This year’s Student Senate elections have been rife with all types of drama, and each conflict has served as a distraction from the parties’ platforms.
As an informed student who cares about the future leadership at this university, I am trying to redirect the rhetoric surrounding the campaigns – we should not be talking about or voting based only on accusations about tables at Baker, Palmerfest behavior or a lack of female representation within one party’s executives.
I urge other students to look past all of this (and to look past the free food, fliers and giant posters of candidates’ faces), and to truly examine the campaigns for what they are.
Unfortunately, many candidates and their supporters failed to stick to what is most important: what they would try to do if they are elected.
For these reasons, and many others, I urge students to write in Christopher Wagner for president of Student Senate. I have voted every year for the past three years, and I have read both parties’ platforms and every speck of news coverage available on the election. Up until yesterday, I had unwillingly accepted the fact that I would not be able to bring myself to vote for either presidential candidate.
With the launch of Chris’ campaign, I found the viable candidate that I have been searching for during the entirety of this election season. He offers both the practical experience touted by RSVP and the emphasis on students’ needs that FACE prioritizes.
Chris is not just a candidate who we can all stomach; he is the candidate who best embodies the characteristics that we should all seek in our Student Senate president.
Caitlyn Zachry is a senior studying journalism.
