Roommate rivalry
Friends vie for vice president of House
Although two of the candidates for House vice president are roommates, they say it will not affect the election or their friendship.
By Meghan Youker
Skiff Staff

Most roommates share a refrigerator.

Some roommates share a bathroom.

But only two roommates share hopes of being the Student Government Association’s next vice president of the House of Student Representatives.

Senior roommates Katie Gordon and Andrea Reed have been organizing opposing campaigns against each other for weeks in preparation for today’s SGA elections.

Gordon and Reed, who have lived together in a house near campus since August, said they both had planned to run for a long time. But Gordon, an engineering major, said they didn’t discover each other’s intentions until this fall, because Reed spent last spring at sea.

Gordon said she and Reed met their sophomore year, but they didn’t become good friends until last fall when they both were Bible study leaders at the same church.

Although Gordon and Reed said they have not discussed their individual campaigns, voters will find that both candidates say they are concerned with the lack of communication between SGA and students and making sure students feel represented.

Reed, a business management and social work major, said she hopes to restructure the way representatives are chosen for SGA, start a January academic term and allow purchases from the concession stands at athletic events to be placed on a student’s ID card.

Gordon said her main priorities are initiating a student-enforced honor code, increasing recycling on campus and hiring full-time academic advisers for underclassmen.

Todd Clower, a junior advertising/public relations major and candidate for SGA secretary, said he thought both Gordon and Reed would get the job done but he noted the differences in the way each of them has run her committees in the past.

“Andrea seems to be better at following through with the administration, while Katie is better at delegating power and responsibility in her committee,” he said.

The SGA election may be competitive, but Gordon and Reed said there hasn’t been any tension between the two of them and there hasn’t been any schemes or vicious plots at home or on the campaign trail.

“We may campaign against each other all day,” Gordon said. “But then we come home, sit down on the couch and laugh.”

Sophomore religion major Rodney Thomas and junior broadcast journalism major Bill Morrison are also running for vice president of House and. Thomas said he hasn’t noticed any anxious competition between Gordon and Reed.

The roommates said they have tried to keep their private lives separate from their campaigns and that one entire dinner discussion was dedicated to how they would handle running against each other.

“I don’t know what she’s doing in her campaign, and she doesn’t know what I’m doing in mine,” Reed said. “We thought it would be a good idea to keep our platforms confidential.”

Gordon and Reed’s other roommate, senior engineering major Beth Kush, said she didn’t know either of them were running until last week.

Both Gordon and Reed maintain the outcome of the election will not affect their relationship or their desire to participate in SGA.

“We are both very qualified,” Gordon said, “I think it will be easier for the loser to handle because we know the other deserves it and will do a good job.”

If they don’t win the election, Reed and Gordon said they will pursue committee chairs in SGA and will work to promote better representation and communication between SGA and students.

m.m.youker@tcu.edu