In Campaign’s Final Hours, Candidates Make Last Push on the Quad

As the campaign for the next Student Government Executive Board nears its finish, both major parties are making their last efforts to connect with the student body.

Students began voting through email at noon, and the campaigns made their presence known on the Quad at 4 p.m.

The Jasper Pack, led by presidential nominee Micaela Bishop, assumed a spot atop the steps in front of the Chapel of De La Salle and his brothers, while The Campus That Never Sleeps, led by Lisamarie Nilaj, assumed a position in front of Thomas Hall and O’Malley Library on the Founder’s Bridge.

Nilaj was cautiously optimistic about what the future holds for her party.

“I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from students that I’m familiar with and familiar faces,” Nilaj said.

Nilaj believes that the driving force behind the feedback is her performance in Tuesday afternoon’s student government debate.

“A lot of students really appreciated the debate,” Nilaj said. “They said that my points were really valid, whether they knew me or not.”

Bishop described herself as nervous.

“We’re just trying to talk to people and get our mission out there,” Bishop said at her party’s lemonade stand, which was in keeping with the Jasper Pack’s yellow color scheme.

One of the Jasper Pack’s main campaign promises is to provide an approachable student government that involves more people and can serve as a link between students and the administration.

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Jasper Pack’s lemonade stand on the Quad. Stephen Zubrycky/The Quadrangle

“We have some really core issues we want to focus on. We want to hear even more throughout the year from the students,” Bishop said. “And we want to open communication and get people to learn more about student government and what it means to them and their clubs and the things that they’re involved with on campus.”

If elected, The Campus That Never Sleeps is aiming to collaborate with Information Technology to improve the operations of campus computers, and provide more space for students in O’Malley Library.

Nilaj, a frequent visitor to the library, has enlisted the support of Deborah Green, a clerk there, who was sporting Nilaj’s party’s signature black and white button on Thursday afternoon.

“She asked me to wear it. And I know who she is. She’s always in the library,” Green said of Nilaj.

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Library clerk Deborah Green’s The Campus That Never Sleeps button. Stephen Zubrycky/The Quadrangle

Green admires Nilaj’s personality, which she described as open and easy-going.

Staff around campus could be spotted with the buttons, including Gourmet Dining workers in Locke’s Loft and the marketplace at Kelly Commons.

Jasper Pack’s final campaign push includes continued distribution of their signature sticker, featuring the Snapchat logo, and a Snapchat “geo-filter” reading “Oh Snap! It’s the Jasper Pack.”

“We have the filter because it helps students to kind of engage on one of their favorite social media platforms,” Bishop said.

Both parties are keeping it civil in the eleventh hour. Bishop and Nilaj shared a friendly conversation on the Quad during their events.

Online voting concludes Friday at noon. The results will be finalized Monday, and formally announced exclusively by the Quadrangle on Tuesday.