The Friday, August 30th election results held in the Martin Luther King Jr. Building had everyone excited for the upcoming year.

D’Aja Z. Christopher

Delaware State University held its’ Student Board Elections to elect the freshman board, and other positions that weren’t filled from last semesters’ campaign.

Running for elective position on campus is not easy; it takes guts, and it takes discipline to not give up. It was an amazing campaign this year and a great way for the new freshman to enter our Hornet family.

I posed a question to one of the candidates to find out what it was like to run for a position on campus. Jewel Phillips, our current Miss Sophomore for the 2019-2020 academic school year answered, “It was a humbling experience. Running for a leadership position isn’t an easy task. You’re putting yourself out there and trying to best appeal to your peers as the best person for the position, in my case, Miss Sophomore, but I was extremely supported by my Hornet family and friends, so I was confident in myself and my platform. I put my heart into this university and knew this was the right job for me.”

Sophomore, Jewel Phillips

Walking around campus, through the classrooms, the cafes, and the different student centers, all one could see were different flyers hanging around. Flyers campaigning the different aspects of the individuals running for a position in either the Royal Court, or a class position on campus. Just seeing the unique aspects of each individual, learning about them from their mottos and getting a grasp of who they are, entice the student body to be more aware of them and potentially vote for them.

Jewel’s campaign was ‘Excelling Under Pressure’, a little wordplay to include her name. She ran against two other females within the sophomore class, Karizma Williams and Mayda Berrios.

This years’ election was one for the books! Usually around this time, elections would only be for the freshman class. But, because of the lack of spirit from the students during the spring elections, there were still spaces to be filled within the upperclassmen positions. With several people running for the same positions, this election was not one that just gave away titles for the most part.

Freshman Class Board pictured from left to right: Miesha Waters, Jaden Corbett, Jelani Bryant, Ardavia Lee and Maddison Holmes./ Recording Secretary, Carlitta Howie, not pictured.

The freshman class brought their wisdom and energy as they entered their first week as Hornets on this campus. Eager and determined to win, students campaigned all week leading up to Friday’s results. They set up tables in the MLK building on campus with flyers and treats as they walked up and spoke to the different students about their platforms. The candidates got creative with the mottos of their campaigns and left really good impressions on some students.

Voting for students originally was to be done online through blackboard from 8am-4pm, but because of technical difficulties, it was a written ballot held in the MLK Building from 12pm-4pm. Winners were to be announced that same day at 5:00pm. Within that hour of counting ballots, students grew anxious to know who the winners were, and when the time came, it was unbelievable!

This years’ winners were Giovanni Downie, SGA Corresponding Secretary; Jewel Phillips, Miss Sophomore; Miesha Waters, Miss Freshman; Jaden Corbett, Mister Freshman; Jelani Bryant, Freshman Class President; Ardavia Lee, Freshman Class Vice President.

This campaign was one to remember, and sets the standard for what to expect next semester for spring elections!

Quotes From Elected Candidates

Jaden Corbett, Mister Freshman

“Running for a royal court position was exciting but at the same time nerve wrecking. On social media, I had seen my flyer everywhere but I wanted people to see Jaden Corbett’s face. Throughout the process, I would dress up and just walk around campus so people would know my face in person. Also, when it was time to deliver my platform it was nerve wrecking. I didn’t want to say something wrong to where I started to lose potential votes, but it was all worth it in the end when I became mister freshman.”

Ardavia Lee, Freshman Class Vice President

“The election process has been challenging but rewarding. I am looking forward to serving alongside individuals looking to make a change. I can’t wait to see what great things this year will bring. Go hornets!”