Controversial SGA Senator Launches Student Body President Bid
Student Government Senator Jack Hermes. Photos by Patrick D. Lewis/The Tower
By Patrick D. Lewis
Jack Hermes, a student government senator representing the Class of 2027, has announced his much-anticipated campaign for Catholic University student body president.
Hermes, a junior business major, was elected to the Student Government Association Senate his freshman year and was elected president pro tempore, the senior-most position of the Senate, his sophomore year. He ran for student body president last year alongside Sen. Austin Janssen but ended his campaign before the election was held.
Now, Hermes has announced his “Elevate Catholic U” campaign for the position this year. Running alongside him is freshman business student and SGA Senator Brinkley Colquitt as the vice presidential candidate, sophomore politics major David Margand as student body treasurer, and junior criminology and global studies major Danika Marascio as student body secretary.
Margand currently serves as a Treasury Board member, and Marascio as head of SGA’s Title IX Task Force. None of the three were part of Hermes’ ticket last year.
In posts to social media, the ticket said their priorities will be “better faith, fitness, food.”
The ticket is the only one that has been announced thus far and may be the only ticket, something that previously happened in 2024 when Jeff Lance won the presidency.
Like Lance, Hermes is a former official of the Catholic University chapter of the College Republicans. He was part of a group of conservative students who launched a coup against the leadership of the club in early 2024 by forcing the resignation of the executive board and then changing the constitution to enable themselves to run the organization as they saw fit. Hermes served as a vice president in the CRs until recently, when he had a falling out with the other members of leadership, sources told The Tower.
In SGA, Hermes has prioritized reforming the student government organization and has addressed student life concerns, including fitness and recreation, health, and dining. Hermes and allies in the Senate have also supported controversial legislation, including a resolution calling on Catholic University’s administration to stop recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a holiday and another resolution attempting to block The Tower and other students from recording Senate meetings and from quoting from meetings.
The election will be held in the Pryzbala University Center on April 14 from 9 a.m to 9 p.m.
