On a chilly afternoon, 63 students went to the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom to interview and run with both Student Government parties.
Erica Baker, the supervisor of elections, wrote in an email that 16 students interviewed with Access Party and 47 students interviewed with Impact Party. Last Spring, 37 students interviewed on the first day to run with an SG party, according to Alligator archives.
Full-time students can run for a Senate seat based on their college or academic year.
Access Party president Praveen Varanasi said he was excited about students who signed up.
“Today, we actually saw a lot of new faces,” Varanasi said.
Impact Party president Will Smith said he’s confident about the number of students who slated with Impact.
“We saw exactly what we wanted,” he said.
Pasha Hajian, 21, is running for a seat in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with Access. He said UF’s Innovation Academy is underrepresented.
“We need more people willing to help Innovation Academy students,” the UF political science senior said.
Tyler Mufalli, a 19-year-old industrial and systems engineering freshman, interviewed to represent the College of Engineering with Impact Party.
“I’ve seen what they’re doing around campus, and I definitely support it,” he said.
Eligible students can interview with SG parties today from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.
Contact Melissa Gomez at mgomez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @MelissaGomez004.
