The political environment since the election of President Trump in Nov. 2024 has made higher education tense, leading to panicked administrative actions from NC State: The dismantling of DEI programs such as the Black Male Initiative and Native Space in spring 2025, and now the Black Student Board is no longer a university-recognized student organization in the fall 2025 And unforgettably, Jae Edwards was fired by NC State for the work of a right-wing group.
Now, more than ever, a supportive and outspoken Student Government is vital and an improvement is needed from the 105th session. On March 9th and 10th, the NC State student body will decide who will lead our government for the next year. These are The Nubian Message’s endorsements for student body officers.
Student Body President
The Student Body President, as both the head of the Student Senate’s executive branch and a student Board of Trustees member, connects the student body to the administration. This position requires a Student Body President who stands against the administration and stands with the student body.
The Nubian Message has decided to highly recommend but not fully endorse candidates Taquan Dewberry and Ava Butler.
Candidates Zach Eddinger and Alexander Rivas have social and experiential concerns. To begin, the pair has spoken heavily on the recent Student Media funding cuts. Rivas was a former volunteer with The Nubian Message; however, he is not a spokesperson for The Nubian Message or for Student Media as a whole. While we understand the Eddinger-Rivas ticket’s focus on Student Media, we are not a single-issue organization, and the ticket’s inexperience and political issues disqualify them for us.
Eddinger currently works for the North Carolina Republican Party, which has passed anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant and anti-choice bills.
Rivas has no experience within Student Government, and while his running mate emphasizes that this is a strength, he still labeled him as an “outsider.”
Alongside these, the two have separate political ideologies that The Nubian Message fears will be in conflict once big decisions arise. And, in the end, Eddinger would still be the president, and The Nubian Message would prefer a vice president with experience and a president who doesn’t support a party with such regressive views.
Candidates Knox Trask and Hubbard Stack are also concerning candidates. Trask has voted against several crucial pieces of legislation, including the Moushabeck Freedom to Read Act, the Defend the Pack Act (an anti-ICE bill) and the Just Transition Act (a pro-Green New Deal act).
Stack is a second-year student and fairly new to life at NC State and the Student Government. In an interview with The Nubian Message, she said, “I might not be as experienced in NC State student government as some of the other candidates,” and, simply, she is correct. Most of her examples of being qualified for the position of Student Body Vice President were high school experiences in “Youth and Government,” sports and clubs.
Besides this, Stack is the daughter of Ed Stack, NC State Board of Trustees Chair. While the pair said they would vote against the Board of Trustees if it was best for the students, it is a concerning connection. In a year where the NC State administration has made several horrible decisions, we’d like a Student Body Vice-President that pushes back on the Board when they’re wrong. Not one who is worried about what their father might say.
We aren’t telling you to support Dewberry and Butler, or that we can even fully support them. As we stated last year, “To recommend carries very different politics and implications than to endorse. A recommended candidate is capable, but the jury ultimately remains out on whether they will honor their commitments.”
However, the Dewberry ticket has improved platform and principle-wise since last year’s campaign.
In an interview with The Nubian Message, Dewberry addressed his role in R29’s failure and specifically the ‘secret meeting.’
Dewberry said, “I’m sorry that it happened. I’m sorry that there was such a disconnect between the Student Government and the students at the time. Frankly, I was informed by Student Government leadership that we would likely be losing funding due to something. It was my job as newly elected Pro Tempore to inform our Student Senators about that, and that’s all I was trying to do. And I think I misunderstood the situation of that.”
Dewberry and Butler, unlike the others, seem more attuned and took direct actions to connect with the student body and provide support to organizations that have lost funding, such as the Black Student Board. They are the only candidates in the race with a clear plan, consistent support for progressive causes and collegiate-level leadership experience.
Overall, the best option for Student Body President and Vice President is Dewberry-Butler. These candidates are the most planned, focused and outwardly connected to the student body. Yes, problems have occurred in the past, but we have seen great improvement in Dewberry’s mission and campaign.
Student Senate President
The Nubian Message endorses Student Senator Mordecai Mengesteab for Student Senate President.
We believe the Senate has taken a self-absorbed, damaging direction, with most of the bills passed being procedural rather than for the students. During the Jan. 14 Student Senate meeting, when the vote for the removal of Chair Tan Francis occurred, several senators and community members highlighted concerns with Senate leadership.
Editor-in-Chief of Technician, Skye Crawford, even had to remind Senate President Din and Chair Lalith Nandula of the criteria it takes to go into closed session for a vote.
For the next session — during times where making political and social strides in the Senate may be uncomfortable — we need a Senate President who listens to the student body, is not afraid to stand against the administration, is humble and yet strong enough to lead a tactful Student Senate.
