Monday evening, Creighton Students Union candidates John McCoy, Kelsea Worcester and Heartim Williams held a debate to finalize their platforms and let the student body know what they wanted to do with CSU.
On Tuesday evening, the votes were tallied and the announcement, made by current Vice President for Taylor Jantz, was this: nobody had won. To win the election for CSU President, one candidate must receive over 50% of the vote. Due to the large candidate pool this year, nobody reached the ‘magic number,’ and in accordance with CSU policy, a run-off election will be held for the first time in over a decade.
As it stands, there will be a run-off on Thursday between Arts & Sciences sophomore John McCoy and College of Business junior Kelsea Worcester. The ballots will be sent out via email on Thursday, and students will be able to vote between these two candidates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The results will be announced on Thursday evening after the CSU Program Board “Heads vs. Feds” event, which will be held in the Skutt Ballroom at 7 p.m.
The evening began with current CSU President Matthew Gillespie giving the State of the Union address. He highlighted many of the changes made by CSU last year, including the creation of the 90 meal plan and the radical redefining of the CSU constitution. He also thanked his wonderful staff of Kelsea Worcester, College of Business junior, Taylor Jantz, College of Business Senior, Anna Shymanski, College of Arts & Sciences junior, and Nick Mascio, College of Arts & Sciences junior.
“I am proud to say this past year has been incredibly fruitful. Our accomplishments are unparalleled in the history of CSU,” Gillespe said.
After a successful year, it is now time to determine the next CSU president. This run-off means that each candidate could use Wednesday for campaigning.
“I’m excited,” Kelsea Worcester, Business junior and CSU presidential candidate said. “So many students actively participated. We’re excited to take it two more days.”
Even though more campaigning could be beneficial, according to McCoy, “it is what it is”.
“I think we all would wish for a decisive [vote] at this point,” McCoy said. “[Now] we get back to work. Go back and start again.”
While focusing on their own campaigns, both candidates had kind words for fellow candidate Williams.
“He brought up great ideas,” McCoy said. “Hopefully I can gain his support, but it is great to give as many options as possible. It’s great that he put his name in.”
Worcester expressed similar sentiments, but emphasized Heart’s unique running front.
“A lot of people run from within CSU, and I really admire the fact that he didn’t,” Worcester said. “It was awesome to meet him and get to know him. Hopefully he stays involved in some ways, CSU needs a voice like his.”
Even though the presidential position is still undecided, Tommy Backe, who ran unopposed for CSU Vice President, feels happy knowing his position is locked in.
“Now it’s official,” Backe said. “It’s a relief because I feel I can relate to the students and I look forward to working with as many students as possible over the next year.”
Gillespie, who will soon be ending his reign as president, said he is relieved to be almost finished but will also miss it. He is most proud of his work on giving representatives to groups that don’t have it, as well as giving a voice to all students, such as non-traditional students.
“We were able to institute changes to the constitution that will give voices to those who had not had voices in CSU before.”
Be sure to check the Creightonian website for updates on the CSU presidential election.