Before Student Body President-elect Jen Daum posted her first campaign flier, she already was bucking a UNC trend.
When Daum officially declared her candidacy for student body president in January, she became just the 12th woman in the last 10 years to run for the position -- compared to 44 male candidates during that time period.
Daum broke another campus trend Tuesday when she was elected as only the third female student body president since the position's inception in 1921. UNC's first female student body president, Patricia Wallace, was elected in 1985.
But University officials and former candidates said they hope to see the trends of male domination in student elections come to an end in the near future.
Cindy Wolf Johnson, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, said she has observed a negative bias against female candidates in the past decade that has discouraged many females from running for office. "I've heard many people not giving serious consideration for women candidates based on the fact that they are women," she said.
Reyna Walters, student body president from 1998-99, said she had to take factors like her physical appearance and dress into account more as a female candidate. "All the old stereotypes are in place that you still have to overcome," Walters said. "Those minor things have a subconscious effect on people."