Voting for the election for Senators-At-Large will begin at 8 a.m. tomorrow on MyDrake and close at 8 p.m. on Friday. The Times-Delphic will moderate a candidate forum tonight at 7 p.m.
After the election, Senators-at-Large will each take up one of the following six senate positions: Academic Affairs, Civic Engagement, Community Outreach, Facilities and Technology, Health and Safety or University Services. Each senator chairs a corresponding committee and has distinct responsibilities related to the above aspects of Drake. Each Senator-at-Large holds at least one office hour each week.
Here’s what we asked the candidates about:
Please provide your name, major(s), school year, pronouns, and social media accounts and/or other places where students can learn more about you and your campaign.
If you have platform points for your campaign, please list them and explain the meaning and goals behind each one.
What are your goals for this position? Are there issues that you plan to address, or initiatives that you plan to start or continue?
What qualifications do you have that are relevant to this position, such as involvement with organizations on or off-campus?
In what ways have these qualifications made you an effective student representative, planner and communicator?
As a Senator-At-Large, you will chair a senate committee. What experiences and skills will you bring to the table that will help that committee and its members be successful in serving the student body?
What’s your favorite part of the Drake Relays?
Candidates were advised that they could choose to answer either question two or three or both.
All photos were provided by the candidate unless otherwise noted
Candidates for Senator-at-Large provided the following responses:
Daja Lucas
Please provide your name, major(s), school year, pronouns, and social media accounts and/or other places where students can learn more about you and your campaign.
My name is Daja Lucas, my major is Computer Science, and I am minoring in Graphic Design. My pronouns are she/her/hers, and my campaign Instagram is @daja4dusenate. [Lucas is a first-year student].
If you have platform points for your campaign, please list them and explain the meaning and goals behind each one.
– Making student senate more known and accessible to future and current first-year students at Drake. The meaning behind this platform point is coming from the perspective of being a first-year student and also being a first-generation college student as well. Student senate was not introduced to me or even explained to me about what they do and how they can help. I feel that this should be one of the top priorities for the student senate because we aren’t able to connect with all of the students here at Drake without letting it be known to them about who we are. My goal behind this is to introduce first-years to the student senate, and this might be by coming to Bulldog Foundations or being present during the welcome week for them so that they know that the student senate is here to help and provide support for them.
– My next platform is creating more of a welcoming and comfortable platform for the students at Drake to be able to voice their opinions and concerns. I feel that the students at Drake are more comfortable with going to social media or group chats or Yik Yak to talk about the problems that they are having due to the fact that they are not comfortable and don’t feel okay with expressing their concerns to student senate members. And this could be because of the fact that they either don’t know who they are or because they don’t feel comfortable enough to do so. My goal behind this is to create different forms of communication that the student body is okay with using like anonymous Google Forms to share their concerns or just sending out surveys every 2 months so that it’s a more inviting experience for them.
– And my last platform is representing and supporting the different people that are a part of the Drake community. I think that when thinking about the current senate as a whole, not just 1 or 2 people, there is a lack of support. And Drake is a mixing pot between different people all over the world so If I am elected to the senate, I will try and create a system where it is required that all members of the senate at least attend 2 events held by different student organizations to show that we are with the community and we are supporting and representing.
[covered in 2.]
What qualifications do you have that are relevant to this position, such as involvement with organizations on or off-campus?
I am a part of the Adams Leadership academy, along with Flight, and I was also on the Carpenter [Residence] hall board during the fall semester as the second-floor representative. I don’t have an extremely large list of qualifications and that is due to the fact that I wanted to take my first year to observe the different student organizations on campus without committing myself right away. Because I knew that when I did decide to join an organization on campus, I wanted it to be something that I was passionate about and that I committed my time to it 100%.
In what ways have these qualifications made you an effective student representative, planner and communicator?
