The celebrities on campus this month will be the different candidates running for Student Government positions for the ’12-13 school year. Current president and vice president, Greg Pollock and Phil Amsler are both graduating leaving the competition up to fresh faces.
Two teams have stepped up to run. Taylor Dee and Sarah Thomas, two Student Government veterans are running against Victor Santiago and Mark Leonardo II, both extremely involved on campus.
With Women’s History month only being last month, the Campus Celebrity column urges all the ladies out there to take advantage of the opportunity to vote; a right that many women who we celebrated last month fought for.
In honor of the elections, the column will be dedicated to learning a little bit more about the candidates running.
This means instead of just one, this week’s Campus Celebrity is actually “celebrities”.
Let’s meet one of the running pairs, Taylor Deer and Sarah Thomas and learn more about their campaign.
Taylor Deer is running for the Student Government president. He’s fourth year Business Management major. He currently holds the position of Greek Senator with Student Government.
What made you get into Student Government in general? At RIT?
– After Greek Council disbanded, a brand new position within Student Government was created called the Greek Senator. I have a lot of pride and passion for the Greek Community on this campus, so decided to run for the position because I thought that this would give me a chance to take Greek Life to the next level. My dedication and motivation to make a difference pushed me to accomplish almost all of my goals that I had set for the entire year, in the first quarter that I was in the position. I have been on Student Government for almost a year now and I have really grown to love both the organization itself and the position that I hold.
What made you decide to run?
I believe that Student Government has amazing potential to create positive change and to be seen as the group that ties the RIT community together. I know that Sarah and I have the ability and the willpower to make RIT the best campus that it can be by shifting Student Governments focus to making sure that we accurately represent student’s values. We want to make SG much more approachable, meaning we want organizations to feel comfortable coming to us with problems that they are facing. SG has so many resources but not many groups out there know they exist, and therefore those resources are under utilized. So we want to make sure that students have everything they need to make their club or organization successful.
Why did you agree to run as Sarah Thomas’ running partner?
Sarah and I originally worked together as representatives from Student Government to assess the possibility of bringing a sprint football team to campus. We quickly learned that we work together very well, and we know how to use positive conflict to make sure that we don’t overlook any loose ends in our goals.
What, personally, do you want to bring to the position if you are elected?
I believe in leadership by example, therefore I want to bring a much more outgoing approach to the president position. I want to attend as many organizations meetings and events as I can, not for any political agenda, but just to see how they are doing and if they need any support from Student Government. I think that the more students feel comfortable around you, the more they are willing to share ideas about how to make this campus better, and that at the end of the day is all Sarah and I care about. We LOVE giving credit where credit is due, if someone outside of SG comes up with an amazing idea to help out our community, we will help them run with it. We don’t need to have credit for other people’s ideas because that is not the purpose, we want what is best for the RIT community and we will make sure that it happens by any means possible.
His running partner, Sarah Thomas is vying for the vice president position and is a second year Finance major. She currently is the Director of Student Relations with Student Government.
What made you get into Student Government in general? At RIT?
In high school I was a quiet and introverted person. I didn’t do much and was extremely shy when it came to meeting new people. When I got to college I knew I wanted to change that and stepped outside my comfort zone. I thought about running for Freshman Senator because I saw a sign that said you miss 100% of the chances you never take. And I continue to live by that quote today. I wanted to make a real difference in RIT’s campus and become a part in a fantastic school
What made you decide to run?
I was Freshman Senator last year and this year I am the Director of Student Relations. I love helping people is what it comes down to and I think I have the experience and the passion for RIT and the student body to really impact the campus.
Why did you agree to run as Taylor Deer’s running partner?
Taylor and I balance each other out. We have worked together on various committees and he knows how to make things happen. We both know how to challenge each other and how to work together. The largest factor that comes into play as to why I agreed to run with Taylor was because of his passion for students and because our values in helping others align. We both want to be apart in giving students the opportunity to make the most out of their college experience.
What, personally, do you want to bring to the position if you are elected?
If elected I hope to bring my passion for students, my experience in SG and my enthusiasm for RIT to the position. I have been involved in RIT since day one of my freshman year and am so connected to the school. I can’t help but smile when I talk about RIT and I think that others feel my passion and it becomes contagious.
Together their campaign speaks strongly for more general involvement from all- students, faculty, staff and Student Government. Co-hosting events to attending more sporting events, these two want to reignite RIT spirit.
Together they talked a little bit more about their campaign.
What do you believe sets you apart from other candidates?
Our combined three years of experience within Student Government, definitely sets us apart. We know how to work within the system that is in place within Student Government we are extremely familiar with the bylaws and rules that we have in place. Another thing that sets us apart is our goals, we believe in setting concrete and definite goals so that it creates a sense of accountability within Student Government and so that we can keep students updated on the progress that we are making.
I believe that our campaign focuses on creating a Student Government Culture that is seen as extremely supportive and a useful tool to help student run organizations and clubs accomplish their goals.
Also, we want to increase student involvement within ongoing projects around campus. RIT is one of the most prominent technology schools in the nation and we have so many amazing students, why not have them more involved in school-wide programs like Genesis? We’ve seen student innovation in a variety of situations, such as with the student generated solutions to the complaints of Genesis and the creation of tools to make the RIT experience better, like Heevoh, so why not tap into that? It would be a great experience for the students to get actual hands on experience within their major and it would create a system that has student input from the beginning rather than the end, when it is too late to make changes.
What is the biggest change/goal you’d wish to accomplish if you are elected?
We have so many goals that we want to accomplish, it is extremely difficult for us to put a label on one of them saying it is the “biggest” because all of our goals come directly from students. One major goal of ours is to make the bus available to the majority of students on campus, meaning more stops to pick up students both on and off campus locations, creating more times to which students can take the bus downtown, and establishing more stops in Rochester and the downtown area. This would mean RIT student could play a greater role in the Rochester community. We also want to find a location for clubs to store their items and to host meetings that are specifically prioritized to clubs rather than other organizations. With the rapid pace to which clubs are expanding on this campus we believe that it is about time that we begin giving them a place to house their items. There are still more goals that Sarah and I have that we could write you 10 pages worth of information on how we plan to make this campus a better place. If you are interested in learning more about us, check out our Facebook page Elect Taylor Deer and Sarah Thomas ’12 ’13!
Make sure to check out next week’s post to learn more about the other set of candidates, Victor Santiago and Mark Leonardo!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at RIT chapter.