Wichita State’s Student Senate held its first midterm election last week, with just 77 students — less than 0.6% — participating out of more than 14,000 eligible students.
This was the Student Government Association’s (SGA) first midterm election after implementing midterms and several other changes to election proceedings in August. Midterm elections were added in order to fill empty Senate seats.
Kaitlyn Kralicek is a criminal justice student. Criminal justice is part of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, just one of the six schools of study looking for Student Government representatives. Kralicek said she didn’t know the elections were happening.
“To be honest, I forgot that Student Government existed,” she said. “I feel like there’s not really a good way to contact all the students, so we just don’t know about any of it.”
SGA adviser Gabriel Fonseca told The Sunflower that students who were represented by one of the empty seats would be sent emails letting them know they could vote for a new representative. That didn’t happen.
The preliminary results were announced via Instagram livestream on Oct. 2. They were certified on Monday, Oct. 7.
Abbi Whistler, the student governance coordinator for Student Engagement and Belonging, and three other SGA members gathered in the Rhatigan Student Center to announce the uncertified results. SGA’s usual room in the RSC, 233, was locked, causing the group to move to a room across the hall.
None of the midterm candidates attended, although Whistler said the announcement, which was made via Instagram the same day of the meeting, was open to the public.
SGA’s Senate meeting on Oct. 2 was canceled, which Whistler said may explain why other senators and candidates were not in attendance.
“There’s usually more people just because it’s a Senate night,” Whistler said.
Returning senators will reconvene at the Senate meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rhatigan Student Center, room 233. New senators will join for the following meeting after fall break, on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
