Only one unified slate is known to be running in the Student Union executive elections on March 26-27.

According to those familiar with the race, junior Brittany Perez, sophomore Grant Barbosa, junior Yewande Alimi, junior Neha Tibrewala and sophomore Jeff Nelson-all candidates with Student Union (SU) experience-will be running on one platform. Sophomore Colin Towery, a senator, will oppose Nelson for vice president of administration, but the others will stand alone on the ballot.

While election packets are due on March 6, candidates and those involved in SU do not expect more students to run.

SU President Neil Patel attributes the general lack of opposition to the success of SU’s current administration and to the high demands of an executive position.

“Students are satisfied with the way Student Union has represented them this year, so you see people that have experience running for those positions,” said Patel, a senior. “Some students are intimidated by 30- to 35-hour work weeks.”

But Patel does not see the unopposed races as a negative.

“The people we have running have experience between them,” he said. “They see what’s working and what’s not working. It’s good that we have a group of experienced people to be running the organization next year.”

Next year’s executive board will also be retooled from its current structure. It will include five positions-this year’s has four-with new officers for administration, programming and public relations, duties that are now split between the vice president and secretary.

Perez, who now serves as vice president and will be running for president, does not think that the lack of opposition detracts from the legitimacy of those running and thinks that her slate will be the best for implementing the new structure.

“Regardless of what the competition would have been, we would have made a strong slate,” she said. “I feel confident about the people I’m working with. It’s going to take really strong people, people who know what they’re doing, to put some meaning into the new positions.”

Perez added, however, that she would rather her slate be faced with more competition.

“I guess I’m glad to know that I’ll be [president],” she said, “[but] it’s good to have another person to compare my goals with so the students can make a choice as to who’s representing them.”

The slate will be filled out by Barbosa, who will run for vice president of programming; Alimi, who will run for vice president of finance; and Tibrewala, who will run for vice president of public relations.

Towery, the independent candidate, also feels confident about his candidacy, although he is disappointed to be excluded from a slate.

“Vice president of administration is something I would really excel at and enjoy,” said Towery, an SU senator. “It just happened that I couldn’t get a slate together, so I ran alone. It happened that there were six people that wanted to run and left me the odd man out.”

Towery says, though, that his independence from a slate allows him to focus on his individual goals.

“When you’re running in a slate, you focus on policy platforms and what you as an executive board want to do for the next year,” he said. “I get to focus on why I’m the best man for the job.”

Nelson, who will be opposing Towery, is looking forward to the race.

“Opposition ultimately holds the people running accountable to the students,” he said. “I’m excited that I get to share my goals and have the students make the choice as to who will do a better job serving them next year.”

Perez says that she encouraged those who asked to be on her slate to run as independents or form another slate. Despite the experience that she and her running mates bring to the table, she says that others should not shy away from declaring their candidacies.

“I don’t know if people look at the positions and are intimidated by them,” she said. “It might be that our people do have a lot of strength for the positions they’re running for, [but] people who run for executive board can be in Student Union or not in Student Union.”

Perez added, though, that she hopes her slate will sustain the good work that the current executive board has done.

“It’s important that we keep the goals of this administration in mind,” she said. “If there are things that have been left open, we should accomplish those goals.”

Everyone on the slate has internal SU experience and has either served on the Senate or Treasury. Patel says, however, that the slate should not be seen as a continuation of his administration, but as a fresh group with ideas both from within, and outside of, Student Union.

“They’ve all been part of Student Union, but they’ve been part of other organizations as well,” said Patel. “There will definitely be some similarities between our visions. There are some distinct differences. I don’t think any one administration should be a continuation of the next. I don’t think that’s what they are.”

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