CBA Senate Race

Over in the College of Business Administration, there's an interesting race developing between two sitting Senators in one of the year's only contested races. Incumbent CBA Senator Chris Miller is squaring off with At-Large Senator Michael Lunn. Miller serves as Vice-Chair for NISG's Organization and Finance Committee while Lunn is the new Vice-Chair of the Student Affairs committee.

As a former CBA Senator, I'm particularly interested in this race. The College of Business provides opportunities for Senators to interact the the Dean and student leaders that few other colleges can rival. When I was Senator, most of these student leaders were used to receiving funding from the CBA and had no idea NISG money was available. While most Senators have to develop a communication system with constituents and invent ways to figure out what they want, the CBA Senator can hit the ground running from day one with the amazing student groups in the college.

It's no surprised Lunn makes funding the first plank on his platform. He pledges to serve as a middle man for CBA groups requesting fund. Lunn goes on to address green initiatives and his dislike of the Professional Readiness Program (PRP). This passage, from his PRP plank, really stuck out to me:

Now I’m not exactly sure how feasible this subject is to change, but no one ever accomplished anything just by simply sitting around and doing nothing. Well, maybe Gandhi and that one mass of Hippies that just sat around in ‘protest.’ I’m not against this program what so ever; let me get that point across. I believe in the underlying principle, just not the way it’s run (much like every religious affiliation and their view on other denominations). Woah, take it easy, I’m Catholic, I’m allowed to make jokes every once in awhile to ease the tension.

I'm really not a fan of this sort of unprofessionalism in platforms, but others may disagree with me.

Miller starts off his platform by discussing the PRP as well. He supports it and wants to spend more time learning professional skills rather than investigating majors in the college. In addition, Miller wants to work with Career Services to conduct mock interviews for freshmen and sophomores. This free service is incredible and I'm glad to see Miller would like to see it utilized.

The incumbent goes on to present his plan for communicating with constituents and promoting student groups. This isn't the typical lip service -- Miller actually presents a plan to do it. He echoes Lunn's commitment to helping with funding and touts his knowledge of funding guidelines.

I contacted both candidates to learn a little bit more about their platforms and experiences campaigning. Miller impressed me with the attitude he's taken for being in one of Senate's only contested races:

To be completely honest my first reaction was, "Really? I couldn't get an uncontested race like everyone else?" As the days have gone by though, I have started to remember the things that we talked about in senate about why contested races were good for the student body. If I wasn't running against anyone I would maybe (just maybe) update my facebook on the day of the election to say "Re-Elect Chris as CBA Senator". Now that I'm in the race, I am doing the things that all senators should be doing regularly. Making a platform, meeting with student organizations, and just talking with students in general are all things that are 1) broadening my knowledge about the people I represent and 2) helping me develop new ideas to help my constituents.

He has done just that. Miller is probably the only candidate in this election who has met with student organizations and actively campaigned for his seat.

Unfortunately, Lunn did not respond to my questions.

I've been lucky enough to spend the last month working with both candidates in Senate. From day one, I've been impressed with Chris Miller. He advocated for Senate Reform, stood up for equality among student organizations, and has served as Vice-Chair of the hardest working committee on Senate -- and he's done it all as a freshman. More than anything, I'm impressed by Miller's refusal to tacitly consent to the will of Senate.  He speaks up when few other Senators will.

Tomorrow, I'll be casting my vote for Chris Miller to continue serving as my Senator in the College of Business. When advocating for a smaller Senate, I talked about how it would make Senators more accountable; how it recruit Senators who really cared about the job and their constituents. When advocating for a smaller Senate, I wanted more Senators to be like Chris Miller. I'm thrilled to see what his future in NISG will entail.