The qualifications that I do have has made me into an effective student representative and planner and also communicator by simply giving me the tools necessary in order to succeed in all of these things. For instance, the Adams Academy has provided me with the tools on how to effectively be a student leader and also how to make sure that I am personally prepared to be a student representative. It has also helped me with making sure that I am in the mindset to plan out goals and actually accomplish them. And being a floor representative for the fall semester really gave me the opportunity to get a first-row seat on how a board works together to effectively plan events, and how they work together to make solutions to problems that are occurring in the resident’s halls.
As a Senator-At-Large, you will chair a senate committee. What experiences and skills will you bring to the table that will help that committee and its members be successful in serving the student body?
The most important skill that I would bring to the committee would be my ability to listen to a given problem and effectively give a solution in a timely [manner]. I am able to look at problems from both perspectives without creating my own bias so that the solution that I come up with is actually helping the people that need it and, in this instance, it would be the student body. I am also a very good observer and researcher, so I am willing to do the necessary research and steps to make sure that I am talking to all parties and doing the research to make sure that the solutions that are being made are the best for that situation. And I would also bring my skills of being committed to the committee as well. The position of being Senator-at-Large is not a resume filler for me; it is something that I am passionate about. I truly want to see Drake become the best version of Drake for the students here. Because the student body plays a major role in making Drake what it is and without them, there is no Drake University.
What’s your favorite part of the Drake Relays?
I have not had the wonderful experience of Drake Relays, but I am super excited to experience it this year. And I am most excited to be able to experience how Drake becomes a community during all of the amazing activities that will be going on during Relays. The Drake community is actually one of the major reasons why I decided to become a Bulldog.
Grant Morgan
Grant Morgan, sophomore, he/him/his, Instagram: gmorgan2001, Snapchat: gpmorgan2001
Policies
Strengthening Drake’s internet connectivity in order to ensure that all students have reliable and consistent access to wireless internet on campus.
Expanding organization funding in order [to] help organizations expand their activities and initiatives as COVID restrictions come to an end.
Implementing new recycle programs which make recycling on campus more inclusive, efficient and regular.
Expanding funding towards mental health care services in order to ensure that all students have obtainable and high quality mental health care.
Working towards expanding student worker pay in order to help those student workers who desperately need a raise for their hard work and determination.
Broad Goals: Tackling the mental health care crisis; raising student worker pay to at least $10 an hour; helping organizations to expand their programs and outreach; and ensuring better internet access all over campus.
In terms of qualifications, over the past two years I have been able to garner a significant amount of experience from both my major and my extracurriculars. From gaining a greater ability to write and take notes to being able to fully understand how campus organizations are structured, to even learning the basics around budgeting, I can now confidently state that I have been able to gain these skills and so much more. Overall, most of these skills have come from my time as the philanthropy chair for TKE and VP of Programming for IFC.
My time in TKE and IFC have allowed [me] to be more communicative and inclusive. Overall, over the past year I have had to learn how to propose and debate ideas and policies within an environment of parliamentary procedure. And within this kind of environment, I have also learned how to best represent the people who rely on me most. Thus, taking what I have learned from both TKE and IFC, I think it is rather unequivocal that I can represent people from all across campus.
I will bring experience in both parliamentary procedure and policymaking. These two things will not only help to expedite basic procedure, but on top of this, it will also allow me to be able to implement a boatload [of] policies which are desperately needed for campus.
I love being able to hang out with my friends without having to worry about any exams or papers.
Andrew Klinke
Andrew Klinke, International Relations and International Business, Junior, He/Him/His, and my socials are Instagram: Klinke4Senator, Twitter Klinke Andrew, Facebook Andrew Klinke
Platform
Involvement – Helping Students better understand what Student Senate is as an organization and educating them on what they are entitled to from the organization.
Accessibility – Creating a more straightforward process to access student Senate resources.
Sustainability – Making Student Senate a more sustainable organization for the future by creating better processes for transitions and recruitment.
Goals
Starting a more involved outreach effort towards students encompassing the goals of my platform.
I have served in many roles that qualify me for a Senator at large position. Most importantly, I am currently a Senator at large in the Senate. I have conducted the duties of the role before. I have also been in leadership of my fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), as vice president, and I have also served in more minor roles in other student orgs.
