2022 Student Government Association Presidential candidate Javia Warner and Vice-Presidential candidate Grace Hafner have big plans for SGA and the student body as a whole.

Warner, who was Freshman Forum Clerk her freshman year, currently serves as the SGA Secretary.

“I see the way things work inside and out,” said Warner. “My role is facilitating things, making sure things get done, making sure that meetings happen, and things of that nature. My role in SGA over the past couple of years has led me to this by being able to watch all the things that have gone on. I get to sit in on all different aspects of SGA, especially while looking into a president role and seeing how the people who have come before me have done things.”

Hafner serves on the Legislative Affairs Committee, which advocates for additional funding for the university. She has also worked with the City Council Liaison Program where she acts as a representative for UNA. 

“Watching the current administration, I feel like Javia and I have a very good understanding of what the campus wants and needs,” said Hafner. “I myself have a lot of logistical experience, so knowing my own skill set from different positions on campus, I’m really excited about the opportunity to get to work further with students and the faculty and staff at UNA.”

Both Warner and Hafner have a deep love for the campus and want to work to improve the lives of their fellow students. They discovered a passion for serving others through work within SGA, a passion which they now seek to continue through running for President and Vice President. The pair’s main goal is to create more communication and a closer bond between students, faculty and staff. 

“What I want to see is a better community when it comes to the organizations we have on campus,” said Warner. “My number one goal is to seek out the students’ opinions and see what they need so I can help them get that done.” 

To hear those opinions, Warner and Hafner aim to speak with students directly, both through their campaigning process and after the election. 

“One thing that I think makes Javia and I a really great pair is that we are involved on campus,” said Hafner. “We’re excited about the variety of people that are coming up because we know that campus is a diverse group of people, and the more people you have, the more communication, and the more transparent SGA can be as a whole.” 

Through her role on the Legislative Affairs Committee, Hafner has also been made aware of the need for funding for the university in order to improve infrastructure and create more scholarships for students. She plans to communicate these needs to faculty to propel the university forward. 

As a result of the impeachment hearing of 2021 SGA President Jake Statom, Warner and Hafner intend to become more transparent with the student body to create a better relationship between students and SGA. 

“We both feel like there is no reason to have any bias or bring those biases into these positions, so I don’t feel like we would have any issues like that going forward,” said Warner. “If we did, I feel like we could handle them very well.”

Part of this mission for transparency is being a part of activities involving students. 

“I love being outside with students and interacting with them, especially incoming freshmen,” Hafner said. “I see no problem in our being involved and transparent at all. We’re excited about that newfound level of interaction with students.”

Through these attempts at interaction, however, some students found themselves in an unforeseen situation. Will Driver, a student at UNA, was among the hundreds of students who were added to a GroupMe as a part of Warner and Hafner’s campaign. 

“I was added to a huge group chat, and at first, I really didn’t care that I was added, but I didn’t know how they got my information. It was done without my permission,” said Driver. “I think people should be made aware of what happened, and they shouldn’t just sweep this under the rug.” 

Aliyah McCary, Chairwoman of Elections and Recruitment, had expressed that the situation was something that no SGA member had anticipated. The campaign strategy was not technically a rule violation, but it has raised questions for future Elections Manuals. 

“There’s already tension between SGA and students,” said McCary. “We don’t want to add more. We don’t want candidates to feel like they don’t have a fair chance, so I do feel like this [rule] needs to be in the next Elections Manual. [The candidates] understand this as well. The way they went about it was not the best idea.” 

Warner and Hafner explained that the response of students was not expected, but they realized their mistake. 

“Of course, some people don’t want to be a part of groups, and that’s perfectly fine,” said Hafner. “We definitely want to apologize to anyone who was offended by being added. We meant no disrespect. It was really just the efficiency of adding the sheer number of people at one time.” 

Moving forward, the candidates plan to seek more input from students to make the campus better. They feel that their eagerness to listen to their peers and their willingness to adjust the way that things are run make them the best candidates for the position of President and Vice President. 

“I feel like we’ve seen things go on that we think are great, and we’ve seen things that we think can be changed,” said Warner. “Neither one of us is scared of change. We’re not going to back down from bringing up the things that need to be brought up. I think that our tenacity and willingness to be on campus is what’s going to bring us through.”