For the first time in several years, only one ticket appeared on the ballot for Holy Cross College’s student government association election (SGA). The previous year featured 13 candidates for students to choose from.
Juniors Abigail Fouts and Carlos Vera won the SGA election for the 2026-2027 school year after nearly a week of campaigning from Tuesday, Feb. 24 through Monday. Election day took place the following day, and results were announced Wednesday. Fouts and Vera were selected as the incoming president and vice president, respectively.
Vera, a business major who lives in University Edge, was involved in SGA before running for office. He served as one of three senators representing his class and was one of 15 senators in the organization. He is also a member of the International Students Club.
Vera said he decided to run after seeing the College grow over the past several years and wanting to contribute to that development. He said he was inspired by the steps administrators have taken to transform the institution.
“The main thing that drew my attention was what Marco Clark and the staff and the faculty are already doing at Holy Cross,” he said. “There are so many new projects expanding the school and making room for more students to be here on campus and improving student life here. I really do love the narrative changing in the process — the culture itself is changing.”
Fouts, a biology major, holds several extracurricular positions. She is captain of the women’s soccer team, a chemistry tutor and a student ambassador. She also previously served in SGA on the programming board within the social advocacy section.
Fouts said she joined the campaign after being inspired by her experience on the programming board and the opportunity to make changes that directly affect the school and its students.
“Looking into my future, I would love to look back at Holy Cross and be like, ‘I helped make those goals happen,’” she said.
Because they were the only candidates on the ballot, the pair said they were able to focus less on competition and more on developing their goals for the upcoming year. According to Vera, the campaign prompted them to focus more on potential change than simply winning votes behind the motto, “Vera Vision, Fouts Forward.”
“We started asking ourselves, ‘How can we actually take this seriously and make change, rather than just impressing the audience?’” Vera said. “That was different from previous years, where people were competing and trying to win votes.”
One overarching goal of their campaign is to advocate for students and strengthen communication between students and the administration.
“I think something that comes with the vice presidency and presidency is that we have connections to make things happen,” Fouts said. “So, hearing out the students here at Holy Cross and making changes for them for the better.”
Vera said he would also like to further promote the athletic department at Holy Cross, particularly by increasing recruitment and encouraging tri-campus students to attend games. The pair hopes to pursue these goals through weekly meetings with director of student activities Carolyn Kitz, as well as regular collaboration with the programming board and senate.
Vera said the priorities of the new administration reflect the broader changes happening at the College.
“In the past, people have relied mostly on social media, word of mouth or posters,” he said. “But now that the school is receiving more donations, the marketing and overall quality of communication is improving as well.”
They also hope to make the senate more involved in student life through stronger communication across campus.
One initiative they hope to pursue is creating a late-night chapel Mass, particularly with the development of the new dorm, so students will not need to travel to another campus to attend.
They also hope to build a new tennis court for the College’s tennis teams, which currently use Notre Dame’s courts for practice, as well as create a year-round locker room.
Fouts emphasized the importance of bridging the gap between students living on campus and those living at University Edge.
“More than 70% of the population here at Holy Cross lives on campus,” she said. “I think it’s really important that we find a way to connect with the U-Edge residents, even though they’re five minutes down the road.”
“I think it would be a huge step forward if we could find a way to get more U-Edge residents coming back to campus and participating in SGA events,” she added.
The pair also hopes to continue improvements to campus facilities as the College receives increased donations.
Vera said he looks forward to the upcoming year and hopes to continue building on the changes already taking place at Holy Cross.
“I’m excited for the new year and what it brings,” he said. “We’ll have new challenges with the new dorms and the changes happening on campus, and when that happens, we’ll be ready for it.”
Fouts said she shares that enthusiasm and hopes to make a positive impact on the campus community.
“I’m excited to help make a difference,” she said. “I’m willing to do whatever I can for the students here at Holy Cross.”