These qualifications have required me to coordinate and meet with people to create activities, settle disputes and improve my skills as a communicator. They have also improved my ability to plan as I have coordinated many events through these roles, and I will take this know-how into my time on senate.
Currently, within my capacity at Tau Kappa Epsilon, I have coordinated committees and have had many times the need to delegate and motivate people on these committees. I will take these skills to the 36th session of the student senate. I have also chaired the current Health and Safety committee on Senate, and I plan on taking these skills to whatever committee I chair next year.
I enjoy seeing the Relays artist every year and getting the opportunity to meet alumni coming back.
Alisha Lonon
Hello Times-Delphic! My name is Alisha Lonon.
I am a sophomore double-majoring in Political Science and Law, Politics, & Society (LPS). I am running for the position of Senator At-Large for Drake University’s Student Senate. I hope to enhance the lives of all Drake students by ensuring that Drake University is the positive and safe learning environment that it is created to be. My mission as a Senator At-Large would be to ensure that the voices of all students are heard. Student Senate is a platform in which students can voice their concerns about how to improve their Drake experience. I have a passion for helping my community and would like to further the values of inclusivity, communication, and transparency in order to create change on the Drake campus.
My Instagram Platform for Drake Senator At-Large: @alishafordusenate
My Platform Points:
Communication & Accessibility
Inclusivity & Involvement
Improvement & Change for the better
Communication & Accessibility
My goal is to promote the accessibility to both academic and mental services for all students at Drake University.
To work collaboratively with the university’s administration and Student Senate to ensure that there is significant communication in order to advocate for student needs.
To prioritize collaboration and communication to increase student awareness of safety issues and to address specific safety concerns on campus.
To ensure that students have guidance on the academic, health, and support resources available to them on campus.
To promote communication and transparency among Student Senate and Drake students.
Inclusivity & Involvement
Create an open and inclusive environment that promotes both acceptance and campus unity.
Further the facilitation of involvement among all students on campus; by ensuring that students feel seen, heard, and connected here at Drake University.
Advocate on behalf of all Drake students and ensuring that their concerns are heard.
Promptly address injustice on campus.
Promote a strong sense of community among minority and students and of color on the Drake campus.
Improvement & Change for the better
Advocating on behalf of all students.
Promoting unity and progress.
Standing against any forms of marginalization.
Promoting the safety of all students.
Furthering communication.
Ensuring transparency.
During my time here and within student these are goals in which I hope to accomplish. At Drake University I have held several leadership positions including:
~ Honors Student Executive Council- Representative at Large
~Goodwin-Kirk Executive Council- Vice President
~Student Alumni Association- Community and Engagement Chair
~Law, Politics, & Society (LPS) Student Advisory Board member; Co-writer of the LPS Student Newsletter
~Mentor for Violence Prevention Ambassador
With my past and current experiences in leadership roles on the Drake University campus, I believe that I would [be] an ideal candidate for Senator At-Large as these have provided me with the strengths in . I would be honored to use my platform to advocate on behalf of all students [to] create the changes and improvement to help better the overall experience and academic journey of all Drake students.
If elected as one of Drake University’s Senator At-Large, I hope to further all of my platform points that I mentioned previously, while also continuing to build strong connections with Drake University’s Senate, the Drake student population, and the Drake neighborhood in general. I hope to create more unity on Drake’s campus and address the rising concerns and needs of Drake students (including, but not limited to supporting student union groups and the several cultural of the multicultural student organizations).
My favorite part of Relays is getting to cheer on my fellow Drake Students who are competing in the races.
Photo by Andrew Kennard
Please provide your name, major(s), school year, pronouns, and social media accounts and/or other places where students can learn more about you and your campaign.
Hi, my name is Aaron Khan-Gumm! I am a second-year student majoring in Politics and Strategic Political Communications (go J-school). My pronouns are he/him/his. Students can learn more about my campaign on my Instagram, @aaron4studentsenate, my Facebook, ‘Aaron Khan-Gumm,’ or by sending me an email at aaron.khan-gumm@drake.edu.
