Meet the candidates for 2024-2025 Student Body President. Voting for all Executive Council positions begins at 8 a.m. on March 27 and closes at 8 p.m. on March 28. If no candidate for a position earns 50% of the vote, runoff elections will be held from 8 a.m. on April 2 to 8 p.m. on April 3.
Instead of being accessed through myDrake, the ballot link will now be directly sent to student emails when voting begins.
Candidates for Student Body President
Ashley Dyson
Instagram: @ashleydyson_4_senate
Ashley Dyson (she/her) is a junior majoring in politics and history with minors in philosophy and human rights and a concentration in women’s and gender studies.
What do you believe the role of Student Body President is?
To me, the role of Student Body President is to be a representative of the students at Drake whether that’s being their voice [or] speaking up on their behalf to administration, faculty and staff.
Why are you running for Student Body President?
I have been in several student leadership roles on campus throughout my time at Drake, and I think the next step is Student Body President. I think I’ve progressed towards that role. I want to serve, I want to be the voice of the students.
What experience has prepared you for this position?
I have had experience in the Student Activities Board, I served as the spirit co-chair last academic school year. I learned a lot from that role. I thought that organizing and throwing events for the student body was a great way to serve the student body. This current year, I’m serving as Health and Safety Senator at-large in Student Senate, so I have experience with Student Senate and am familiar with how it runs, what goes on behind the scenes, how decisions are made, etc.
I think I’ve gained a lot from being on Student Senate currently, and I think I’m ready to take that step as Student Body President. I’ve also had two years [of] experience [with] the Adams Leadership Institute. I’ve gained a lot of leadership skills and experiences by being in that. I’m currently a student life center employee, so I’ve gained a lot of connections with student organizations through that. I’m familiar with how student organizations run.
What specific goals or initiatives do you plan on implementing if elected?
As President, my number one goal is to be the voice of the students. I want to be that voice of and for the student body at Drake. In my time here, I’ve heard a lot of concerns from students about how maybe they feel their voice isn’t heard, and I want to be there to fill that gap between students feeling that they’re not heard and me portraying their voice to the administration and faculty.
I want to be that dependable face of the student body, someone that provides reliable information and results. By being a consistent person I want to take into consideration the rules and actions of previous Student Body Presidents. I want to keep the student body up to date on things that are happening at Drake because there’s so much going on at Drake. Drake has so much to offer, so I want to be that organization and I want to show what’s going on at Drake in an organized way.
To me, reliability means being someone that a student can lean on and have trust in, being a trustworthy listening ear and someone that students can go to with concerns or questions about Drake University in general or about Student Senate. I want to be that steady figure that students can come to who’s open to conversations, open to listening to what they have to say. Some ways that I’m going to demonstrate that [are] holding consistent office hours where I can meet with students. I want to be open, I want to be flexible with those office hours to accommodate anyone anytime.
What issue have you seen on campus and how do you plan to solve it?
Not necessarily a problem, but one lack that we have on campus is transparency, making sure students know the hows and whys of what’s going on. I want to make sure that there’s that explanation instead of just kind of glossing over what’s going on. I think just that explanation part is really vital to students, making sure that they understand what’s going on and why we are making these decisions on behalf of the student body.
At the end of the day, whatever we do [at] Student Senate is on behalf of Drake University and the students that attend this school. By being transparent, I want to really be open to having those new and existing conversations about the hows and whys decisions are being made on behalf of the student body.
Why are you the best candidate for this position?
I think I am ready for this role. I have had experience that has helped me, stepping stones to get to Student Body President. I care about the student body. I love Drake University. I wanted to go here. I got involved with a bunch of student organizations. I’ve learned a lot from being here. I want to be that representative of the student body, and I think I’d totally be a great representative. I want to keep the students’ will and their desires and everything that they want to see happen. I want to be that change for them, and I want to be that voice for them.
I firmly believe that with my experience, qualifications and core presidential points, I will be the best fit for Student Body President and for a representative of Drake students.
How will you ensure that you and the Student Senate represent the interests of the student body?
Ensuring that things happen during campaign season is a really important aspect. I think a lot of promises and a lot of things get said during campaigns but aren’t always followed through on. For me, I have that dedication that I want to see these changes happen. I have had experience with Student Senate currently, so there are things that I’ve noted or things that I want to do better. So just having that desire and that initiative to make these changes happen and I believe that people on Senate will hold me accountable for those changes.
