Katie Jordan and Alex Shockley earned the first major organizational endorsement tonight for the 2017 UPUA elections as the Panhellenic Council has endorsed the executive ticket to become the next president and vice president of the student body.

“We believe that they most closely represent our beliefs as an organization and will provide initiatives that are specific and innovative for not only the well being of our members, but also the campus in its entirety,” Panhel President Amanda Saper said in a statement to Onward State.

Both the Jordan/Shockley ticket as well as the Sammy Geisinger/Jorge Zurita-Coronado ticket met with the Panhellenic Council earlier Wednesday and Saper called the candidates Wednesday night to inform them who won the endorsement. Panhel has endorsed at least the last five UPUA presidents.

The PHC endorsement is one of the major org endorsements a ticket can earn, as it allows the candidates to campaign door-to-door on the sorority floors in South Halls. Other important organizational endorsements that will come out in the next week are the IFC and ARHS endorsements. Because candidates are unable to campaign in the HUB, these endorsements offer not only support but also tangible benefits for the candidates who earn them.

Election day is just under two weeks away on Wednesday, March 29. Until then, students will have the opportunity to learn more about the those running at next week’s Meet the Candidate sessions, the Grand Debate on March 27, or at vote.psu.edu, where there are bios of each candidate as well as other important information about this year’s election.