What are your goals for this position? Are there issues that you plan to address, or initiatives that you plan to start or continue?
Bridging the Gap: I want to support Student Body President Connor Oetzmann in his progress toward minimizing the disconnect between the Student Senate and the student body. As a COVID-19 freshman, I know what it’s like not having any clue as to what the Student Senate does and have great difficulty learning more about it. Frankly, I think that’s unacceptable. Every student should be able to know who their representatives are and what they do. So to make this happen, I plan on making information about Student Senate more accessible by improving the website, going out of my way to hear the questions and concerns of the student body by attending various organization meetings, and pushing other Senators to go out of their way to help students understand the positions.
Enhancing Equity and Inclusion: Even though I’m not running for the Equity and Inclusion position, I feel as though every candidate should have this goal! I grew up often being one of the only black students in my class, and trust me, it starts to feel really isolating after a while. I want to help prevent students of marginalized groups from feeling that way. I want to be the person students can come to and express if they’re feeling uncomfortable with something on campus or if they want to see some sort of change. I also believe that if you’re running on equity and inclusion, you have to attend the multicultural meetings, and that’s what I promise to do.
Promoting Mental Health Positivity: I think it is a universal experience for students to struggle with their mental health. Living away from home, we are as free as we have ever been, yet many of us feel trapped by trauma of the past, struggles we’re dealing with now, and worries about the future. Our counseling center is currently understaffed and overwhelmed, but that doesn’t mean that we’re out of resources. From support groups for those struggling with anxiety to presentations about self-care and mindfulness, there are ways in which we can start managing our stressors and live happier, healthier lives. I want to promote these resources and encourage students to take the first step.
What qualifications do you have that are relevant to this position, such as involvement with organizations on or off-campus?
Currently, I serve as Vice-Chair of Drake Democrats, Student Ambassador for U.S. Congresswoman Cindy Axne and intern for Tiara Mays, a black woman running for Iowa House District 43! I am also a student participant of the Adams Leadership Institute and wrote an article for Drake Political Review last fall.
In what ways have these qualifications made you an effective student representative, planner and communicator?
My experience watching strong, fascinating leaders both on and off-campus has made me well equipped to fulfill my duties as a leader. In other words, I like to take the traits of other people that inspire me and make them my own! Working for Congresswoman Axne showed me that a good representative is one that interacts with those that they are representing, whether it be showing up to the John Deere workers’ strike or going to student events and listening to other students. My fellow student participants from the Adams Leadership Institute demonstrated that you can be busy with your responsibilities while still enjoying the campus experience by developing strong time management skills. Seeing and helping Tiara Mays knock on doors and phone bank with complete strangers has helped strengthen my ability to quickly build deep, genuine connections with people through language.
As a Senator-At-Large, you will chair a senate committee. What experiences and skills will you bring to the table that will help that committee and its members be successful in serving the student body?
My job as a Senator At-Large is not to act like a middle man between the administration and the student body but to clearly and thoroughly represent and fulfill the desires of my fellow students. Therefore, no matter which senate committee I’m on, I will hold myself and the members accountable for the goals that we set. The Chair of Drake Democrats, Ben Mowat, has shown me how to call out authority when they are not holding up their end while remaining respectful and understanding. I have practiced doing the same in my professional and personal life and will do the same as chair of a Senate Committee.
What’s your favorite part of the Drake Relays?
The culture around the Drake Relays has always been my favorite part. It could be really easy for us to let Drake Relays just come and go, but we really make it our thing, because it is our thing. Even during the pandemic, the energy on campus was so exhilarating; I can’t wait to experience it now!
My name is Alex Frank. I am a 2nd year pharmacy major. My pronouns are He/Him/His. I don’t have a lot of social media, but I am usually better at answering my emails so that’s the best way to reach me
.
I have a few platform points, all of which revolve around safety. Safety is a big part of my work on campus.
1 – Promote Mental Health
Mental health is an important part of our daily lives. Many of us cannot recognize when we need help or when our friends need help. Mental health first aid is a large item that many groups on campus have recognized as a major gap in knowledge for lots of Drake students. My plan is to get a speaker to talk about mental health first aid, when someone needs it, what to do and resources on campus. I would like to collaborate with the many organizations on campus to get this done.
