Armed with Early 2000s pop music and Costco pizza, Las Positas College’s student government (LPCSG) set out to increase the number of candidates for its upcoming general election.
On March 19, LPCSG hosted an event to promote open executive student board positions within the government. Candidate applications close on March 24, and the final list of candidates will be released afterwards. Voting, which is available to the whole student body, will open April 14. In accordance with the government’s constitution and bylaws, students are eligible to run if they have 2.0 GPA and are enrolled in a minimum of five semester units.
According to Naomi Mangini, a current senator, LPCSG hopes to attract interested candidates to make the election more “competitive”. Other student senators, including Kerlyn Diaz and Sergey Starkov, handed out flyers and food to students passing by. Coffee and lemonade were also available for people at their convenience.
The executive board works in conjunction with the senate to “come together to advocate (for) and support student life,” according to Mercado. All positions are open for students to run for, including the role of LPC Student Trustee, which represents the college at the district’s Board of Trustee meetings. Mercado says he hopes student government will give students a platform to speak on issues that affect them the most.
“This is an opportunity to really take that step forward and get out of your comfort zone,” Mercado said. “Share your voice, represent the students and really support the student life we have here.”
In addition to promoting student government, several clubs also held events and hosted activities in hopes of increasing their membership. The Data Science club was among the few who hosted larger versions of common board games, such as Connect 4.
Other clubs, such as Phi Theta Kappa handed out flyers to attract new members. The club is a newly-formed chapter of the honors society hosted at numerous two-year institutions internationally.
“I think one of the biggest things we can really appreciate this year is the shift in our campus culture, the involvement with our students, our staff, our faculty, our administrators,” Mercado said. “Like, already, we have 60 plus clubs. It’s just really exciting to see it as each year grows more and more.”
Many also handed out flyers and promoted upcoming events on campus, such as the charity 5K: LPC’s Run for Higher Education on Saturday, March 29. As well as the Spring Job & Internship Fair on March 26. Several faculty and administrators were in attendance at the LCPSG on March 19, including LPC President Dyrell Foster.
“I’m most excited just to really see what the next cohort has entailed,” Mercado said. “We’ve always been allowed that autonomy to really push the voices of who’s part of (the student body) and what each culture and climate are for each semester and each academic year.”
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TOP PHOTO: Angelo Mercado donned the LPC mascot hawk wings for a club fair and student government event March 19, in the quad. The event was hosted to draw traction to the upcoming student government elections. (Photo by Angelina An/The Express)
Raina Dent is a Staff Writer for The Express. Follow her on X, formally Twitter, @_rainasafiya
