On the eve of the Saint Mary’s student body president and vice president election, juniors Bailey Oppman and Lydia Lorenc gave speeches in the dining hall to “formally introduce” themselves to the Saint Mary’s student body and promote their ticket.
Oppman and Lorenc, the unopposed candidates for president and vice president, respectively, are both biology majors, have Student Government Association (SGA) experience and are highly involved in the Saint Mary’s community. They are each student athletes as well: Oppman is a member of the varsity tennis team, while Lorenc is on the varsity golf team as well as being a Notre Dame Dance Company member.
Oppman said the duo’s goal as student body president and vice president is to improve life at the College, and she also spoke to students about a few aspects of their platform.
“We hope to not only make a difference for you — the student body — but also the campus as a whole,” she said. “We’d like to take the time to discuss a little bit of our platform, which highlights certain initiatives, goals and plans we want to focus on as student body president and vice president.”
Oppman and Lorenc’s campaign platform includes goals they believe will enhance several areas of College life, but Oppman said their biggest priorities are improvements to sustainability, food services, student safety and wellness, and student and campus life.
“Some of our most important initiatives involve the College’s sustainability, food services, student safety and wellness, and student and campus life,” she said. “As your current sustainability commissioner, I’ve begun working on improving the College’s sustainable practices.”
One such example for improving sustainability at the College, which is outlined in their platform as well, is discouraging paper towel usage on campus, Oppman said.
“We would like to focus on [the] use of paper towels by installing hand dryers in academic buildings on campus,” she said.
Oppman also said she and Lorenc hope to work with the Cyber Cafe, the student grill on campus, to offer more healthy alternatives for students looking to eat somewhere other than the dining hall.
“We also want to introduce healthier made-to-order food options from the grill in Cyber Cafe,” Oppman said.
Oppman and Lorenc’s platform also includes plans to send bi-weekly emails to students and staff with crime prevention and campus safety tips, expand Munch Money use to local businesses in South Bend and host an event such as a campus-wide walk to encourage exercise among members of the community.
Lorenc said she and Oppman look forward to the opportunity to work on behalf of the Saint Mary’s student body next year.
“It would be our pleasure to serve you as student body president and student body vice president,” she said.
Voting for the Saint Mary’s student body president and vice president opened on OrgSync at midnight Wednesday and will close at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Voting is open to all College students, including seniors.
Editor’s Note: News Writer Courtney Becker contributed to this report.
