BY BETH LEVALLEY
Candidates running for Student Senate executive positions spoke to Senate this week, addressing their platforms for the upcoming academic year.
Student Body President candidates include Thalia Anguiano, Zachary Blevins and Kerstin Donat.
Anguiano wants to focus on the sexual assault program, campus safety, communication and inclusivity and equity. She hopes to implement changes to the Presidents’ Summit to expose student leaders to more resources about Drake’s sexual assault program.
Anguiano also wants to implement a Student Senate email address that would be a more private way of discussing issues on campus.
Blevins used his time to discuss his past experiences on Student Senate rather than his platform.
“I’ve been able to get great insight on how our university works, how our organization works, how our student body is perceptive to certain ideas,” said Blevins. “I would like to use these relationships I’ve formed to find actual solutions that work for both parties.”
Blevins cited his work with political events this year and his efforts to reach out to the student body as his two proudest accomplishments around the senate table.
Donat plans to improve communication, inclusivity and equity and campus life for current students if she were to be elected.
While Donat said changes are made for prospective students frequently, some small changes are necessary in order to please the students that are currently attending Drake University.
Kevin Kane and Russell White are the two candidates running for Vice President of Student Life.
Kane wants to focus on collaboration, the sexual assault program and improving the first-year interest committee.
“I think Student Senate really needs to increase collaboration between Student Senate and student organizations,” Kane said. “The perception on campus I’ve gotten from other students is that we too often share recognition over progress.”
To combat that perception, Kane wants each senator to be required to reach out to assigned organizations.
White is focusing on accountability, representation and responsibility in his campaign.
To do this, White wants the meeting minutes to be posted on social media, and he also wants senators to be required to go to at least one diversity event per month.
Student Body Treasurer candidates are Daniel Creese, Noah Farrell and J.D. Stehwien.
Creese has worked in several finance positions, and he is advocating for reallocating some of the funds in the Quasi-endowment and raising the student activities fee.
Farrell wants to familiarize student organizations with the process of one-time funding motions and interact with the presidents of student organizations. He admitted he does not have as much financial experience than the other two candidates.
Stehwien has served on the Student Fees Allocation Committee for the past year, and he is the only candidate running for an executive position that has never been on Student Senate. Stehwien wants to encourage student organizations to collaborate more in order to save effort, time and money in the Student Senate budget.
Nick Jenderko is the only candidate running for Vice President of Student Activities.
After the candidates spoke, Student Senate allocated $2,000 to the Student Leadership Advisory Panel (SLAP) for Jon Tasch to speak on campus during LEAD Week.
Hesitancy caused some senators to vote against this motion, saying that since students get course credit for LEAD, Student Senate should not fund the motion.
SLAP is identified as a separate student organization.
Senate ended the meeting discussing the annual budget for all student organizations for the next full academic year. This will be finalized next week.
