Student Admissions Ambassadors

Last night, I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in on the latest meeting of the Student Admissions Ambassadors, a student organization of which both Tom Madsen and Alicia Jessip are members. For those of you who don't know, SAA is a student organization formed by the Office of Admissions that, in addition to giving tours to prospective students and campus visitors, engages in a variety of different campus activities, making them one of the most visible student organizations on campus. Tom currently serves as president of SAA and Alicia has been an active member for almost two years now, so I was curious to see how the organization would handle having two of its members on two different tickets.

Both candidates, along with their respective running mates, were in attendance last night and each ticket was given exactly three minutes (an exec, in fact, kept a stopwatch) to introduce themselves and then field a few questions, time permitting. Tom and Blake were up first and, after some basic personal information, began to talk about the three basic ideas that outline most of their platform.

• Revamping the website. The candidates would like to update the NISG website and make it more user-friendly, and even mentioned adding new features like Rate-My-Employer and Rate-My-Landlord that they think might appeal to students.
• Sustainability. The candidates would like to see more recycling and composting being used across campus.
• Inclusivity. The candidates would like to help make everyone feel more welcome and accepted, including students of different ethnicities and sexual orientation, veterans and nontraditional students. The candidates also mentioned speaking to Student Disability Services Coordinator Ashley Brickley about making certain areas of campus (e.g. lower levels of Maucker Union) more wheelchair accessible.

I will save my thoughts on their platform for my analysis, which will be posted later this week, but I like that the candidates broke down their platform into groups, which proved useful given the time constraints. Unfortunately, because they spent the bulk of their three minutes talking about their platform, only one question was asked and it was about making residence halls such as Lawther Hall wheelchair accessible.

KaLeigh and Alicia were up next, and they took a decidedly different approach than their predecessors. Instead of opening up about their platform, KaLeigh and Alicia cut to the chase and immediately opened up the floor for questions, citing the fact that members of SAA, as leaders on this campus, are more informed than most groups and would no doubt read about the candidates' platforms on their own time. Bootlicking, for sure, but effective nonetheless. KaLeigh was asked how her experience as vice president would benefit her as president, and she responded that working with and observing current president Jordan Bancroft-Smithe and the relationships she has built as vice president would help smooth the transition. Both were asked what their biggest challenge will be next year, and Alicia talked about opening up the lines of communication and continuing to make NISG and its directors more transparent, while KaLeigh expressed her desire to continue and finish the goals from her current term as vice president.

It was difficult to gauge from an observation standpoint where the members of the group stand in terms of who they'll be voting for, but it'll be interesting to see if more members begin to endorse Tom or Alicia or refrain from making an endorsement at all.

David and Katie, unfortunately, did not attend the meeting -- a huge mistake on their part, in my opinion. Just having looked at their platform and their campaign strategy, they are easily the most fascinating of the three tickets, but they are also the ticket I've heard from the least. I still have not seen one of their posters up around campus and, if their website is any indication, it appears they are relying on student orgs to request their appearance at a meeting. I love that they've embraced their underdog status, but they need to continue to work to get their name and their platform out there or else they're going to fall behind. I am very much looking forward to their interview on Friday, but I'm hoping to see them become a more visible presence on campus in the coming days.

Yesterday, meanwhile, Tom and his director of platform research Joslyn Aldape were tabling in the Union and offering students small handouts detailing the main ideas (as mentioned above) of their platform. From what I understand, Tom and Blake are also holding informational meetings in the University Room of Maucker Union, one last night at 8:30 and another tonight at 6:00. I encourage you to attend, if possible, and then stick around for the senate meeting in the same room at 7:30, so you can catch a glimpse of some of these candidates in action. I also know that KaLeigh and Alicia have meetings with more than 20 different student organizations planned and the list continues to grow, so if you're in a student org, be sure to listen to what they have to say and have some questions prepared. This is your chance to be up close and personal, so do not waste it.

I have received some (maybe well-deserved) flack for including the candidates' number of Facebook friends in my initial introduction posts. Please allow me to explain. The number of Facebook friends each candidate has does matter, but not in the way that you're assuming. I'm not posting those numbers so that you'll be impressed by how many Facebook friends they have and vote for them for the simple reason that they're popular on Facebook. I posted them because the more Facebook friends the candidate has, the wider the audience he or she has to promote their campaign.

Thank you again to Paul Sapp and Jenny Connolly, the staff advisors for SAA, for allowing me to sit in on last night's meeting! And thank you to those who have been reading! Keep checking back for more posts and updates.