CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, Jon Barnhart’s name was misspelled. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

For the first time in at least four Student Association administrations, the sitting president is publicly supporting a presidential candidate.

As the SA president changes from year to year, so does the role of the sitting president during the election process. For the past couple of years, each president has handled the decision of whether to support a candidate differently.

During this year’s election, current SA President Allie Curtis hasn’t been a part of a campaign team, but she has supported Duane Ford, the current vice president, on her personal social media accounts for weeks.

Last year, former President Dylan Lustig didn’t formally support a candidate, saying he would rather help answer any candidates’ questions about the process.

Neal Casey, SA president two sessions ago, said he made it clear during his presidency that he wouldn’t get involved with the election so he could focus on the last few weeks of his administration. Casey added that he didn’t believe it is clearly right or wrong for sitting presidents to support candidates, saying it should be handled on a case-by-case basis.

“I think the president has a job to make the best decisions for the students and SA,” Casey said. “They can back a candidate based on how they view the future of a candidate in the organization.”

Jon Barnhart, president during the 54th Session, also did not endorse a candidate.

Casey and Curtis both said the circumstances of an election and the candidates can dictate how a president chooses to support candidates.

During last year’s election, all four candidates were in SA under Lustig’s administration. This year, Ford is the only presidential candidate currently in SA, something Curtis said factored into her decision to support him.

“It’s a free country, you have the freedom to support others,” she said. She added that she felt it would be “a disservice” not to show support for Ford “given the circumstances when we don’t have anyone else from SA,” she said.

Curtis said she wouldn’t write a public endorsement for Ford and that in classes, she simply encourages students to vote, but she has supported Ford on her personal social media accounts. Curtis said she’s since scaled back the amount of support she’s posted. She added that she wanted to let people know what she saw in Ford.

“He’s been somebody who has been there for me with everything I’ve gone through,” Curtis said. “I want people to know what kind of guy Duane is because I’ve experienced it firsthand and I feel like it’s kind of my duty to spread the word.”

Curtis, Lustig and Casey all said they offered support and advice to candidates who asked about the election process or what the job entailed.

Curtis said she was able to offer advice based on her experience in her own campaign, as well as managing Lustig’s campaign.

Lustig, the SA president before Curtis, said he took a different approach, but was still willing to offer advice.

“I will never support a candidate by coming out to endorse,” Lustig said. “I will, and I’ve told every candidate this, help them with working through ideas and give them advice and encouragement.”

The Syracuse University student body will soon find out if Duane Ford, Ivan Rosales or Boris Gresely will take the reins as the next president of SA. Students can vote through Thursday on MySlice.

Published on November 14, 2013 at 2:03 am

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