SG Presidential campaigns emerge
In the upcoming weeks students will be assessing the student body president and vice president nominees through campaigns and two debates.
The two tickets: Moneer Kheireddine and Shaquille Kent against Ryan Soscia and Logan Holland.
Both duos focus their campaigns on what can be modified, implemented and introduced to USF next year.
“The goal of our campaign is to represent all students,” Holland, a junior majoring in political science, said. “As well as talking about real issues, like standing up to administration and not silencing the victims of sexual assault. We need to talk about bigger and broader things than free pizza days in the library. We are going to ensure that our campaign is not like other campaigns in the past.”
Serving as the attorney general for Student Government last year, Holland will be running as Vice President alongside presidential hopeful Soscia, who served as the SG Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and oversaw budget expenditures.
“We both have management experience,” said Holland. “Student Government has roughly around 200 employees. That’s a big entity to manage, while Ryan was the CFO he knows everything about the money, the budget, how to spend it, while I was the attorney general, so I know all the rules. Together we know how to allocate money to best serve student interest.”
The policy for candidates to resign from their positions on Student Government was applied last semester to focus on their campaigns for an extended amount of time.
“We’ve been working since September, asking hundreds of students what they want on campus,” Holland said. “This movement did not start with Ryan and I, it started with students. You see our campaign name ‘Be Herd’— this movement is not about two people it’s about the student body itself.”
Kheireddine served in SG as Senator for two years, Vice Chair of the Judiciary and Ethics Committee and Activity and Services (A&S) Recommendation Committee where he was responsible for allocating the money from the A&S fees taken from USF students. Kent served as a Senator at Large and USF Ambassador for the University Alumni Association.
“Our campaign, HEAR the Herd. Stands for the values we vow to bring: Heritage, Entertainment, Access, Representation,” said Kheireddine. “We want to make USF a greater home that is inclusive and diverse for all students to feel safe and wanted.”
Kheireddine and Kent believe one of the largest issues on campus is the representation of National Panhellenic Council and Multicultural Greek Council. In relation to their Heritage value, they aspire for these organizations to instill legacies on campus and build cultural individuality and unity on campus.
To encourage connectedness on campus, Kheireddine and Kent are proposing an improved app system for students.
“We want to bring Student Government to a more accessible platform for students to have a voice in decision making for things that can be implemented on campus,” said Kent.
The duo is hoping to modify the MyUSF app, or develop a brand-new application altogether, that would serve as the new information center for campus activity.
“It will include daily campus activities for student involvement, access to campus news and updates to partner with local businesses to provide special USF discounts, called Green and Gold Fridays,” said Kheireddine.
Both Kheireddine and Kent attribute their inspiration from USF being the catalyst for their decision to run.
“My passion is to serve the USF community,” said Kent. “This school has given so much opportunity to me, I will excel to give back.”
Kheireddine said he was inspired by his first experiences as a freshman at USF.
“Within the first few days at USF, the genuine people I met I knew I found a home,” said Kheireddine. “These encounters made me want to push myself to become a leader because I had never tried it before.”
He wants to use the opportunity to impact others and in turn impact himself.
“I think this role with pursuing this presidency alongside Shaquille, is an opportunity for us to bring the passion, joy and that feeling of home we have to every student on campus and showcase our love and serve as representatives for what we believe in — unity,” he said.
The debates will be held on Thursday and Feb. 22 with students able to cast a vote starting Feb. 27.