Impact will focus on student needs if elected into senate.
In a week’s time, our student body will be electing a new Student Senate to lead the campus community for the 2016-2017 academic year. This Thursday is the final opportunity for students to listen to executives from each ticket talk about their respective platforms. Both tickets have made claims that the current student senate is disconnected from students.
While both promise to bridge the gap between the senate body and student body, only one ticket has a comprehensive plan on how to do so. Unite’s ticket is comprised of a 25 current senate members out of 37 available positions. It is problematic to place the same students in positions that require outreach to the student body when they have had the opportunity to do so they have not fulfilled this expectation.
Although Unite’s ticket members may have experience in senate, Impact’s members have leadership experience in all avenues of the student experience. This ranges from residential assistants, organization presidents, sorority and fraternity life, as well as established relationships with the Office of Multicultural Student Access and Retention, the Office of the President, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Admissions, the Department of Housing and Residence Life, and the list goes on.
Both tickets claim to value diversity and inclusion for the student body. However, those students on the Unite who have held senate positions have not participated in programs or organizations that focus on the advancement of marginalized groups. However, the vice presidential candidate for Impact, Alexis Apparicio, has created a resolution that was cosponsored by current president, Gabby Bacha, to support cultural competency classes as well as insure that the university is actively recruiting and retaining minority students and student leaders.
While Unite claims to implement a bias incident reporting system, Alexis Apparicio and Minority Affairs Commissioner Sasha Estrella-Jones are both currently working to implement this system in residence halls and create a separate, peer-led reporting system through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion with the Multicultural Leadership Ambassador Program.
Impact’s platform focuses on the needs of students rather than reforming senate, which does not directly affect student life. A majority of resolutions this year were about reforming senate, reforming elections, appointing senators, and passing internal budgets. Impact wants to shift the focus of senate back to serving the needs of the student body that elected these student leaders.
We want to hold senators accountable for reaching out to student orbs. This goes beyond sending email but actually talking with students on a regular basis, attending their meetings and holding forums to address the current needs of students on campus. Kiera Fletcher, COC Chair, understands the importance of personal communication with students and student org leaders. She has demonstrated her commitment to campus outreach in this position.
Jordan Kelley, the presidential candidate for the Impact ticket, knows the importance of addressing student needs. Under his leadership as University Life Commissioner, his commission has advocated for extended library hours, gender neutral bathrooms outside the residence halls, increased lighting on campus and the creation of a food pantry for undergraduate students. Jordan consistently encourages his senators to reach out to different student groups and offices on campus to improve the quality of life for students at Ohio University.
We encourage students to look critically at the platforms of both tickets. We are sure you will find that Impact is better suited to lead the student body. Our executive candidates have the experience, network and commitment necessary to refocus senate on the needs of students, and under their leadership, senate will renew its connection with the student body. We want to remind you all to vote on March 29 and 30 so that your voice makes an impact on our campus!
Ashley Donahue is freshman studying political science at Ohio University.
