The election season for Ferris’ Student Government has officially begun, and this year only one candidate has decided to run for the top spot.
Ferris business administration and accounting junior Patrick Maloney is the current president of Phi Alpha Delta pre-law fraternity, a member of the Student Leadership Academic Advisory Council and the current treasurer and former representative of student government.
The McBain native chose Ferris because it is close to home and because of its size.
“I decided to run for office because I enjoy meeting new students and if I were elected president of student government, then I would have an even better reason to meet more students,” Maloney said. “The most important reason for which I ran is that I love listening to students. Whether they are having a good day or a bad day, I find it important to be an outlet for people to talk to because that could be the one thing to make their day better.”
One of Maloney’s biggest priorities is to get more feedback from students.
“My goal—if I am elected—is to engage the student body more fully,” Maloney said. “The student government is an organization that exists to serve the students. I hope to see more campus issues brought before us and for us to solve these issues. I want students and community members to feel welcome when they come to our meetings. I want the student government to continue to contribute meaningful change to our university.”
Another issue that Maloney hopes to tackle is the ever-so-controversial parking at Ferris.
“Parking has been brought before the Student Government Association before and the truth is that there is little the student government president can do for the current parking problem on campus,” Maloney said. “Something I would like to do is to assemble the administrators and strategic planners for our campus and grounds and develop a three-to-five-year plan to address this issue.”
While Maloney may not have the power as president to magically resolve the parking problems, he’s confident that he can still make a difference.
“I would remain hopeful that, if I could gather these people with authority and expertise on the subject, that we could better plan and implement parking for students, especially commuters,” Maloney said. “If I can do anything to address the parking issue, it would be to address those that have the power to change it.”
So how will the election process change if there is only one candidate running?
Current Student Government President Joshua Olszewski assures students that the election process will remain, for the most part, the same.
“The only thing that will change is that instead of a presidential debate [Tuesday] April 4, Patrick will give a speech followed by a Q&A session,” Olszewski said. “Students will then have the opportunity to vote for the running candidate or write in a student who they believe would be a good fit for the position. It’s also important to note that students have the opportunity to vote for or write in students for senators to represent their respective colleges.”
Voting begins Tuesday, April 4, and ends Monday, April 10.
More information can be found at the Ferris State University Student Government Facebook page, or by visiting fsusga.com.