How do you plan to balance this position with your other commitments?
Student Body President, in its title, is student first. I think obviously, prioritizing being a student and my role as Student Body President will be my top priorities as Student Body President. This is a really important role that someone would be elected to, and I think that that can’t be ignored. I think that that has to be a priority for whoever does become elected.
Summer Fields
Instagram: @summerfields.4.president
Summer Fields (she/her) is a junior majoring in law, politics and society, English, sociology and rhetoric, media and social change.
What do you believe the role of Student Body President is?
The president is a liaison between admin as well as students. I think there’s some mystification around being Student Body President when in reality I am just another student who just happens to be able to connect with admin so that the student voices are heard. I really think I’m just a loudspeaker for all students.
Why are you running for Student Body President?
I came to Drake and I knew that I wanted to make some change. I think with everything going on this year, there’s a lot of confusion. I want to alleviate that confusion. I [have] really enjoyed my time at Drake and all the roles that I have had in the past I think have prepared me to be able to be Student Body President because I want to be that person for the whole student body as opposed to my niche little groups.
What experience has prepared you for this position?
I was a part of the CBS [Coalition of Black Students] board, I served as the historian on CBS. With that role, it was just promoting the diversity on campus and just getting our names out there for all the Black students. I was also a spirit co-chair on SAB, and I threw all the cool events that you see outside, which was great. I think that was just one of my first interactions with the entire student body.
I also am a student ambassador in the Office of Equity and Inclusion. That’s another thing that I think has greatly prepared me because I’m also a part of the entire student body there and just representing the more [overlooked] marginalized voices that we have here on Drake’s campus through that role.
What specific goals or initiatives do you plan on implementing if elected?
I think my biggest thing is going to make sure that a big part of Drake’s campus [does] get to also be heard. I think sometimes when we think of DEI we kind of look over people who have disabilities. I want to make sure that I am filtering my campaign towards those people who are often [overlooked] when we do equity and inclusion events. I also want to make sure that there is more connection between admin and students. I think we recently had things come out that caught a lot of people by surprise, so I want to make sure that the information Drake students are getting is not just a rumor mill, but coming from one of their peers who has access to that information. That way whenever it does come out it’s not out of left field.
I think office hours or drop-in hours that Senate has aren’t utilized the way that most people think they should be utilized. I really do want the open door policy, like ‘Hey, if you’re having an issue with this come to me.’ So I want…a suggestion platform to talk to Senate, talk to the Student Body President, come to the head if you have an issue. Another thing is I do want to reformat some of the statements that we have [at Drake] to be a little more inclusive as opposed to some of the ableist language that we have.
What issue have you seen on campus and how do you plan to solve it?
I think this is a very timely problem: the discontinuation of majors. I think that is something that number one, really does discourage people with their college experience because you come to college and you want to do the things that you’re interested in, and when it comes out in an email format that this is getting discontinued and you don’t really have any explanation why. I want there to be a little more crash course fix, but honestly, damage control really does need to be different whenever people’s majors have been [potentially] discontinued. Going back to the open communication thing, I really think a lot of people were blindsided by the majors that were put on there. I do want to make sure that there shouldn’t be information given to students that affects them that blindsides them.
Why are you the best candidate for this position?
I think they should choose me because I have a lot of passion whenever it comes to helping the student body. I also think that I have been on multiple different boards gives me a very unique experience. You’re only one board, you have experience with that one board, but I’ve put myself out there a lot on many different boards. I’ve put myself out there in as many general assemblies as I could be a part of.
Also, [as] somebody who has their hands on multiple different majors, I can say that I probably know a lot that goes on at the school. I think if they want somebody who represents the student voice, then they should vote for me.
How will you ensure that you and the Student Senate represent the interests of the student body?
I can’t imagine serving in a position where it really has student body in the title and yet I’m not serving the student body. I do want to take everything that they have seriously, any issues that they’re having, and if that means I have to scour YikYak to see a complaint then I will scour YikYak. But I want to make sure that everybody’s voice is heard and it’s not like, ‘Oh, well, I can’t do this because my voice doesn’t matter.’ I don’t want anyone feeling like the voice doesn’t matter. We’re all Drake students, and we all should be treated the same.
How do you plan to balance this position with your other commitments?
I got to the point where, academically, everything has been balanced. My commitments are all things that I am willing to put myself towards intentionally. I really think people struggle with balance whenever you overcommit yourself to things that you really aren’t interested in. I’m genuinely interested in being Student Body President, and I will put my entire being into it all.
