As of Monday night, the Elizabeth Foley, MCAS ’17, and Joseph McCarthy, CSOM ’17, campaign has withdrawn from the Undergraduate Government of Boston College presidential race. This decision leaves two teams in the running—Anthony Perasso, LSOE ’17, and Rachel Loos, MCAS ’18; and Olivia Hussey, current UGBC executive vice president and MCAS ’17, and Meredith McCaffrey, MCAS ’17.
In a statement from the campaign, the Foley-McCarthy team said that its withdrawal was due to unforeseen personal matters. Neither students nor administrators encouraged them to withdraw from the race, the team said.
“This, unfortunately was the best decision for us and we hope the student body of Boston College can understand that we could not have predicted or prevented these issues,” the team said in an email.
Despite the Jan. 29 deadline for teams to enter the race, Foley and McCarthy are encouraging the nomination of other campaign teams to ensure that the presidential race remains competitive.
“An election without diverse and representative candidates is not an election at all; it is an injustice to the student body and the candidates,” Foley and McCarthy said in their statement.
In particular, Foley and McCarthy are endorsing the nomination of Nikita Patel, CSOM ’17, and Joseph Arquillo, LSOE ’17, both of whom worked on their campaign. While the team would not be running on the same platform, Arquillo said that they share similar ideals to the Foley and McCarthy campaign.
Patel originally intended to run on another party ticket and has already received 250 signatures from the student body, a requirement to enter the presidential race.
“It is with this in mind that we strongly hope that the Election Committee continue to give all of their energy to serve students and allow these two very qualified candidates to seek office,” the team’s statement said.
Featured Image by Drew Hoo / Heights Editor
