The Student Association (SA) E-Board plays a huge role in the lives of students at Binghamton University. Pipe Dream does not take the privilege of endorsing candidates lightly. We invited each of the candidates to our office to give a five-minute overview of their platforms, followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer session with our staff. Our endorsement for vice president of academic affairs (VPAA) is Raul Cepin.

Above all, Cepin stands out as a strong, vocal advocate for student needs. His platform promises to focus on improving resources in academic advising, mental health care, campus accessibility and a variety of other academic areas.

The scope of his ideas are wide-reaching, but each of his major projects is accompanied with a practical and concrete plan of action on which he can follow through. He seeks to expand existing programs — most notably the Student Advocates Program and The New York Times Readership Program — and add new ones that would connect students to internships and research opportunities. We were especially impressed by his intention to expand counseling for students in a feasible manner that takes into account limited campus resources.

It is important to note that Cepin is not the candidate with the most experience within the VPAA’s office. However, his leadership experience gives him a thorough understanding of how to lead a major student office. There will likely be a short adjustment period as he acclimates, but we believe that he will make up for this with his practicality and drive to enact change.

Overall, Cepin would be a welcome new face to the office. We feel that his vision and passion can encourage students to participate in the SA and campus affairs, which would be a step toward creating a stronger student community.

Although he receives our endorsement, Cepin was not the only candidate we considered. We were also impressed by Rebecca Ho’s platform. As a current assistant in the VPAA office, she possesses a good knowledge of the office as well as the SA as a whole. We are confident that she could provide a smooth transition and pick up where Adam Wilkes left off. She also has strong ideas about the mentorship program that the VPAA’s office had begun to be put in place, as well as increasing collaboration with the Fleishman Center and educating students on academic policy.

While we feel that Ho could accomplish the goals that she set out, we think that her platform would not provide as much overall benefit to the student body as Cepin’s. While the mentorship program is important, we don’t find it as paramount as she has set out to make it. We believe there is more potential for the VPAA office than Ho was tapping into.

An honorable mention goes to Michael Wuest. His platform brought some great ideas and a clear picture of the issues facing students on campus. He does not seem ready to take the office this year, but with some more student leadership experience and concrete plans for the position, he will be a strong contender in the future.

The other four candidates, while well-intentioned, did not have much of a grasp on the intricacies of the position as the three mentioned here. Nevertheless, it is a positive sign to see what we hope is an indicator of increased participation in student government.

To learn more about the platforms of all seven candidates, see coverage in our news section.