The election committee approved 13 tickets to run for Class Council. Seven tickets are running for Sophomore Class Council, while Junior and Senior Class Councils have three tickets each. Elections will take place online today from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sophomore Class Council
Rayven Moore, Romel Nicholas, Johnny Romano, Grace Foster
Class unity lies at the heart of the platform presented by Rayven Moore, Romel Nicholas, Johnny Romano and Grace Foster.
"My ticket's main focus is to get the entire class involved in decision-making processes and to hold events that everyone can enjoy," Moore said.
Many of their ideas, including a class service trip to a disaster area somewhere in the U.S., focus on helping others. Moore said he intends to work with younger children in the South Bend school district.
"We're thinking of maybe building a jungle gym or playground area that can be donated from the Class of 2014," he said.
The ticket also hopes to plan a class trip over fall or spring break and prayer services at the Grotto during finals.
Clare Yarka, Brandon Nwannunu, Kara Cronin, Calvin Belden
Clare Yarka, Brandon Nwannunu, Kara Cronin and Calvin Belden hope to unite the sophomore class by ensuring the class's diverse interests are represented in the class council.
"We want to be able to appeal to everyone on campus and build equality, unity and opportunity," Nwannunu said.
The ticket plans to broaden the range of internship and job opportunities for students of all majors. Nwannunu said they would examine inconsistencies between male and female dorms with regards to social gatherings.
"Girls always say, ‘We're so envious of guy dorms because you all get away with everything,'" Nwannunu said. "We're going to make a push for more equal treatment there."
The ticket's other ideas include forming partnerships with local businesses and planning class retreats to cities such as Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York.
Tom Catalano, Erica Smith, Jon Savakus, Rachel Kalinoski
The goal of Tom Catalano's ticket to foster class unity, he said.
"We want class-wide events," he said. "We want people to know each other in our class."
Catalano is running with Erica Smith, Jon Savakus and Rachel Kalinoski to represent the Class of 2014.
Catalano said his ticket hopes to plan events such as a class dance to bring the class together. He said the dance would hopefully be a formal, but possibly an SYR for the entire class.
"We also want to have open hours twice a month where any sophomore can come and give us suggestions," he said.
Beyond social events, Catalano said he wants to establish a class fundraising event focused on one cause, though his ticket is still open for suggestions on what that cause might be.
The Catalano ticket is not currently involved in student government, according to Catalano. All were involved in student government in high school.
Coley Konkey, Princely Muro, Kelsey Repine, Lauren Katen
Coley Konkey said the four students running on her ticket come from different backgrounds with different ideas to better the student body.
"We want to improve campus, and help make it and South Bend a better place," she said.
Konkey is running with Princely Muro, Kelsey Repine and Lauren Katen. According to Konkey, none of them have been involved with student government before running in this election.
"We are thinking of a seasonal class social event, like a tailgate in the fall, which really helps you meet new people in your class," she said. "We're also thinking about a ‘Snow Ball' for winter and a spring carnival."
Konkey said she also wants a fundraiser event for the class of 2014.
"Dorms have one signature event [benefiting a charity]," she said. "We want a signature event for the class to have yearly."
Other possible projects are Domer Dollars for Eddy St. businesses, more Huddle options and Grab and Go meal flexibility, she said.
Nicole Michels, Pat Bedard, Adam Talbot, Elizabeth Linnemanstons
Nicole Michels, Pat Bedard, Adam Talbot and Elizabeth Linnemanstons plan to bring their diverse interests and approachability to their seats on the Sophomore Class Council if elected.
"Our ticket is a diverse ticket as far as interests go, as we represent many different aspects of our student body," Michels said. "We encompass people in varsity athletics, music, ROTC and student government, all factors which I think allow us to easily connect to members of our class."
Some of the major activities Michels' ticket hopes to make a reality if elected include a class spirit week, class Mass, a campus-wide game of Humans vs. Zombies and a life-sized replication of Candyland on a quad.
Michels said all members of her ticket are personable, easy-going people who will listen to concerns brought up by members of the Class of 2014.
"We want to create a united class, address the needs articulated by the class and most importantly, bring people together to form a stronger Notre Dame community," Michels said.
Anthony Krenselewski, Lizzie Helpling, Jackie Picache, Alesandra Mendoza
Anthony Krenselewski, Lizzie Helpling, Jackie Picache and Alesandra Mendoza hope to bring the experience they all gained as members of the Freshman Class Council to the Sophomore Class Council.
"We realized one of the major flaws in student government this year was the lack of communication between class councils," Krenselewski said. "If elected, we will focus on repairing that, as we feel it would make a big difference for not only student government, but for the entire student body."
To fix the communication problem, Krenselewski said his ticket will use a website, Facebook page, open town hall-style meetings and an optional text messaging service to reach out to members of the Class of 2014.
Krenselewski said his ticket hope to put other activites into action next year, including trips to off-campus locations, including Chicago and Cedar Point, as well as a class ski trip.
Krenselewski and his running mates want to create a greater sense of class unity. With "dress up days" on the 14th of every month, a day in which all sophomores would wear the same color, Krenselewski said sophomores would feel a strong community atmosphere.
"We want to create events for the Class of 2014 that are bigger, better and more attended than this year's events," Krenselewski said.
Nicholas Schilling, Paul DiGiovanni, Mary Clare Rigali, Margaret Preuss
Nicholas Schilling said his ticket seeks to overcome class communication and unity issues, if elected to the Sophomore Class Council.