Mengesteab has great ideas for the future of the Senate. He highlighted ways to control the Student Senate’s inner conflict while keeping the focus on the student body. “I don’t think that we’ll ever be able to avoid conflict, and I think it’s actually in our jobs to cultivate conflict. The student elects us because of the fact [that] they want us to fight for them,” Moredcai said in an interview with us.
Mengesteab is actively working on bills as a Senator to help the student body; for example, the Jae Edwards Act, a bill in response to the former Pride Center Assistant Director’s firing. He said he has worked with the Department of Academic Affairs on bills to improve grade exclusions and graduate student lives.
He also shows that he values community outreach and has already been speaking with student organizations, “the majority of where I should be getting my inspiration from is the students,” he said.
Not only that, but Mengesteab has experience in many areas of Student Government, having served as a proxy for all of the committees at least once and previously a committee member of University Inclusion and Outreach last year.
Candidate Lalith Nandula is a good choice for Senate President, but we disagree with his focus; Nandula’s campaign focused on internal improvements. In an interview with The Nubian Message, he said, “My vision for the Student [Senate] is one that looks highly internal about its own structure, its own proceedings, and the way that it impacts the rest of the student body.” He highlighted that the Student Senate has to function properly before it can connect with the students.
While internal changes were deemed necessary by several members of the Senate during the vote to remove Tan Francis, we believe that the Student Senate should primarily focus on the student body’s concerns rather than the inner workings of the Student Government. The Senate should focus on the multitude of vital issues that hit the Senate floor this year and will continue to do so next year.
During the Senate meeting, when the vote to remove Tan Francis occurred, Nandula was composed in taking the stage during such theatrics. The infighting of the Student Senate seemed to affect him. It seems, from our interview, that this situation is one of the main motivations behind his campaign.
However, The Nubian Message worries that his lack of stances and his keeping of the peace will eventually lead to imperative decisions not being discussed in the Senate or with the university administration. Mordecai, on the other hand, understands the balance of the two and has lots of experience in all areas of Student Government.
Student Body Treasurer
The Nubian Message endorses Aleena Kollu for Student Body Treasurer.
The Student Body Treasurer position had three great candidates. Truly, we liked the energy of all of them and the Editorial Board spent time deciphering our positions.
Aleena Kollu, current vice-chair of the finance committee, is the best candidate for the position. She spoke confidently and provided clear and community-guided solutions to simplify the appropriations process.
She denounced the current appropriation process, which penalized many clubs that did not attend a budget tools session, which was one small step of the process. “That being an eliminating factor to a club receiving those appropriations funds, that’s really disappointing, and it’s something that I want to work towards,” she said in an interview with The Nubian Message.
Kollu presented the idea of treasurer town halls and tabling events to help garner student input and maintain open dialogue with the student body, draw in student input and have those conversations and open dialogue with our student body. Additionally, an idea of treasury round tables for college councils to better understand the appropriations process and ensure they know how they work.
Kollu has been on the finance committee and seen the drawbacks. Her pro-community attitude is what draws The Nubian Message to endorsing her.
Candidate and Student Government Director of Athletics Mikiya Hedgepeth is an extremely knowledgeable, realistic candidate who can streamline the treasurer position; however, outside of her proposed Treasury office hours initiative, Hedgepeth did not have a designated plan to connect with student organizations to ensure they get the funding they need.
Between the two, it was a tough decision; however, The Nubian Message believes that the support and amplification of student organizations through communication is key, and Kollu spoke directly to that.
Pranav Akki was a good candidate for the position. He was passionate and brought great ideas to the table; however, The Nubian Message worries that he might be taking on more than the position’s focus: distributing Student Government funds to student organizations.
Akki proposed creating an app to give monthly feedback to all organizations and house the appropriation process. Along with that, he spoke of facilitating connections between Triangle business and student organizations.
These are great ideas; however, it is an endeavor that would take excessive time and energy. We are worried that creating an app, managing the app, forming networking connections and streamlining the appropriations process is an overwhelming responsibility.
This energy should be used to communicate with the organizations directly to figure out a more tangible and manageable way for student organizations and the Student Government to understand each other. Then, for those for whom the appropriation process still fails to provide the needed funds, resources and networking opportunities can be provided.
This does not mean Akki will not be a good candidate in the future; however, we believe that Akki should generate more ideas. Next year, he could be one of the best, if not the best, candidates, as he has a clear passion and focus.
But the choice is yours…
Ultimately, the choice is yours. But when you vote make sure you’re informed on candidate positions, histories and ideas.The student body’s choice has and will have an impact on NC State’s future.
Student Government elections are on March 9 and 10. Students can vote online at http://go.ncsu.edu/votesg or in person in the Talley Student Union lobby or Engineering Building II’s breezeway.
