamie Minervini, Historian Victoria Falzarano, and Secretary April Pensa.

 The Class of 2022 elected President Shahadat Khanbabaeva, Vice President Jordan Levene, and Historian Caroline O’Handley.

 President-elect Sarci finished his speech by saying, “Lastly, but most of all, thank you to the student body for using your voice, your vote, to express your confidence in us. We won’t let you down.”