Candidate Interviews - KaLeigh and Alicia (Part 2 of 2)

Missed the first part of my interview with KaLeigh and Alicia? Be sure to click here and check it out before we finish up the interview below with some questions for Alicia.

Q: Alicia, why run for vice president?
Alicia: Going off of a lot of what KaLeigh said, I feel like you really just can't do things within a year, especially with a lot of the initiatives that I'm sincerely passionate about and a lot of the diversity initiatives that I've been trying to work on through the office. I think one of my second personal reasons for why I'm running for student body vice president is because for me it is not about the whole idea of name recognition or "I'm student body vice president," because the majority of campus has no idea what student government even is. When I first came to UNI, I wasn't involved my freshman year. I think I was in Vocal Ammunition and Dancer Hall Senate. I mean, really minor things on campus that I wasn't super passionate about. And then, my sophomore year, things started to pick back up for me. And in all honesty, I hate the stigma that NISG is a group of elite people that get to walk around in suits and ties and make big decisions on Wednesday nights. I feel like everyone has the opportunity to voice their opinion about how this university should go or how it should be run, so I want to advocate for that.

Q: What makes you the most qualified candidate for this position?
Alicia: I think one of [the] things is just my overall experience with students and relationship-building. I think one of the biggest things with just anything is building relationships with people. I think KaLeigh hit on it, like I don't think anything works with just writing a letter to someone or making a request. A big part of this position is just building those relationships and getting those connections and networking with people, and I think that is one thing that I have down pat. Obviously there are still some relationships that I need to make, but I think we would hit the ground running next year with the people we know and get the ball rolling.

Q: How has your current position as Director of Diversity and Student Life prepared you for the role of vice president?
Alicia: Once again, I think a lot of the networking and relationship building that I've done. I think the realization that even though we can have a huge list of goals and objectives that we really want to see accomplished and other people might even agree, but they're not going to get done and there are always going to be roadblocks that are unexpected. I think just the different things that I see on a day-to-day basis, like that everything isn't so in order. Like okay, here is my to-do list, but something else might pop up and a student might want to talk about something or have a concern and I need to make time for that. Or something just doesn't go the way you expect and you have to prepare for that too. Even just the work load. There might be a case where a different area on campus isn't quite pulling their weight or not doing what you're expecting, you'd be able to weigh that as well.

Q: Your platform talks about directors taking the goals of NISG and putting them into action. What goals have you accomplished as Director of Diversity and Student Life?
Alicia: One of the biggest goals personally that I think I have accomplished is not a goal that you can put on paper and run around saying, "Hey, this is what I've done for you." It's a simple thing, like making people feel welcome here on campus and make them feel like they have just as much right to stop in the NISG office as any other student. I feel like there is some sort of intimidation factor, this little veil that students see and go, "Well, I'm not allowed in that office" or "I don't feel like I have a right." And it's something that the Center for Multicultural Education or the International Affairs office has fought for a number of years too. There is a group of students that [doesn't] feel wanted, essentially, and that is not the case at all. Everyone has a right to not only be in that office but express any kind of opinion or concern that they may have, and I want them to know that I'm the person who would be more than willing to listen to that.

Q: Your platform mentions that Fraternity and Sorority Life does not attract minorities to be involved. As a member of FSL, a minority student and the Director of Diversity, how would you propose to begin to change that?
Alicia: To change a mentality, that is not something that is going to happen overnight, nor I do see that completely happening during my time here at UNI. I think breaking down those barriers, like saying that it is okay to go through open recruitment and check out different houses. I think when I went through recruitment, I was one of about 10 other women, culture-wise, that were interested in Greek Life, and to me that's a very low number that needs to be changed. I think one of the ways that we can do that is, once again, back to the doors of communication and opening that door to better understand each other. And that is something in our platform too, so I think that, in all honesty, we need to start appealing to these minority crowds, like going to them and taking that initiative. You can put up a poster anywhere and say that all are welcome, but is that something that someone is really going to read into and honestly feel welcome at? I think we need to be a little bit more proactive in some situations, and that is something we are working on, especially in the Fraternity and Sorority Life community.

Q: Anything else either of you would like to say before we finish up?
KaLeigh: On the topic of things that have happened this year, it's been a busy year for student government in terms of things that have come up. Like the student attendance policy, the presidential search committee, and different policies, things that you don't write in your platform, that come across your desk and you have to deal with them every day. So it is important to be able to balance those unexpected things that you're asked to look into, either by the administration or by our students, with your own initiatives that you want to accomplish. And I think that when we write a platform, I don't know about the other candidates, but I don't expect to complete it 100 percent. I don't think that's reasonable and I don't think that's feasible, and I think what we would like the campus to know is that we will give 200 of everything we have to our jobs and to the students and do as much as we can over the course of the year. And that we're going to look at this in a realistic way. We're dreaming big, but we're not going to be unreasonable.

And there you have it, in the words of KaLeigh and Alicia. I'll be interviewing Tom and Blake on Thursday and, fortunately, I've been able to set up a time to speak with David and Katie on Friday. So be on the lookout for those and continue to keep checking back every day for new posts!