Juniors Kat Sullivan and Maddy Martin will run unopposed for 2013-14 Saint Mary's student body president and vice president.
The ticket's candidacy was announced Tuesday, one day after submitting its platform.
Sullivan and Martin bring extensive experience on Student Government Association (SGA) and on other campus boards. Sullivan, has been a member of the Student Activities Board since her first year at the College. This year, she holds an executive position on SGA as the vice president of external affairs. Martin also holds a position on SGA as the vice president of finance.
Sullivan, a communication studies major with business administration and film studies minors from Melrose, Mass., said she wants to be student body president to give students a louder voice in policy and programming at Saint Mary's.
"[I want to] make sure my fellow Belles know that they can come to [SGA] with any questions or concerns. ... I care about the needs of the Saint Mary's Belles," she said. "I realize how vital it is that the voices of the students are heard."
Sullivan said she wants to follow in her mother's footsteps as student body president. Joan McDermott Sullivan served as Saint Mary's student body president as a senior during the 1975-76 school year.
"My mom has always held a special place in her heart for the school and her memories here," she said. "It would mean a great deal to me to be able to share this with her."
Martin, a biology and Spanish double major from Grand Rapids, Mich., said she saw room to improve the student government's approachability.
"I would love to focus on better communication between SGA and the student body," she said. "I feel like there is still some disconnect and I would love to try to eliminate that. I want students to be able to know who we are and that they can come to us for anything."
In their platform, Sullivan and Martin said they plan for students, clubs, administrations and SGA to "work together as a community." Sullivan said assembling the right team would be essential to reaching this goal.
"I want to make sure that we really hit the ground running for the 2013-14 academic year," she said. "It will be really important to have a well-established structure and continue with what previous SGA leaders have already accomplished. That being said, choosing girls who want to have a positive impact at Saint Mary's will be key."
In addition to better communication and effective leadership, Martin said the team intends to introduce initiatives and plan events to instill more unity on campus.
"I would really like to increase the school spirit around campus," she said. "I am so proud to be a Saint Mary's Belle and I believe all girls should feel this way."
Sullivan echoed Martin's goal for an increased sense of school spirit and inclusion.
"I'd love to focus on sisterhood and community," she said. "Saint Mary's girls have a lot of pride in who we are and what this school stands for. I want to make sure that every girl on this campus, both current and future Belles feel welcome and comfortable."
Sullivan said she wants to improve the quality and attendance of campus programming.
"My personal goals include increasing attendance at events through a better understanding of [online information platform] OrgSync and building on the strong bonds that Saint Mary's women have," she said. "I want to raise awareness on issues that are prevalent on campus such as bullying, depression, anxiety and eating disorders, just to name a few.
"By making these issues more known we will better able to help Saint Mary's women who struggle with these issues and bring the community together."
Though only one ticket is running, Sullivan and Martin must receive a majority vote on Feb. 28 in order to assume their new positions upon the April 1 SGA turnover.
"I'm happy about [being the only ticket] but I hope that people feel confident in our abilities as leaders," Sullivan said. "I want people to trust us to voice their concerns. I think that campaigning will still be important because people should still know who we are so they know who to ask when they need something done at Saint Mary's."