2 – Promote Safety at Drake
Safety is very important here at Drake. As a college campus, alcohol and other drugs are used at an increased rate. My goal is to provide lots of programming regarding alcohol safety, opioids and prescription medications and how to be safe in an environment where we encounter all sorts of substances.
Another huge part of safety is physical safety on campus. There have been many incidents regarding non-students wandering on campus and ending up in buildings or residence halls. I want to work with the school to get support for more security. This would mean cameras as well as working more with public safety. Students are also part of this plan, as I want to have programming where students and public safety, Title IX and counseling center get together and talk about relevant problems in our community.
3 – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DEI is a vital part of safety and community here at Drake. There have been a number of incidents on campus regarding harmful statements targeted at marginalized communities. This is not ok and is something that cannot be solved by just sending a mass email admonishing behavior. My plan is to work with the Equity and Inclusion senators to support more programming and organizations on campus that educates the student body. Diverse programming is an important step in educating people and helping everyone adopt an anti-racism mindset.
A lot of my goals stem from supporting programming on campus. COVID has made programming, especially from campus organizations harder. I want to support on campus organizations with funding and publicity to encourage their efforts. A large goal of mine is getting a mental health first aid speaker to educate the student body on how to provide mental health first aid for themselves and others. Another goal of mine is amplifying the voice behind multicultural and diverse organizations on campus with an effort to get more of the student body to attend multicultural events.
I have been a member in a few health and safety positions on campus.
I am the Resident Hall Association Wellness Chair. I run programming in the resident halls to support their health and wellness. I have planned both the Sextival and You Booze, You Lose which were quite successful. I really enjoyed being on the exec board and planning events with my committee to solve problems for the students in the resident halls.
I am a student representative on the Drake Policy Review Opioid Task Force which plans the Bulldogs Against Substance Misuse campaign. I have been on this board since October and have been excited to see programming and publicity around opioid misuse and safety to the Drake student body.
I am a Risk Management Officer for Tau Kappa Epsilon. I am HIRO trained in Health and Safety and have been publicizing health and safety events for FSL and my fraternity.
I am a newly trained prevention ambassador and served on the Bulldogs Against Sexual Assault planning committee which planned the Bonny Shade event. I am really proud of being behind the team who planned the event. I am very dedicated to sexual assault prevention work and educating the students on how recognize sexual harm.
I have been on several committees and have run my own committee with RHA. I have [a] lot of experience leading and an important lesson I learned is how to serve my members. Being a leader means helping those in my committee with problems they have and generally support them in the work that we do. With my experience in the health and wellness at Drake, I can support those in my committee with information regarding on campus resources, prevention work and safety on campus.
I don’t know if I can say what my favorite part of Drake Relays is because I have not experienced a “real” Relays. However, I am really looking forward to the small break from schoolwork and the excitement of all the events and parties that will be happening!
Breckyn Lyons
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Please provide your name, major(s), school year, pronouns, and social media accounts and/or other places where students can learn more about you and your campaign.
Name: Breckyn Lyons
Major: American Politics with minors in International Relations and Data Analytics
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Social Media Accounts: Campaign Insta – @breckynlyons4senate
Email: breckyn.lyons@drake.edu
[Lyons is a first-year student].
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If you have platform points for your campaign, please list them and explain the meaning and goals behind each one.
I have broken my campaign platform down into 4 main areas of improvement: Improving Mental Health Resources, Increasing Campus Safety Measures, Expanding Health Services, and Revitalizing Drake’s Campus. I am listing different ideas that I have to address these four areas below and with that explanation as to why I find them important. While I am unsure if some of these ideas are under the purview of the Drake Student Senate, these are issues that I find important on our campus and would want to collaborate with administration on or bring more attention to.
