Wednesday, Feb. 5, Buckley Nettles and Emma Frances Zellner kicked off their campaigns for the 2025 SGA vice presidency with the supporters. Campaign shirts and festivities will take over campus until 5:00 p.m. Friday when voting for the election closes.
Those who were “Buckling Up with Buckley” could be found on the Haley Concourse offering shakers, checkered covered water bottles, koozies and a photo opportunity with a car cutout. In addition to the concourse, students were spotted across campus in dark green t-shirts asking fellow students to vote for Nettles.
Johnna Hawkins, sophomore in speech, language and hearing sciences and Nettles’s campaign manager, loved seeing the team’s weeks worth of hard work pay off during election week, but she pointed to Nettles’s ongoing leadership and involvement in the campaign.
“Buckley, literally, is one of the most intentional, kind and just caring people. I have never met someone who's so willing to help others and especially so involved within her campaign, like how she's led it so far,” Hawkins said. “Buckley goes to everything she doesn't even have to go to because she cares for the platform and also for Auburn students in general.”
Nettles’s platform focuses on improving Auburn with three items: community, education and participation. Through her experience as an SGA senator and co-chair of the Student Affairs Committee, she has been involved with several important topics for Auburn such as housing, transportation and public safety.
According to Nettles, a common complaint heard around campus is that the general student body is unaware ofSGA's purposes. Nettles claimed that if elected, she would implement initiatives like tabling for each college’s senator, so all students could easily communicate their concerns to their prospective senator.
Emphasizing the impact SGA has on campus, Nettles encouraged students to get to know the candidates and their platforms. The concourse may be daunting during election week, but candidates like Nettles are excited to see the faces of the Auburn Family.
When asked what she looked forward to most during election week, Nettles said, “getting to see people I would have never met before."
"You get to meet a whole new group of people, but also having my team and all my friends out here supporting me has been super fun, too." Nettles said.
Just a few feet away on Haley Concourse, students in baby blue t-shirts tagged “We Can with Emma Fran” encouraged students to vote for Zellner, passing out buttons, stickers and koozies.
For Ella McPeake, junior in health services administration and campaign manager for Zellner, election week has been more than just a race for the vice president seat. From the campaign team’s pre-voting day meetings to the dozens of candidates running for an SGA position, McPeake explained the election fosters fellowship and a love for Auburn.
“[I get] to talk about Emma Francis and how she loves Auburn so much, and how she's so passionate about wanting to engage the student body,” McPeake said. “It's been awesome getting to see people and how they have so much love. They’re really, like, trying to be as much as they can, and showing what they want to help Auburn on."
McPeake spoke to the tenacity of Zellner, boasting about her commitment to Auburn and good nature.
“The forefront of her mind has been about the Auburn Family,” McPeake said. "She's just someone that has so much compassion behind her. And just, like, has such a heart for Auburn and the people here."
Zellner’s platform aims to enhance the student experience, emphasize Auburn’s resources and encourage the student body to connect.
Highlighting the hundreds of organizations and university-backed resources already available, Zellner wants to unite students so Auburn can be a better place for each individual and serve them more efficiently.
“I feel like sometimes the different organizations are separate,” Zellner said. “If both can communicate, we actually can move faster with initiatives and get things done for the students.”
Voting for the 2025 SGA election will be open online on Friday, Feb. 7 from 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. Winners will also be announced at 10 p.m. Friday on the Cater Hall steps.
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Jennifer Santiago, junior majoring in political science and minoring in history, has been with The Auburn Plainsman since Fall 2024. Santiago previously served as a news writer, and she is currently serving as the Lifestyle Editor.
