Nicole Tran and running mate Courtney Castellow are currently running unopposed for App State’s 2025-26 student body president and vice president for the SGA.
Tran, a senior political science major, is currently SGA’s director of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Her running mate, Castellow, a senior public relations major, is currently SGA’s assembly speaker.
Tran and Castellow’s partnership started through previous experience in SGA, which has given them confidence and a strong sense of trust for their shared professional and personal interests.
“We have seen each other’s passions and ambitions grow and have grown into our leadership positions. I’m really fortunate that Courtney, when I approached her about the role, that she was immediately like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to work with you,’” Tran said.
The candidates feel that having been a strong duo in previous SGA collaborations is one of the many things that helped inspire them to run.
“When I was thinking about the role, I was thinking about vice president, like I want someone I could trust, but is also gonna hold me accountable, because I want students to hold me accountable,” Tran said. “But obviously, the people who work next to me, I want them to feel comfortable in that space, and Courtney has always been that type of person.”
Tran was inspired to run for the representation of students. Tran said she feels because she is a person of color, a first generation student and from “complex backgrounds” she can represent and also help other students realize they have a chance to be in a position to cause change.
She also feels that her position as director of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee has prepared her to help the community of marginalized students.
“Seeing how many stories and how many people I come across and realizing there’s so much work to be done and especially in a climate like this now, where people feel like they can’t really speak out or they don’t have the space to speak out,” Tran said. “I want to create that space and I wanna keep it safe and welcoming for people.”
Castellow is running based off of a similar platform to one she held when running for assembly speaker. Castellow feels transparency, connecting SGA back to the student body and helping amplify students’ voices is a priority for her.
“My big thing is every voice on this campus matters, whether you’re the one leading the charge or the one sitting in the back of the room, they’re all equally as important,” she said.
Tran and Castellow have decided together to run on three pillars; amplify, authenticity and community. They are hoping to amplify the voices of the student body to administration, show up as themselves authentically for the community and create a stronger student government community relationship through shared authenticity.
“I hope to see changes with administration just talking to students a lot more and I want to be able to bridge that gap, even through lunch or coffee or making Google Calendars accessible, because I think students are being put in a position where they don’t feel comfortable or they feel like they can’t trust anybody,” Tran said.
Though Tran and Castellow run unopposed, they are not going to let that slow them down or keep them from giving their campaign all they have.
“We’re going full force, we’re going to be on Sanford talking to people, sharing our goals and our values; we’re going to Hickory, we’re going to Levine,” Castellow said. “Yes, we are running unopposed, but that doesn’t mean people don’t deserve to know who’s going to represent them.”
Running unopposed has only motivated Tran and Casstellow to strengthen the connection between student government and the student body. They hope that students who feel concerned about them running unopposed will speak up and voice their concerns to them.
“I think running unopposed, I think people are like, ‘Well I can either vote for you or I don’t,” and I want people to have that conversation with me on their views and how they feel about trusting student body presidents and trusting student government,” Tran said. “And so just making sure that connection is clear because I’m always open to that conversation, too.”
