Q: Can you give me a quick rundown of your life story?
A: Yeah. So, I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where I went to both public and private high schools. I was selected to represent my high school at Alabama Girls State – you do know about that – and I was selected to go to Girls Nation. And when I went to Girls Nation it made me really appreciate Alabama, our conservative values, the way I grew up, everyone around me supported me, and that’s why I decided to come to Alabama. It was a really good opportunity to really get a better sense of myself, and my political values and it is also the reason I’m really interested in politics.
Q: So, why do you want to run for this office?
A: I want to run for this office because I care about this university, and I think that I have the ideas to make it happen. You know, I see a lot of people pointing out the divides between the parties, both on our campus and on a nation-wide scale of partisan politics and us versus them, and I really want to do – help make the program happen that is going to take that away and not just point out the problems, and instead just unify campus through service.
Q: What makes you the best choice for this office?
A: I’m the best choice for this office because I have two years to see my idea through. I’m a sophore running. You know, I have the accountability and sustainability that our SGA really needs right now. I’m not going to be able to just leave campus after my ideas flop. You know, no, that’s not going to happen. I’m going to ensure they are going to work out because I’m here for two years, you know, not saying I’m going to be in SGA for two years, I’m not saying I’m running for re-election at all, you know, but I have two years to be a student and I’m going to ensure that it’s going to benefit students because, you know, I was a freshman last year. I see the needs, I’m concerned, you know, I want to help them, but I also have two more years as an upper classman to make sure it’s going to benefit all students for a sustainable amount of time.
Q: What’s your biggest goal for this position?
A: My biggest goal is my idea of the President’s Council. So, the President’s Council is this really awesome opportunity where the president from every organization would come together once a month, and we would sit down with a reception, a dinner, a speak, whatever the campus needs at the time, on whatever would be the best impact on our students, and we would discuss the problems, like a lot of times I see people send faceless emails and hope to get a response, and it doesn’t work out how they expect, but with this program ideally you would be able to come to the table and really talk and I would be able to sit down with whether it be students in the International Relations Club, students in the PR Association, whatever it is, we can talk and decide what I could do as the SGA president. There is such a lack of transparency and it could start with the executive members of the organizations. I could start, you know, give my ideas, they give me their ideas, and we work together to help improve student life.
Q: Sure. What’s the first thing you would do if elected.
A: The first thing I would do is continue sitting down with the students. You know, over these past two days I have had such an awesome opportunity, going to dinner, going to breakfast, going to coffee, whatever it may be. I’ve talked with so many students, and I want to talk to all 37,000. I want to do whatever I can. So the first thing I’m going to do is start that and set up as many appointments as I can, do whatever I can to really hear from the students and get to know them and make them understand that I’m a president for them; I’m not doing this for myself; I’m not doing this just out of title, I’m doing this because I care about campus, and when I’m in power I’ll make sure that every single person can benefit from my administration.
Q: Why should indifferent students care about this election?
A: Indifferent students should care about this election because the SGA really can make such an impact on your life. I think people think of the SGA as just your usual fraternity guy that gets in, and Elliot proved that’s not the case. Elliot was inspiring. He hadn’t served as an SGA vice president, he wasn’t in a fraternity, and he was African American. I think he proved to everyone that if you care about campus and you have the power to do so, you should run. And he did it and he won and he’s been awesome, so inspiring. I’ve gotten to know him through the Blackburn Institute and in my work in SGA, and I am so inspired by him and continue to be, and I hope that people see that every vote counts, and if you go out and vote, you can make sure that someone that really cares about campus will be elected.
Q: Sure. How do you see the campus changing and/or staying the same by the end of your possible term?
A: So I see the campus changing in that we’ll stop being so concerned about party lines and, you know, the tensions on campus, and instead we’re going to be so excited about all the opportunities we have because I’m going to make sure that everyone is given those chances. You know, I’m going to work for Uber – I’m going to work to get Uber on campus. I’m going to work to implement exam forgiveness program. I’m going, you know, continue to work on the sexual assault prevention programs. I’m going to continue my job awareness resources. I’m going to do whatever I can to, you know, continue the great programs that we have, but then build on them, because I want every student to love this campus as much as I do and really feel safe and comfortable and happy here.
Q:Sure. So, can you give a fun fact about yourself for the students?
A: Yes. So, fun fact: I’ve made jewelry for like 2 years now. Love it and I’ve always been pretty creative and I’m also 6’2″.
