Though they do have the responsibility of overseeing the First Year Council, the role of executive vice president within the SGA often seems like nothing more than a title for title’s sake. Lauren Forrest, a wholly uninspiring candidate, will do little to change this view of what could be an impactful role.
Her platform largely revolved around three initiatives: increasing resources for veterans both on and off campus, promoting the health and wellness of students on campus and both streamlining and lengthening the FYC application process. She is clearly passionate about fostering relationships with veterans and making sure money and programming revolves around them, and this has the potential to be one of the better implemented portions of her platform.
However, her ideas for increasing student health and wellness, creating pamphlets about healthy eating and expanding healthy dining options in the Ferguson Student Center seemed unimaginative and lacked specifics for implementation. The Editorial Board did like her plan to lengthen the application period for FYC so that more students could apply. However, her ideas for integrating the FYC more fully into the SGA also lacked specifics, and though she claimed to want to make FYC more inclusive and less centered around Greek students, it seemed she had not fully thought out how it would be marketed to a wider array of students.
Forrest also had goals centering around the counseling center: creating a satellite branch closer to students on campus and reducing turnaround time for counseling scheduling. This Editorial Board questions the necessity and the feasibility of the former, and again, saw a lack of specifics and feasibility regarding the latter.
Additionally, for a candidate who so vehemently exclaimed her support of all organizations on campus and fostering inclusivity and transparency (notably, while unprompted), Forrest should take note to stop her practice of nervously laughing before denying her involvement with the Machine.
Forrest is most definitely an experienced member of the SGA and will no doubt fulfill the basic requirements of this position. However, her platform lacked ambition, scope and originality, and we hope that she will improve upon what she has planned to give meaning to the office of executive vice president.
