In a Meet the Candidates session held on the Boca Campus Monday night, one candidate stood apart from the rest – not because she has a spectacular plan to build additional parking while simultaneously revitalizing the borrowing owl populations – but because she’s running independent.
Freshman Naomi Levin was one of the first candidates at Boca’s Meet the Candidates session and was the only candidate in attendance not running with the Progressive or Advocacy parties.
“FAU has a really strong Student Government,” Levin says. “I will support the student body whether I get voted in or not.”
Running independent at any level of government is never easy – it is the same with SG.
“She’s very courageous,” Marni Sherman, who is up for re-election with the Advocacy Party, says.
According to Advocacy Party candidate Trevor Raborn, running independent is “pretty tough.”
Raborn says the difficulty comes from the inability to depend on anyone else for tabling and campaigning while balancing work, school and homework; there is cost involved as well when printing fliers and other materials — a cost that is cheaper in bulk, like with a party.
“You have to have respect for anyone who does that,” Raborn says.
“Most people don’t run independent — which I didn’t know,” Levin says. “I just want to raise my voice and work for the students.”