Meet the candidates: URG election Wednesday

By: Cody Boteler, Senior Editor

University Residence Government elections will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11. This year, there are two tickets running for executive positions – this is the first time in two years that the race has been competitive.

URG serves as a representative voice for on-campus students. Each residence hall has its own building council, and general assembly meetings for the whole of URG are Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the Chesapeake Rooms.
Read below for some information about the three tickets competing for votes.

 

Team BUTU (Be You Towson University): 

Nominee for president: Ayana Bowman

Nominee for vice president: Emely Rodriguez

Treasurer: Nicholas Sala

Secretary: Natalie Little

Why Bowman decide to run: “I chose to run because I believe I can lead URG the best. I want to be a voice for the resident population without letting any personal agenda get in the way. As president, and as an executive board it is our job to make Towson feel like home and to be open to the needs and wants of our student body.”

Goals for next year: Bowman wants URG to grow in both name and size and wants students to feel like Towson is their second home. As a ticket, BUTU wants to increase the budget that each building council gets so that more money is in the hands of students.

Qualifications: Bowman currently serves as director of residential inclusion on the executive board of URG. Between the four of them, the members of the ticket have a combined five years of experience with URG.

 

Team Phoenix:

Nominee for president: Jon Connelly
Nominee for vice president: Peter Gallagher
Nominee for treasurer: Wayne Nichols
Nominee for secretary: Brittany Whalen

Why Connelly decided to run: “I don’t want to leave our organization at ‘well enough.’ When I think about how much of my personal development I owe to URG, and think that we might be missing opportunities to give those opportunities for growth to other students, I believe I have to do something to change that. And the best way to do it, really the only sure way to do it, is as president.”
Goals for next year: Connelly wants to set the vision of URG as one that is more intentional and focused on student advocacy, event-planning and leadership development. Gallagher wants to create a marketing committee to increase visibility. This would include hiring a student graphic designer and videographer. Nichols wants to establish a more flexible grant system for building councils. Whalen wants to move the URG website to its own domain and off of the main Towson website.
Qualifications: Connelly served two years as a Douglass House building representative and a semester as a building representative for Towson Run Apartments. Last semester, he stepped in to serve as director of resident advocacy for URG. Gallagher is currently serving as a building representative for the Richmond/Newell Building Council. Nichols currently serves as the secretary for the Richmond/Newell Building Council and is on the Student Government Association Community Outreach Committee. Whalen is secretary for the Residence Tower building council.

Team URGreat:
Nominee for president: Dan Bowley
Nominee for vice president: Tiffany Merson
Nominee for treasurer: Frankie Núñez
Nominee for secretary: Kayla Defoe

Why Bowley decided to run: “I care deeply about this organization and bringing it to new heights. I’ve experienced firsthand the benefits of URG and of getting involved – I want to bring those benefits to our residents so that we can create a Towson University experience that everyone supports and believes in.”
Goals for next year: Bowley wants to make URG a more collaborative and tight-knit organization by getting the 13 building councils to work more closely to create better events and more impactful programs. He also wants to establish a connection between the URG president and the president of the university. The ticket wants to increase involvement with the National Residence Hall Honorary and the SGA in addition to revamping the URG website to make it more user-friendly.
Qualifications: Bowley served as a Douglass House building representative and currently serves as national communications coordinator for the URG Executive Board. Merson has served as a building representative, a community center assistant and is now Tower C’s president. Núñez has served as secretary for Prettyman/Scarborough. Defoe has experience as a building representative for Tower A.

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