Breckyn Lyons
Instagram: @lyons4sbp
Breckyn Lyons (she/her) is a junior studying American politics with minors in data analytics and international relations.
What do you believe the role of Student Body President is?
It’s important to know the student body. It’s important to be able to gauge where we’re all at, the issues that we’re facing, the potential solutions that we’re looking for, and then being able to relay that message to the correct people.
Your job as Student Body President is to be able to leverage the relationships that you have to, one, understand what the issue is and how to address it, but then also to be able to understand the issue at hand in a way that you’re able to then express what that issue it to all of the different bodies. The way that you talk about an issue with students is going to be vastly different from the way that you’ve talked about it with the Board of Trustees. I think the key role is to be able to successfully do that and effectively do that.
Why are you running for Student Body President?
I’m really passionate about this organization and our mission. I really do want to make this campus a better place, and I think that running for Student Body President is a way to do that.
What experience has prepared you for this position?
I think the positions and the experiences that I’ve had within Student Senate have really been able to prepare me for this role. I’ve been able to see Senate from two different aspects. In my first term, I was an at-large senator, so I really got the understanding of how to work with other senators to come up with different programs, to learn how to do outreach and work with others. I also was able to get a good feel of what Senate is and operates on a basic level.
I think that those experiences, especially with the Senate budget cuts this year, was something that really prepared me and taught me. I completely had an agenda coming into the year, but very quickly, our focus had to change, and I had to pour my time and attention into that and I had to be okay with knowing that, one, the decisions we make are not going to be popular. It really does suck. I wish that there [was] money that we could use that people in organizations would have those funds still, but we had to do what was best. I have to know that I made the decisions that I did, knowing the information I had at the time and the situation that was at hand. I feel like as a leader, that’s something you have to be able to do, and you have to know that it’s going to be okay.
What specific goals or initiatives do you plan on implementing if elected?
I think that for my own understanding of how I want this next session to work, would be more under the premise of key values that I hold. And knowing that you can expect that I’m going to bring these views into every decision I make, I feel like it makes a much stronger and much more cohesive leader. I think it’s important to know what you’re getting into.
I am promising, if elected, to lead with collaboration in mind. Really collaborating, not only with students, but with faculty and admin, collaborating with other groups within Senate. I’ve been on Senate for two years now, and there are bodies of Senate that I don’t interact with ever, and I would really like to start exploring those relationships and seeing how we can create a stronger sense of community within students.
What issue have you seen on campus and how do you plan to solve it?
I think that the way that we’re going about funding right now is something that we need to really address. Obviously, just kind of knowing how the budget cuts went last semester, I think that that really signifies to me that that’s an area that we need to put some more time and consideration into and figuring out how to address that problem at the root rather than as a side effect. I’d really like to see a new process with that or at least a little bit more information about how we can structure that so that that does not happen again.
Why are you the best candidate for this position?
I think that all the candidates have their strengths and I’m really excited to see what they’ve been able to do, but I think what sets me apart from other candidates is the experience that I have within Senate. I’ve got a very good understanding of the operations, I’ve got a very good understanding and relationship with key players, and I really think that I would be able to represent the student body well because of that. You don’t have to worry with me that I won’t be able to pick up on things quickly because that’s what I’ve been doing this past year, is just kind of picking things up and running with them.
How will you ensure that you and the Student Senate represent the interests of the student body?
I think to best show the interests of the student body, I think that it’s important to connect with students. But I think that we have to figure out the way that students want to be connected with. We could say, ‘Let’s do a town hall,’ but if students don’t want to interact in that way, we’re not going to have that interaction. I think we need to figure out how to best connect with people, whether that be more informal conversations, if that means having more outreach with organizations.
I know that we do office hours now. I feel like they are very vastly underused by the student body. I do four office hours a week. I think I’ve maybe had probably four or five people come over the past year, which tells me that’s not a form of communication that students want to utilize. So what is the solution then? Where do we need to focus our time and energy to actually get that input, get the information from students about what they care about?
How do you plan to balance this position with your other commitments?
I’ve been balancing the commitments that I would be this upcoming year right now. I’ve been able to successfully give everything that I need to Senate, give everything to the other commitments that I have, but also make sure that I’m doing well.
Candidate Ashley Diaz did not reply to an interview request.
