Meet the candidate running for Vice President of Student Activities for Drake Student Senate’s 2024-2025 executive board. Voting for all executive 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.
Katelyn Martin
Instagram: @kmart4vpsa
Katelyn Martin (she/her) is a sophomore majoring in graphic design with a minor in psychology.
What do you believe the role of VPSA is?
I believe that this role plays a very crucial part in communicating with the student body and leading the events and leading the Student Activities Board as well. I believe it takes a lot of guidance and experience, and if I were to be elected, I’m very excited to step into this role and be that for the board and the student body.
Why are you running for VPSA?
I’m running for VPSA because right now the president is very inspirational. She is really great, I’ve worked alongside her for the last nine, eight months, and I want to learn from her. She is my role model. She doesn’t know this, so if she reads this, she’ll be a little surprised, but she inspires me. I want to make that impact on the student body and maintain those connections and host super fun events for the students here and the Drake population.
What experience has prepared you for this position?
I have been on SAB for the last year. I have acted as entertainment co-chair, so I’ve worked with my other co-chair. We’ve planned Build a Bulldog, some jewelry-making events. We’ve just done so many super fun events. I’m also a part of Dogtown After Hours, which is a very great organization sponsored to [raise] awareness of alcohol consumption. We have one large alcohol-alternative event annually. It is really fun to just be a part of the organization and that cause. I am in Delta Gamma, I act as the VP Panhel, so I’m the liaison between the Panhellenic community and my chapter. I work at large with the FSL community.
What specific goals or initiatives do you plan on implementing if elected?
Maintaining and fostering stronger connections within Drake’s community. I feel like recently, being there for other student organizations, we have over [150] so it can be very hard, and I want to work and represent those organizations that are underrepresented. Then, of course, transparency and communication. I feel like those two are just very vital principles and you can’t thrive off of anything but that. You have to definitely have those two in an organization. Then, of course, equity and inclusion. I want to make sure that everybody feels respected, valued, no matter [what] background, culture or anything like that.
What issue have you seen on campus and how do you plan to solve it?
I feel like at a lot of SAB events, we have had a lot of food waste, and general waste.
I value sustainability a lot so enhancing sustainability and those practices is very important to me. I would implement compost bins at most SAB events and try and collaborate with DEAL and the Sprout Garden and any other organizations that support that same cause.
Why are you the best candidate for this position?
I am trying to stray away from the best candidate of this position. It’s not what I’ve done, it’s what I’m going to do in this position….I feel like I am a good communicator and problem solver. I can do a really good job in this position and lead by example and learn a lot as well.
How will you ensure that you and the Student Senate represent the interests of the student body?
As VPSA I would advocate for SAB and then I also really want to gather feedback from the student body from our events too and implement their feedback into that. And, of course, advocate very strongly for the student body, in any meetings, any bylaws, arguments, anything like that and just be very attentive to that.
How do you plan to balance this position with your other commitments?
I like to think I’m very organized, very detail-oriented. I plan to not be involved in so many organizations currently, but again, have a very concise schedule…and just not put too much on my shoulders that I know I probably can’t handle.
