Bernadeth Lapore won the Vice President of Student Activities race with just five more votes than her competitor, Daja Lucas. Almost 500 students voted in the Student Senate executive election, out of a possible 2,659 voters. Read about the winners of the elections for Vice President of Student Organizations here and Student Body Treasurer here. 

What is a VPSA?

Under senate bylaws, the Vice President of Student Activities chairs Drake’s Student Activities Board. Lapore has served as vice president of marketing and digital media co-chair of SAB.  

Lapore’s responsibilities in her new position will include organizing SAB meetings, helping appoint people to committee chair and officer positions and making Free Movie Friday run effectively. She’s responsible for holding 10 office hours each week. 

Lapore’s campaign platform

One point of Lapore’s campaign platform was equity and inclusion, and she gave examples of how she might carry this out in her role. 

These include having ASL interpretation, closed captioning and wheelchair access at events and “[considering] the impact of our events on different communities and [working] to mitigate any negative effects.” 

“We live in a diverse and vibrant community, and it’s essential that we reflect this diversity in our events,” Lapore said.

Lapore also wants to provide an opportunity for student organizations and students to talk “about the issues they would like to see addressed by speakers/events we bring to campus.”

Within her platform point of consistency, Lapore said she “will be open about what my votes are” and “how we’re utilizing SAB funds.”