By KELLY KULTYS & KATIE MEYER

In sharp contrast to last year’s heated battles, including the one over the executive ticket, this year United Student Government (USG) heads into its elections with only five contested races.

“I wish that all the elections were contested, including my own, and I think the best way to do that is a lot of communication, a lot of outreach, and making sure that students on campus really know what USG is,” Aileen Reynolds, FCRH ’14, candidate for executive president, said.

While the executive ticket, vice president of Operations, vice president of Finance, vice president of Health and Security, and vice President of Gabelli are running uncontested, three executive positions are running contested competitions.

Emily Rochette, GSB ’14, the current vice president of Student Life, is running for reelection while challenging Michael Meehan, FCRH ’14 and current Residential Hall Association (RHA) President, for the position. The position of vice president of Fordham College Rose Hill also has two bidders, Emily Horihan, FCRH ’14 and Lauren Byrne, FCRH ’14. Finally, Bridget Fox, FCRH ’14, the current vice president of IT, is running for vice president of Communications against Matthew Gillis, GSB ’14.

Outside of the executive board, only two senate races are contested this year – FCRH 2014 and GSB 2016.

For FCRH 2014, five candidates Stephen Ross, Briana Rotello, Anthony Gatti, Matthew Freeze and Tara Cuzzi are competing for the three open senator positions. On the GSB 2016 side, three candidates, Thomas Roemer, Tiffany Wang and Travis Navarro are currently vying for the three open positions.

On Tuesday April 9, these students and those running unopposed participated in the annual Meet the Candidates Night.

Reynolds and Brendan Francolini, GSB ’14, started off the night addressing many of their most important platform ideas.

“We’ve had the opportunity to work with administrators and build relationships with administrators in a whole variety of [ways],” Francolini said. “[We have] also had the opportunity, most specifically, to report on the student expression and free speech, to work with students and to gain legitimacy in the eyes of students.”

Following them, especially in many of the contested races, candidates offered their strongest platform positions to the audience.

For the vice president of Student Life, both Meehan and Rochotte called upon their prior experience as their main strength.

“I’m coming into the position, if elected, with a lot of experience,” Meehan said.  “I’ve risen through the ranks of RHA…and I’m coming in with really great relationships with other clubs and especially with administrators. I’m going to really try to leverage that experience and really utilize that experience to advocate for other clubs and emerging clubs on campus.”

“As VP of student life this year and having the experience that I have had, I can hit the ground running as soon as the new term starts to make all the events that have already run even bigger and carry on the tradition but also add new elements, add new programs and continue to work with USG on policy initiatives,” Rochotte said.

In the vice president of Communications contest, Fox drew on her social media skills, while Gillis pointed out the divide between USG and the student body.

Students can vote for the candidates via OrgSync beginning on Thursday, April 11, and voting will end by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 12.