Editor’s Note: The voting dates listed have been changed from April 9 and 10 to April 8 and 9.

The 2024-2025 student government candidates gave their platform speeches at the latest student government meeting. 

Six candidates are running for five positions. Only the position of executive vice president is being contested. 

Ameenah Morris, junior philosophy major, gave her student executive vice president speech to the student senate Wednesday. Morris is one of two candidates for the role. (Sia DeyKoontz) 

Philosophy and political science double major Ameenah Morris is one of two candidates running for the executive vice president position in student government.  

Morris won the senator of the semester during the fall 2023 semester. She said that she thrives under pressure and has experience working with budgets, big and small.  

She is currently the co-president of the philosophy club and is the chair of internal affairs in student government.  

If elected, she said she would work to maintain EIU’s motto of affordability and give voice to different student perspectives by attending and speaking at higher board meetings.  

Sheldon Turner Jr., sophomore accounting major, gave his student executive vice president speech to the student senate Wednesday. Turner Jr. is one of two candidates for the role. (Sia DeyKoontz) 

Also running for executive vice president is Sheldon Turner Jr., a sophomore accounting major. 

Turner Jr. is the president of his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha as well as the co-vice president of NAACP. He will be a resident assistant in Lawson Hall next semester. 

Turner Jr. is not currently a part of student government. 

If elected, he said he wants to foster inclusivity on campus and advocate for progression including funding and resource availability.  

Taylor Cloud, a sophomore communication disorders science major, is running unopposed for student body president. 

Cloud is currently the secretary for student government. 

One of the areas that Cloud wants to improve is the safety and wellbeing of students on campus. She said she wants to disperse mental health pamphlets and social media posts on student governments’ Instagram. 

Carlos Rodriguez, a sophomore psychology major, is running unopposed for vice president of student affairs. 

Rodriguez is currently serving as vice president of academic affairs. He said going forward, he wants to collaborate more with Registered Student Organizations and host bigger events. He said student government needs more love because of how hard they work and thinks the members deserve recognition. 

Rodriguez said he loves academic affairs but wants to be more involved in the event planning and wants to provide for the student community. 

Ty Rea, a communications major, is running unopposed to be the vice president of academic affairs. 

Rea said they want to raise Eastern’s campus’ collective GPA. They are currently the chair of alumni relations. 

Rea said they wanted to host study sessions at the library as a way to build a community for students that need accountability. 

Javier Martinez, junior psychology major, is running unopposed to be the speaker of the senate. 

Martinez is the coordinator for the university board and said he has completed 18 credit hours last summer at his former school while earning straight A’s. 

Martinez is currently on the business affairs committee. He said he works well under pressure and wants to take on greater responsibility in student government. 

Martinez said he will dedicate time to student government over the summer while he will also be an orientation leader. 

One of his goals is to foster diversity, inclusion and academic excellence by working with RSOs. 

Candidates can be voted for April 8 and 9 via email.

Veronica Gipson contributed to this article. 

Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 581-2812 or at cahardy@eiu.edu.