Three Greek councils — the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, and the National Pan-Hellenic Council — endorsed Anand Ganjam and Emily McDonald for UPUA president and vice president, respectively.

The Panhellenic Council met with Ganjam and McDonald, as well as the Melissa McCleery-Tim Rinehart ticket, last Wednesday after they reached out to PHC President Meaghan DeMallie.

Both tickets gave a five minute presentation to the Delegates Council, made up of one representative from each sorority. After both had left, DeMallie said she and the PHC UPUA rep. facilitated a discussion with the delegates, making sure to list the advantages and disadvantages of both tickets.

The PHC delegates voted in favor of Ganjam-McDonald, thus giving that ticket the PHC endorsement.

The @PennStatePHC delegates have voted to endorse @voteganjam for the upcoming @UPUA_Elections! #ganjamstyle

— Meg (@Meg_DeMallie) March 20, 2014

The following week, the three executive tickets spoke before the Interfraternity Council, comprised of the executive board and fraternity presidents. IFC president Dan Combs said each pair was given 10 minutes to present their platform and goals, followed by a question-and-answer period. The IFC then discussed the candidates’ platforms.

Congratulations to the Ganjam-McDonald ticket for winning the IFC endorsement for the 2014 UPUA elections!

— Penn State IFC (@PennStateIFC) March 26, 2014

The Greek endorsement is one of the most important for presidential hopefuls. The presidential ticket that receives the Greek endorsement has won in every UPUA election thus far because Greeks come out and vote, and the endorsed candidates are given access to solicit votes at the fraternity houses.

Most of the Penn State population is not Greek, yet year after year, that endorsement proves to matter the most. Why? Because the Greeks take advantage of the lack of student engagement and are able to get their endorsed ticket elected by a landslide. In a nutshell, the Greek endorsement is the election X factor. Time will tell if that trend continues.