NEW ORLEANS (April 13, 2017) – A criminal justice major and a biology major, both from Mobile, Ala., have been elected 2017-18 Miss Dillard and Mr. Dillard respectively during online elections April 5, according to Courtney Williams, director of student engagement and leadership.

Malaysha Seals and Kyle Reiss will lead Dillard’s royal court for the upcoming year.

Tevon Blair, a mass communication major from Chicago, was re-elected without opposition for his second term as SGA president. The re-elected vice president is Joseph Caldwell, an urban studies major from Houston, who also was unopposed.

Other SGA officers are Kahlia Columbus, accounting major from Houston, treasurer; and Leah Erby, an English major from Chicago, parliamentarian.

Williams had announced before the election that no runoff elections would be held, so some candidates could win with a plurality rather than a majority vote. He said in the election announcement on election night that a “record-breaking” 43.5 percent of the student body voted, “significantly higher than the national average of 10 percent to 15 percent of students.”

Other winning candidates include:

• Senior class: Dominique Nash, president, and Kenya Moore, attendant.
• Junior class: Madison Torry (unopposed), president; Ke’Adria Miller, attendant; and Akheem Dowl, gentleman (unopposed).
• Sophomore class: John Lawson, president; Erienne Lewis, vice president; Taj Odem, treasurer; Bria Jones, secretary; Brianna Thomas (unopposed), attendant; and Todd Welch, gentleman.

Nominations for the 2017-2018 SGA positions were accepted March 16.

To be considered eligible for an SGA elected office, a candidate must have had a 3.0 minimum cumulative grade-point average. To be considered eligible for class council, the candidate must have had at least a 2.75, have no judicial hearings and meet community service hours for specific to each class.

Freshman class elections are held in the fall.

(Alexis D. Granville contributed to this report.)