Editor’s Note: The Crimson White Editorial Board wrote an introduction to all SGA candidate endorsements. Read the introduction here.

In this year’s SGA election, three candidates ran unopposed for executive offices: Chris Willis for Executive Vice President, Andrew Gross for Vice President for Financial Affairs and Drew Bridges for Vice President for External Affairs. The Editorial Board endorses all three of these candidates and believes that they will fulfill the responsibilities of their roles.

Chris Willis

Out of all three unopposed candidates, we believe Willis to be the strongest. As the Vice President for Financial Affairs, he fulfilled his campaign promises made a year ago, something that no other candidate could argue. Under his management, the FAC received increased interest, and the scholarship endowment grew. Additionally, his plans for the office of Executive Vice President are well-planned, achievable and useful to the student body. In particular, his proposal for the return of commencement speakers was well-designed and a well-placed issue about which students are concerned. Willis’ business-minded approach is a benefit to the SGA. We hope to see more of the same from him next year.

Andrew Gross

Through his service as SGA Treasurer under Willis, Gross is equipped to maintain the SGA’s financial system. His platform of maintaining the progress made under Willis is admittedly uninspiring, and we would like to see more creativity from his office. However, should he maintain the trajectory of financial growth and assistance to the student body, he will be doing a service to the student body. In short, we do not expect anything exciting or innovating under Gross’ management, but the finances of the SGA should be in good shape. It is for this reason that we endorse him for the position of Vice President for Financial Affairs.

Drew Bridges

Bridges’ platform was well-researched, and it was refreshing to see a candidate propose new ideas for external affairs. His argument that the SGA should serve as a voice for students in the state is exactly the kind of advocacy the position should embody. Despite his plans to change its advertising, we are skeptical of his idea to bring back the Downtown Express bus service, which has been discontinued twice due to its extreme costs and lack of interest. Still, Bridges presents a thoughtful plan for the future and should be able to fulfill the responsibilities of the office.

Our View represents the consensus of The Crimson White Editorial Board.