Out of the 58 students running for the chance to become a Student Government senator, there are only two candidates not aligning themselves with a specific party.
Sophomore political science major Logan Tarr and freshman incumbent business major Zachary Hill are running independently.
“I’m not too up and up about the two different parties,” Tarr, who represents the College of Arts and Sciences, said. “I couldn’t decide which party so I thought it would be better to run as independent.”
Tarr, who has been utilizing social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter (@tarrlogan) to campaign, believes that he has created a platform that can efficiently benefit students throughout the FGCU community.
“Unleash the FGCU Dream is what I’m calling it,” Tarr said. “It’s very similar to the American Dream that any student has equal opportunity to be successful through hard work and determination.”
Despite not running with neither FGCUnited or The Nest, Tarr is supportive of candidate and current SG president Thieldens Elneus.
“I don’t know the gentlemen too well that are running for FGCUnited,” Tarr said. “I know T pretty well and I support him just on what I know and how I’ve interacted with him.”
If elected, Tarr believes that he would empower the students to have their voices heard, help create a more open and inviting atmosphere, as well as assisting students in being more knowledgeable of the tools available on campus.
“I’m planning on making myself more available for students,” Tarr said. “I plan on holding a workshop once a month where students are able to come and voice their opinion, kind of like a town hall meeting.”
Tarr is the sole independent senatorial candidate out of 24 students from the College of Arts and Sciences and Hill serves as the single independent senatorial candidate out of 18 students from the Lutgert College of Business. There are no independent candidates from the College of Education, Engineering or Health Professions.
Hill, who currently serves as a senator from Lutgert, is choosing not to actively campaign for another spot on senate and declined to comment on which party he would rather win. He decided to run again “because I love SG and I want to be in it again.”
Hill believes that being in SG has benefited him immensely and is just as helpful to the student body.
“We’re lucky to have students that care about the well being of the student body,” Hill said. “I think it’s a great way to get involved especially as a first year student like myself.”
Voting will continue online through EagleLink until 5 p.m. on Thursday March 1 and on campus in Cohen Center room 247 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday.
