Females take the lead at Lipscomb UniversityWritten by: Emily England

Lipscomb University recently had their spring Student Government Association (SGA) elections for the 2015-2016 school year with a much different ballot than the past years. This spring election had all female students running for the student government president position.

Junior students Julia Allen, Jordan Beale, and Margaret Rox were all candidates for the student government presidential position. This is the first time in Lipscomb history that all female students ran for this position. 

Most Church of Christ beliefs have a low tolerance for women playing leadership roles and this tends to show in certain areas at Lipscomb. Presidential candidate Julia Allen was confidant and proud to go against the male-dominated grain that seems to rule our campus. “I don’t even know when SGA last had a female president. That’s one reason I was so excited to get a chance to run for this position,” Allen exclaimed. “I honestly at one point thought that female students weren’t even allowed to run for the presidential position.” 

Jordan Beale, a junior biochemistry major from Benton, Kentucky won the presidential position in a close run-off election against Julia Allen. All three candidates were supportive of each other, all understanding that electing a female into the role was an accomplishment no matter who was elected. 

“It’s really neat to now be able to say I have been one of the few female presidents that Lipscomb has had on their Student Government Association,” Beale said. “I know that my leadership skills are just as worthy as a male president’s, so I don’t see anything wrong with a female being in control.”

Five Lipscomb students ran for the vice-presidential position, both male and female, and a  female student also was elected into this position. Hannah Passamonte, a junior social entrepreneurship and international business major from Maui, Hawaii is the new SGA vice-president. “I think it’s so great that both offices have been filled with females. We both have the same goals in mind and will make a great team,” Passamonte says.

Beale and Passamonte have already begun planning for the next school year and hope to continue making differences on Lipscomb’s campus.