TSU Senate Elections kick off with new positions and fresh voices

 By: Paris Blaylock

On Sept. 9, campaign tables lined the Tiger Walk, decorated with snacks, pens, and sticky notes, as eager candidates reeled in their peers.  
 
The 2025–2026 school year has opened with a lively senate election season, as candidates and a newly created Health and Wellness Senator position draw students into campaigns focused on change and innovation on campus.  
 
Taylor Zanders, External Affairs Senator, engaged with students on the Tiger Walk, helping to lead the campaign season through the heat of the day. Alongside the campaigns, a town hall took place.  
 
However, instead of the usual formal meeting style, Zanders chose a more personable approach.  
 
“They’re not coming up to me, I’m coming up to them,” she said.  

 
Her enthusiasm drew students in as she began to pepper them with intentional questions.  
 
“Instead of having y’all meet us where we are, we wanted to meet you where you are,” Zanders continued.  
She held two stacks of paper in her hands; one filled with student feedback and the other blank.   
 
As she invited students over for conversation, Zanders emphasized how much she valued their perspectives and welcomed them to share what they wanted to experience on campus.  
 
“I can’t do everything, but I at least want to know so that we can see what steps to take moving forward,” she said.   
 
With the introduction of the Health and Wellness Senator position, candidates are introducing fresh methods on how best to connect with the student body and raise awareness.  
 

With creativity at the forefront, they each designed a slogan in the form of an acronym, turning each letter into a symbol of their campaign’s guiding values.  
 
Mary Edomwonyi, a Health and Wellness Senator candidate, ran her “Slow Down” campaign, a theme inspired by the R&B song by Bobby V.  
 
“I want to get to know y’all. My theme today is I want to get to know you,” she said.  
 
Her table was decorated with an eye-catching reflective gold tablecloth, and she invited students to jot down their concerns, turning her campaign into a dialogue.  
 
“I just want to be able to address the different elements of health and wellness that often go overlooked and for us to prioritize things like rest, mindfulness, and movement,” she said.   
 
Drawing from her own journey as an international student, she understands how isolating campus life can feel, especially during the holiday season, and that insight fuels her campaign’s focus on wellness and connection.  
 
“One thing I would like to do is, over the holiday season, I’ll host different events for students who may not have a happy home to go to,” she said. “I know what it feels like to have to be stuck here when others can go home to their families, and I want to find something to cater to them.”  
 
With class senate positions also open, Courmore Timmons, decided to leave her legacy by running for Senior Class Senator.  

Her slogan, “What did I M.I.S.S.,” captured her values of mentorship, internship, senioritis, and service.  
 
“As seniors, we’re worried about so many other things, and I want to make the transition process smoother,” she said.  
 
With most upperclassmen living off campus this year, Timmons said that motivation to attend campus events has declined.  
 
“As freshmen, we had incentives that made us want to come on campus. I want to bring back programs and incentives that make seniors want to come on campus,” she said, “Being a senior is supposed to be the best part of the college experience, and right now I think it’s kind of the opposite.”  
 
Timmons further emphasized service as a core value driving her campaign.  
 
“Service is about pouring back into the communities that poured into you,” she said.  
 
“When you go back to the community you came from, you can change one person’s entire life. All it takes is one,” she added.  
 
As campaigning commenced for the day, Mister Texas Southern University, Evan Lee, joined candidates to support their journeys.  
 
“This fall campaign season gives seniors who haven’t had the time a chance to get involved, and the freshmen the chance to become active on campus,” he said.  
 
“It invokes a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness, and also hard work,” Lee said. 
 
With campaigning underway, students now look ahead to casting their votes.

Elections close on September 11th, and results will reveal which voices will represent the student body in the year ahead.