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Improving Mental Health Resources
-Supplemental Mental Health Resources
-While Drake does have counseling resources, they are not nearly as robust as they need to be to accommodate the nearly 3,000 undergrad students it serves. I suggest looking into supplemental online resources that [can] be made available for free or at a reduced price so that students of all needs can be accommodated in a timely manner. Currently, there are students who have to wait two months to receive mental health counseling and others who have been turned away completely because the counseling staff cannot address their needs. Additionally, in the winter it might be cool to have items such as SAD lights that the student body could rent from the SLC or RHA to assist with mental health in the winter.
-Screenings and Pre-Emptive Care
-Getting screened for mental illnesses is difficult enough as is, but even more difficult when in a city you are not familiar with, don’t have health insurance coverage in, or don’t have transportation to. This makes getting diagnoses and assistance for certain needs nearly impossible and leaves students behind. The Counseling Center provides assistance for mental illness and a lot of our resources are geared towards improving mental wellness – these two are connected in ways, but mental illness resources need to be expanded upon. I am very excited for the Self-Care Fair though and feel that that is a great idea that I would love to expand upon as part of pre-emptive care for students.
-Improving Student Success Services
-Our Student Success Services are under-resourced and under-advertised. Currently, we have a few very dedicated employees working in this office, but again, the accessibility to these services is truly not robust enough for our student population. Not only are there not nearly enough employees for the demands that this campus has, there also are services that are often unknown by and unused by students such as the groups that the Student Success Office has for students to work on getting back on track and establishing better time management skills, among others.
-Advertising Resources and Services
-I feel that some services are simply not known about and giving the respective offices funding explicitly for advertising these services would be greatly beneficial for the student body.
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Increasing Campus Safety Measures
-Ensuring All Blue Lights Are Functional
-Throughout the year, I have noticed that blue lights occasionally will be out of service. These lights should be accessible and usable any time that a student needs them. There is currently a blue light next to the Quads that has been out-of-service for at least a few days that has caution tape wrapped around it. This blue light is along Forest Ave and as it is in a spot that a lot of students frequent, it should be a high priority to fix – especially with the upcoming Relays festivities since we will be having a huge influx of visitors on our campus. However, this event should not be the only incentive to fix these lights.
-Decreasing Des Moines Police Department Presence
-When it comes to campus safety, increasing police presence from the Des Moines Police Department is not necessarily a welcomed presence by our students. While it certainly is understood that the DMPD is expected to be involved in certain matters and events, their presence should be limited. I would suggest in their absence bringing in trained mental health professionals and social workers and striving to retain Drake’s Public Safety force as much as possible to eliminate the need for the DMPD as much as possible. This also would include expanding implicit bias trainings and mental health training requirements for Drake’s Public Safety team.
-Implicit Bias and Anti-Racism Workshops/Trainings
-As we have recently seen, our campus is not a safe space for our minority students. While the school attempted to address these issues, there simply is so much more work to be done. I would love to implement more implicit bias trainings and anti-racism trainings/workshops on our campus. This could include bringing in speakers within this field and incentivizing presence at these events. While this is definitely not going to eradicate hate speech and racism on our campus, it certainly can be a great first step to addressing these issues.
-Ensuring Bulldog Alerts Are Sent in a Timely Manner
-Bulldog Alerts need to be sent out immediately and for any event that may be seen as a threat to the campus community. There have been multiple instances of situations in which Bulldog Alerts should be sent, but have not. For example, the fatal shooting that recently took place on 34th street that students were not made aware about by the school. While it was not necessarily on campus, this event did take place near Greek Street where a significant number of students do reside and having this issue reported to students would be greatly beneficial. While this is a recent example, there have been other instances throughout the year in which it would have been beneficial to send these updates. The dangerous weather updates are appreciated, but shouldn’t be the only thing us students receive notices about.
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Expanding Health Services
-Sharps Bin Accessibility/Pickup
-While I am uncertain as to how many students on this campus have medical conditions that require the use of needles, I am led to believe that there are at least a fair amount of students who require the usage of sharps bins on our campus. Whether this be for Insulin injections or Testosterone injections, accessibility to sharps bins or sharps bin pickup/collection would undoubtedly improve student life on our campus. I would suggest having these in residence halls and/or in frequented student buildings to ensure that students have the ability to address their needs without worrying about where to dispose of their sharps. While the Student Health Office does sometimes take these bins for students, it can be like pulling teeth to have them do so and it is not very well advertised. Plus, students shouldn’t have to worry about making the trek to the health office to have this need addressed.
