The spring of 2024 brought with it yet another school-wide race to elect candidates for the Student Government Association (SGA), allowing new names and faces to represent each artistic department.
It is not uncommon for there to be several candidates running for every art department’s respective representative. Each person brings their own unique ideals and promises for their department to the table, or maybe even a donut or two as an incentive to vote.
As the polls began to close and the last of the campaign posters were taped on to the walls, it was clear who would be chosen to act as representative.
Usually, there are a couple positions in the SGA that aren’t extremely competitive, such as treasurer or secretary. But in the 2024 election, there was only a single candidate to represent Stage Design and Production (SDP).
At first glance, what may have seemed like a glitch on the Google Form soon became reality. After all the votes had been received, junior SDP student Ella Bustamante was elected as representative.
One crucial factor to keep in mind when reflecting on this election is the fact that Bustamante was going to win, regardless of voter tally, simply because she was the only one running. No one else wanted to step up at the time.
Soon after Bustamante won the position, she was offered an opportunity to attend the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. She later accepted the offer and left BSA.
After she left in the spring, previous representative Violet Hale had to step in to temporarily fill the position. The absence of Bustamante led to a scramble to elect a new representative in the fall of 2024.
Hale shared some insight on what it was like for the election to spring up: “It was unprecedented and unexpected, especially with Ella [Bustamante] leaving the school.”
One of the major issues in finding a new representative was that not many SDP students opted to step in and be a candidate. Not only that, but there was a lack of communication in the department that led to confusion surrounding the start and end times of the campaign, who was allowed to run, and when there were opportunities for speeches.
The election lasted for about two weeks and invited the two senior candidates, Kena James and Will Williams, to give an occasional speech or voting reminder during the Theater Department homeroom.
Both candidates took very different paths in the way they shared their ideas and formulated their own unique campaigning process, each with a different perspective on how things should go in the department, and how they intended to reach those goals. (Note: Kena James is a staff member with the Muse).
James shared, “In recent years, and in the SGA in general, there have been a lot of empty promises, and promised things that aren’t even attainable.”
James also noted that she did not spend the time making campaign posters, instead taking advantage of her windows in homeroom to state her case.
James expanded on her vision a little bit further: “For me I was taking the approach of not promising material things, but guaranteeing the support I know the students at BSA need.”
A mixture of back to school stress and a department that needed student representation found the candidates taking whatever measures necessary to funnel down their goals and objectives into brief verbal messages and handmade flyers.
Senior Will Williams shared his perspectives on these uncertainties: “I really only had time to make my little posters, I mean there was no set time for speeches or anything.”
The root of the hurried election ultimately boiled down to a vital department at BSA having a strong need for someone to represent them.
Department head Julianne Franz touched on the importance of having a representative: “I always feel like my students have a really good handle on how people are feeling, we are a very hands-on department, one that is in need of an SGA rep.”
At the end of the voting period, after several brief rallies and some influential speeches peppered in the mix, Kena James was elected to represent SDP for the 2024-25 school year, closing out an extremely unusual event that will linger on the minds of many BSA students.
To contact this writer, email Muse Newspaper at musebsa@bsfa.org.
