Clarification: An original version of this article implied Garima Tomar received a violation in the 2016 Student Body President campaign while on the Joe Nail campaign. Only the candidate can receive a violation.
The first Student Body President candidates for the 2018 election have been declared: Garima Tomar and Savannah Putnam.
Junior Garima Tomar is majoring in math and chemistry. She was on Joe Nail’s campaign in 2017, when she contributed to Nail receiving a false start and technology violation for sending a campaign message to a member of a private Nail campaign Facebook group.
In her letter to UNC posted on her campaign website, Tomar wrote that the platforms of past presidents have led to a student government that helps the members more than the students.
“My platform for Student Body President has nine targeted goals, bucking the traditional 10 million unattainable dreams,” she wrote. “I envision an institution that serves as a lever for change, and I plan to achieve this. With this platform, we will rebuild a student government that moves the focus back where it belongs: on us, the students.”
Tomar’s policies include fiscal transparency from the University regarding finances and student fees, access to Plan B and increasing research involvement.
Savannah Putnam is a junior studying political science and communications. In a letter to the student body, she wrote that her policy revolves around feasibility and attainability, and that she will bring service back to student government.
“In order to develop policy that best fits the student body, my team and I got on the ground and were able to gather a very diverse perspective about what student government can do to better serve the students it represents,” she wrote.
“Students from different walks of life shared how their Carolina experiences were affected by a certain issue. From those long talks with a multitude of students, we were able to develop a purely student-driven platform. If student government policy should be anything at all, it should be a reflection of what the student body holds to be most valuable, and that is exactly what this is.”
