“I’m in it for the ideas.”—Houston Downes
“Communication is important.”—Sun Tsu, probably
Meet Houston Downes: he’s running for student body president, and his dog is really cute. I will let you decide which you think is more relevant.
In order to give you a holistic view of who Houston is so you can make your voting decisions, I asked him a number of questions, ranging from his priorities in the initiatives he’s laid out to which Parks and Rec character he is (a cross between Ron and Tom).
First priority: Mental health on this campus, which he sees as a “moral obligation” to address. The details of the initiative include online scheduling for convenience on the part of the students and better access to metrics on how many people are trying to get counseling center services. He also wants to bring in a new counselor and in the long-term work towards a new health center with more space for the people we need. What is important, he says, is maintaining our academic rigor without the culture that can be “overwhelming in an unhealthy and unnecessary way.” Davidson classes don’t have to get easier to become more manageable. We need to be actively working toward dialogue with the professors and administration to have an “institutional method of spreading out the workload.”
After that:
To him, the rest of his initiatives are equally important and will receive equal priority. He feels very strongly about making sure that SGA does more than bolstering resumes and instead is an efficient agent of change. And with that efficiency, he hopes to make a more comprehensive policy for injured students (particularly student athletes) to make sure they are not being unfairly disadvantaged. He also wants to expand our career services program to be more comprehensive and keep better track of alumni.
Why these initiatives: “This can happen. What I put in my platform I put on my platform because it can happen. And I believe in it.”
Why he’s doing this: “At a time when some of the issues feel impossible, being able to do things to improve lives here on campus could have a real impact… I’m doing it because I’m passionate about building stuff. I love building stuff. There’s a step where you come up with ideas and you know what you need to do, and then there’s a part where you actually go and you make it. And I am so passionate about going from the concept stage to the tangible thing.” It led him to start a business with his friends, and it is why he wants to go into entrepreneurship. “What I’m going to get out of it is experience doing what I want to do and helping define the time that we have here in a positive way.” When his running mate had to drop for personal reasons, he decided to continue anyway. “I know it disadvantages me. But that’s not a reason not to do it.”
Things Houston is too modest to say about himself:
I’ve worked with him for three years in various capacities and also have called him in various states of distress about a wide variety of issues, including, but definitely not limited to, the stuff that was actually his responsibility. One of the best things about him is that if you tell him something that is wrong, he becomes utterly determined to fix it. Pretty much no matter what.
Fun things
Basics: Economics and Political Science double major, unaffiliated, in a relationship, from Little Rock, AR.
Guilty pleasure: Milkshakes (If you would like to take the grand milkshake tour of the greater Davidson area, he will probably make you a guide book because he takes it really seriously).
Favorite Disney movies: Cars and The Incredibles.
Favorite movies generally: Pulp Fiction, Shutter Island, Up, and Pirates of the Caribbean. (He recognizes both that those last two are, in fact, Disney movies and that this is, in fact, a bizarre list.)
TV shows: Parks and Rec, The Office, House of Cards, and West Wing.
Music: Pretty much anything. (I have been through his music library; that is factually accurate. Although he swears the Hannah Montana is his sister’s exclusively).
So now you know more about Houston as a person and as a candidate. Whoever you vote for, civic duty is important, so get out there and vote.
For more information on Houston’s platform go to definedavidson.weebly.com.
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