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What candidates should know before student government elections says current ASW members

ASW vice president Maggie Regier, Gavin Dickamore, first-year honors student, and ASW events president Kenzie Campbell at the “I Love Female Orgasms” Taboo Talk in the Gore Auditorium on Jan. 31. Regier said students can learn a lot from being a part of ASW’s student board. (Photo by Sean Distance)

ASW elections are Feb. 28-March 1 and so The Forum spoke with current ASW members and former candidates to discuss their experiences with the campaign and election process.

Prerequisites & qualifications

Students running for ASW positions must meet the prerequisites and qualifications.

According to the student election handbook, the prerequisites are maintaining a 3.0 GPA, be enrolled in at least six undergraduate or three graduate semester hours and must be in good standing with the college.

Students running for ASW positions must also declare their candidacy, passing a test on the ASW Constitution, attending all mandatory meetings, completing a personal profile and paying a campaign fee.

Step One: Deciding to run

Maggie Regier, current ASW vice president, said she was encouraged by past student board members to apply for her current position. She said believed that the vice president position would provide new opportunities and help her network with other students on campus.

“If you’re thinking about running, just do it,” Regier said. “It’s a great experience and you learn a lot.”

Jazmin May, current ASW president, said that like Regier, she was also encouraged by past student board members to run because they felt she would do great as president.

“It was scary,” May said. “I felt like I’ve always done roles that I feel comfortable in, like there’s a certain zone where I’m like ‘this is what I know I can try and if I don’t get it, then that’s okay.”

ASW President Jazmin May and alumni Christy Grant, educating students on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the Shaw Student Center on Jan. 30. May said she encourages anyone interested in running for office to talk to current student board members about their positions. (Photo by Sean Distance)

May said she would advise anyone deciding to run to meet with the current student board members and get an idea of what the position would be like.

Step Two: Meeting with the election committee

May said students must meet with the election committee to learn about the process, as well as the Dean of Students office, if they are applying for the ASW President or Vice President position. After the meeting, the following week is allotted for campaigning.

Step Three: Campaigning

To campaign, candidates can create marketing materials like posters, banners, social media posts and stickers. Students also have time to table and talk directly to other students.

“Campaigning was interesting,” said Mia Moore, current speaker of the senate for ASW. “It was a little weird because in the beginning I didn’t know how to do it.”

Moore said she felt there weren’t many resources to help her figure out the timeline of what was happening, however, she said focused on talking to talk to students.

Regier said her campaign week was “a weird occurrence of events.”

“I was a little bit stressed, and a little bit confused because I thought I was going to have competition and then no one ended up showing up,” Regier said. “I just kinda figured out in the middle of campaign week that I was next year’s Vice President.”

Step Four: The debate

May also said that after campaigning that there is a debate for student positions. She said her advice for the student debate is to ask questions to current board members before the debate.

Step Five: Election & aftermath

Once campaigning is over, the student board holds the election through Canvas, according to the elections handbook. Once the student body has voted, the winner are announced.

Kara Kornhauser, an environmental science major, was not elected but said she was happy with the result. She said she has had many opportunities since the election that she wouldn’t have been able to accept as the ASW president.

May, who won the election, said that she is also happy with the results. She said that the position has challenged her in new ways and helped her get outside of her comfort zone. She said her overall experience was positive and she values the skills she’s gained.

Similarly, Moore said her position as speaker of the senate has taught her organization, dependability, time management, personal reflection and courage.

Expectations vs. reality

Regier, May and Moore all said that they came in with expectations that ended up being different from reality.

“I had never been in student government before so I was a little out of my element,” said Moore, a business management major. “I knew it was going to be hard but I was expecting it to be a little less hard than it was.”

Moore said that once she got into the groove of things, the position became easier over time.

“It’s going to take time,” May said. “It’s a lot of commitment. You are a part of a select group of people that have a lot of influence over campus and it’s an amazing opportunity and I would suggest that anybody that has an inkling that they want to do it, that they try.”

REQUEST CORRECTION

*Earlier versions of this story incorrectly attributed the last quote to Mia Moore. It was Jazmin May who made the comment. 

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Sean is a 22-year-old senior communication major at Westminster College. If he’s not spending his time taking photos and making videos, Sean’s likely getting caught up daydreaming about comic books and superheroes. Sean also enjoys writing, music and dancing enthusiastically in public.

2 Comments

  1. The caption of the first photo says “orgams” – I believe you meant orgasms

    Reply
    • Noted and updated. Thank you for your feedback.

      Reply

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