-Health Services Shuttles/Transport
-There is extremely limited accessibility to the Student Health Office or any other medical facility for students who do not have their own transportation. This can make seeking out medical assistance very difficult and can hold students back from receiving the care they need- especially since the health office has limited hours and often limited services. This shuttle could operate similarly to the Drake Safety Bus and could be completed by a Public Safety Officer or a separate person.
-Increasing the Accessibility of the Office and Their Services
-The Health office can be hit or miss due to the hours and the staff presence. This includes for medication pickup, testing for illnesses, basic care, and other services that this office provides. Expanding hours and/or ensuring that there are employees within the office at all advertised open times would make the office so much more accessible. Additionally, having times that the office comes onto Drake’s campus for different services such as STD/STI testing and flu shots/COVID boosters, among others could be extremely beneficial to students. While this certainly would not need to be a daily or weekly occurrence, it would be nice to offer services like this once a month or so.
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Revitalizing Drake’s Campus
-Improving Quad Creek Area
-There are certainly a lot of nice outdoor spaces on our campus, but I feel that Quad Creek could certainly be improved upon and be more usable for students. This could simply mean cleaning up the area and revitalizing it or placing new equipment and resources such as hammocks, picnic tables or other outdoor seating down there.
-Improving WIFI Connectivity
-While the school has made strides to making the WIFI better on campus, recently it has been fairly hit or miss for students. To address this, I feel that it would be beneficial for the school to have hotspot devices to provide to students in the instance that there is a campus-wide outage as there has been recently. This would ensure that campus operations can continue and that students are not left to figure out how to turn assignments in, access Blackboard, or have to go to off-campus sites to get WIFI to complete their work.
-New Hammocks and Outdoor Equipment
-The outdoor equipment certainly does get used by the student body and I would love to encourage greater usage by increasing the outdoor equipment that we have. Increasing the hammock hangers around campus and supplying a few hammocks on them would be a great first step to revitalize our outdoor spaces and encourage students to go outside.
- What qualifications do you have that are relevant to this position, such as involvement with organizations on or off-campus?
I have gotten extremely involved on campus in my short time here at Drake. I am a part of Delta Gamma, a social sorority, Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity, Admission Cole-ition and the Herriott Hall Executive Council as our Treasurer and a floor representative. My involvement has allowed me to become much more in-tune with the needs and desires of students of all different interests and backgrounds on our campus. While I certainly do not hold a large amount of positions within these organizations, I know that my dedication, drive and general desire to make our campus the best it possibly can be will assist me in being an effective representative, planner and communicator. Within these organizations, I have learned the importance of teamwork and communication as well as what it means to have an open-door policy to listen to the needs and desires of our campus community. I do understand that while many of my experiences do not have direct translation to what a senator does, the skills are certainly transferable and will assist me in being the best senator that I can be.
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As a Senator-At-Large, you will chair a senate committee. What experiences and skills will you bring to the table that will help that committee and its members be successful in serving the student body?
I feel that my organization skills, communication skills and teamwork skills will come exceptionally in handy with this position. I pride myself on being an exceptionally accessible person and I place a heavy emphasis on the importance of transparent and open discussion. As a chair of a committee, I would encourage this same behavior by committee members. I also place value in exploring all options and thoroughly reviewing the consequences – negative and positive – to the different courses of action. I would bring this to the table with me and would hope to consult students, student organizations, and other student leaders when making decisions for our campus community.
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What’s your favorite part of the Drake Relays?
I have not experienced a Drake Relays yet, but I am really looking forward to all of the events that surround the occasion itself. I am excited to see some of the Track and Field events and to attend the Relays Concert!
The Times-Delphic made minor edits to these responses for clarity and style.
