Long Beach City College President’s ambassador Shamonique Harris has been announced as the incoming Associated Student Body president for the 2024-25 school year.
With over 50% of the 106 student voters casting their vote for Harris, she won the election by a 30% margin according to data given to the Viking by ASB advisor Kim Hamon.
That percentage translates to 58 total votes for Harris with both other candidates receiving under 30 votes.
Candidates for student trustee, G Gonzalez and ASB secretary, Johana Fuentes ran unopposed and will begin their term in the 2024 fall semester.
Harris will be taking the position over from previous ASB President CoCo Dobard, who will be graduating after the semester ends.
“We start campaigning about a week before (elections open). People who ran for election had to submit their campaign statement, a headshot, as well as an agreement that they understand what is written in the constitution,” Dobard said.
Applications are then approved by the current candidate, at which point students can start campaigning.
According to Dobard, this election has had the most candidates running for the presidency compared to recent years.
Students who run unopposed must still campaign and go through an initial vetting process, and the option for students to write in an alternate candidate means there isn’t a 100% chance those who run unopposed will win.
However, with very few students casting votes for this election, only 106 of the reported 20,000 students enrolled at LBCC, it is very likely candidates who run unopposed will win the election.
The voting window for this year’s election was three days, with many students unaware that an election was ongoing.
ASB has struggled to garner student interest in its elections, meaning the voting power of just one student who participates can mean the difference between a candidate winning office or not.
This is an issue Harris hopes to resolve during her presidency, with a desire to increase student involvement not just with ASB elections and activities but the college in general.
Harris hopes to also focus on increasing student success in academics, wanting to encourage students to utilize academic services provided by the school like success centers, professor office hours and free tutoring more frequently.
“The voting process and campaigning was challenging, a lot of students weren’t aware of the Viking Engagement website or how to get there, but those who knew were excited that I was running for president,” Harris said.
Harris also emphasized the need to have students introduced to the Viking Engagement portal as soon as they enroll at LBCC.
“I want to help students navigate the Viking Portal so they can be up-to-date with events, club activities and leadership programs, all of which are available in the Viking Engagement Portal.”
Harris also plans to have the ASB cabinet filled by the 2024 fall semester with a desire to promote open positions, noting that there are currently positions that will be vacant after the current semester comes to a close.