‘Domerfest 2.0' is one of the major events Schilling and his ticket hope to plan in the coming school year.
"At the beginning of the year, none of us really knew one another," Schilling said. "We think holding another Domerfest for sophomores will be exponentially more fun than the Domerfest held during freshman orientation."
Schilling said his ticket's experience on Freshman Class Council will be integral to next year's Sophomore Class Council working well.
Other activities planned for next year include spending leftover funds from this year's Freshman Class Council on a class ski trip to a resort in Michigan and a class-wide ‘assassins' fundraiser.
Schilling also hopes to create and sell "glowsaries," glow-in-the-dark rosaries to be used at class trips of the Grotto.
"We feel that we will give the Sophomore Class Council a different personality," he said. "Which will lead to the creation of more events, making next year more enjoyable for all sophomores."
Junior Class Council
Kevin Doherty, Megan Rodts, Kim Neary, Nolan Welsh
Kevin Doherty, Megan Rodts, Kim Neary, and Nolan Welsh plan to use their experience within student government to leave a legacy for the Class of 2013, Doherty said.
Doherty said the group anticipates this year's first Domecoming to expand into a campus-wide series of events.
"We envision Domecoming eventually evolving into a school-wide spirit week and Homecoming Dance, and next year we plan to take steps toward this goal by involving other classes in the dance," he said.
The candidates hope for an enjoyable year and a more close-knit class through greater variety in class apparel, a junior retreat, a class Facebook page and Twitter feed, and a "Margaritaville" event during the spring, which Doherty said the ticket is particularly excited for.
Doherty said the ticket stands out because of its candidates' experience.
"We feel that our combined experience give us an advantage when it comes to working around red tape and producing great results for our class next year," he said.
Francie Crowell, Brandon Vo, Kaitlyn Cole, Aaron Stumpf
As their campaign slogan implies, sophomores Francie Crowell, Brandon Vo, Kaitlyn Cole and Aaron Stumpf hope to bring a "fresh perspective" to the Junior Class Council.
The candidates identify three categories of projects for next year, should they be elected: uniting the junior class, giving back to the community and helping juniors prepare for their future, Crowell said.
All of Crowell's ticket has hall council experience in their respective dorms. Crowell said her lack of previous student government experience will prove to be an asset in representing the average Notre Dame junior.
"We think we come from a more diverse background, not having already been part of that system," she said. "So we'll more easily be able to portray what the students want."
Mike Weiss, Julianne Crimmins, Mike Kress, Sean Hannon
Mike Weiss, Julianne Crimmins, Mike Kress and Sean Hannon hope to combine new ideas with past experience to preside over next year's Junior Class Council.
Weiss emphasized community outreach, a wider variety of class apparel and class trips to a Cubs game and Cedar Point as some of his ticket's plans for next year.
Several years of working in student government has given him an ability to set realistic and achievable goals, Weiss said. The rest of his ticket has similar experience.
"Not only do we have new ideas, but with our experience we can definitely execute them," Weiss said.
Senior Class Council
Anne Huntington, Mike Oliver, Brittni Alexander, Tyler Harmsen
Anne Huntington, Mike Oliver, Brittni Alexander and Tyler Harmsen's plan for next year's graduating class centers on fun activities and memorable experiences, Huntington said.
"Our vision of Senior Class Council is to make bigger events, partnering with other offices on campus such as the Career Center, to get as many seniors as possible to participate," she said.
The "Save the Best for Last" platform consists of unique programming for the Class of 2012, such as a "Beginning of the End" networking barbeque with a beer garden, "Night in Napa" wine tasting, new class apparel and monthly senior masses.
In addition to a variety of fun events throughout the year, Huntington said the ticket plans on making the end of the year especially memorable for the graduating seniors.
"We also have some exciting new ideas for Senior Week, such as ‘Reminiscing from the Rooftop,' which would be a champagne toast from the roof of Eddy Street Commons," she said.
Rocky Stroud, Jessica Choi, Chris Chung, Ali Unger
Rocky Stroud, Jessica Choi, Chris Chung and Ali Unger hope to strengthen the sense of unity among members of the senior class through their focus on the "little things," Stroud said.
"What we have noticed is that class councils throw a couple big events that a lot of people go to," Stroud said. "What we want to do is have a lot more little events that maybe not everyone goes to, but you have more options."
Some of these events include a "Tour of Religions," giving seniors the opportunity to experience the different faiths represented on campus, senior class bar crawls for students of legal age and improved apparel, Stroud said.
None of the students on this ticket has been part of class council before, but they decided to run together after being a part of a physics study group.
"We wanted to use our talents to give back to the seniors and make new events that other people would be interested in," Stroud said.
Parker King, Ben German, Alicia Elliott, Brinya Bjork
Parker King, Ben German, Alicia Elliott and Brinya Bjork hope to use their extensive experience in campus leadership to help seniors accomplish the "Notre Dame Bucket List," King said.
"It's our last year on campus, and we want to make it awesome," King said.
Some of these Bucket List events include a meeting with University President Emeritus Fr. Theodore Hesburgh and a dinner in the press box, King said.
This ticket would also like to establish a career development committee to prepare seniors for work post-graduation, German said.
"We want to work with the Alumni Association to try and help seniors build some professional contacts before they graduate," German said.
All of the members of this ticket have served on class councils in the past so they are familiar with the process of planning and executing events, German said.
"We have a good blend of experience," German said. "We know what kind of events people would enjoy."
