No candidate for SA secretary, Lovett freshman conducts 11th hour bid for treasurer

By Jenna Perrone     2/26/25 12:04am

No candidate has come forward to campaign for SA secretary. Jackson Darr, a Lovett College freshman, is the sole candidate for treasurer after filing a Feb. 11 petition for a special election. In a statement to the Thresher, Darr sent his campaign statement linked on the SA website.

According to the SA’s election timeline, a special election will be held in the coming weeks. If the secretary position is still empty after the special election, it will be filled via appointment. Natalie Wang, director of elections, did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

With the exception of last year’s presidential race, voter turnout for SA elections has declined since 2018. Both IVP candidates’ campaigns include helping students understand the SA better. Presidential candidate Trevor Tobey has announced plans to “refocus” on serving the student body and EVP candidate Mahtab Dastur has promised to make the SA more “student-focused.”  These plans largely overlap with the responsibilities of secretary and treasurer in the SA’s constitution. 

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Per the constitution, the role of the secretary is to “[ensure] the transparency of Student Association activities” by keeping comprehensive records of said activities. Of the four candidates that will appear on the ballot for the positions of president, IVP and EVP, three specifically use the word transparent or transparency in their statement to describe their goals for the future of the SA.

Heather-Reneé Gooch, the faculty advisor for the SA, said the secretary’s role is important in communicating with students. 

“They help set the tone for the relationship between SA and the student body as a whole,” Gooch said. “Most people are not going to go to Senate, so they’re hearing stuff secondhand or reading the emails. The secretary gets to help promote that narrative, help share the story.”

Darr promised “efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility” in his candidate statement. He cited his experience “raising nearly $100,000 for [his] 501(c)(3) organization,” and remaining visible on campus to increase financial transparency. 

Alongside overseeing the SA’s nearly $400,000 annual budget, the treasurer chairs the Blanket Tax Committee, which provides funding for organizations like student media, the Honor Council and the SA itself. 

Had the treasurer position remained vacant, current treasurer Thomas Ngo said it would have raised concern for many Blanket Tax Organizations. 

“The impact [would] be tremendous,” said Ngo, a McMurtry College sophomore. “The treasurer basically helps with the funding allocations for some of the biggest organizations at Rice, and the biggest events too. You got RPC, you got Beer Bike, you got Thresher, you got ktru, and all their fundings for their operations are executed by the treasurer.”

Two of the five proposed constitution changes, also on this year’s ballot, concern the Blanket Tax. Amendment number 5, introduced by Ngo, aims to raise the Blanket Tax, which is included in tuition for all undergraduate students, from $85 per student to $90 per student to adjust for inflation. 

Amendment number 3 changes the membership of the Blanket Tax Committee with the goal of “eliminating conflicts of interest,” and allows student organizations to apply for Blanket Tax status annually rather than every two years.

Ngo said some students have been interested in his position, but the large time commitment has deterred them. 

“When I tell [interested students] about the kinds of work that I do, the amount of hours I put in, they’re like, ‘Oh, is this a heavy time commitment? How many hours do I commit?’” Ngo said. “That’s the first thing that comes to mind for them, rather than ‘What’s the role about? What are the things that you do? What are the kinds of impacts that you made?’”

Hugo Gerbich Pais contributed to this report.

[2/26/2025 1:42 a.m. A previous version of this article mistakenly said Darr announced his candidacy on Tuesday night. This article has been corrected.]

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