'Post' editors endorse Student Senate candidates for the upcoming election.
The Post typically endorses executive candidates for each year’s election of the Ohio University Student Senate.
We’re endorsing again this spring, but with one disclaimer: It’s disappointing that no outside candidates are running for executive office.
For the past few years, students with no previous senate experience or goals that clearly contrasted senate’s traditional role ran for such positions. We’ve been fortunate to have those candidates. Even if they did not win, they pushed the dialogue in a direction that ultimately benefitted OU students.
No such luck this year.
Of the candidates that are running, however, we think these are the best choices for students come next week:
President:
We urge students to vote UNITE candidate Hannah Clouser for senate president. Clouser’s plans to increase senate’s outreach and work with lobbyists at the Ohio Statehouse are solid.
Clouser specifically takes college affordability challenges seriously, which is an important flag to carry as president.
Given her acumen and experience leading senate’s financial arm as treasurer this year, we think it’s reasonable to expect Clouser to follow through on her plans.
She has emphasized that this was a rebuilding year for the current senate, and we hope she transitions the body away from a more internal model.
Vice President:
For vice president, the best choice for students is Impact’s Alexis Apparicio. Apparicio is committed to addressing racial tension on campus at a time when leaders ought to do more to bridge racial divisions in the student body.
She has a practical way of supporting diversity: Senate needs to do more than simply fund and attend programs; the organization also needs to bring multicultural groups to the table, as well as holding office hours in places like the Multicultural Center and LGBT Center on campus.
Apparicio also notes that as the university has “expanded the definition of diversity,” which can lead to multicultural students being left without resources, simply because they don’t have a scholarship. She advocates that access to programs like tutoring and peer mentorship need to be available to all students who identify as multicultural — something we would like to see implemented.
Treasurer:
For treasurer, we recommend students vote for Impact's Kiera Fletcher. Though Steve Lichtenfels carries interesting ideas about holding student organizations financially accountable, Fletcher was clearly enthusiastic about reaching out to students to ensure that organizations are adequately funded.
Post endorsements are independent of The Post’s news coverage.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Emma Ockerman, Managing Editor Rebekah Barnes and Digital Managing Editor Samuel Howard. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
