Sam Rickert is a sophomore from Louisville, Kentucky, majoring in political science. He is running unopposed for the SGA vice president of student affairs position. 

Q: How did you originally get involved with SGA? Or if you’re not currently involved, what made you want to get involved?

I first joined as a First Year Councilor and did some legislation there. Actually, the bike rack in front of Lakeside Dining was something I helped implement. And I went year to year figuring out if I wanted to keep going or not. And when I first stepped foot and started doing stuff with First Year Council, I really enjoyed it, ‘cause it was students serving students, and that’s kind of what I like to live by, is like leaving something better than when I found it. Like, freshman year I got involved in about three other clubs, and it was just getting your foot in the door and seeing what I actually enjoyed doing, and I realized I really enjoyed SGA. And then when I found out that you could go to Senate and run an election there, and it’s like the next level. You know, you can do a lot more up in Senate, and so then I ended up running for senator and luckily got that, because that was unopposed at the time, too. I was able to actually end up implementing Bama Asks, which is a forum that you can literally submit any question or concerns you have on campus and we will connect you with the department. I really enjoyed doing that and working with students, and that’s why I decided I really wanted to run for student affairs. I had a great experience here, and I really want everybody else to.

Q: What made you want to get involved?

The amazing experience I’ve had while here. I wouldn’t say it was surprising; I toured once or twice, and then when I was going to other schools, I was comparing every school to UA, and I just loved the campus. And then when I came here, it was the best experience I’ve ever had. It put high school to shame. I didn’t have a bad high school experience, but it was not the same as college, and I just want everyone else to have that experience.”

Q: What made you want to run for this position?

“Just the outlook I think I have. I am more student-minded, like everytime I walk around campus, I mean with the bike rack or Bama Asks, that was something I really thought about, where it’s like that was something that could really help students. And I always want to help people like me who are from out of state. You know, you’re living six and a half hours away, and any little thing can help you.”

Q: What makes you the best choice for this office?

“I think my experience in doing First Year Council and being a senator as well is you learn a lot, and you learn a lot through your failures, too. You’ll have some extravagant idea, but in the end, it’s not feasible to do sometimes, but then you learn to negotiate with the faculty around here, and they’ll help you to do a part of your idea. I would say, through First Year Council and Senate as well and just being able to come up with ideas, write legislation when it comes to those, and then implement them as much as I can.”

Q: What’s the biggest problem you see on campus?

“I would just say some students have a great experience and others don’t have a great experience, and I think that my main goal is to have at least the option for students to take part and have a great experience outside the University. You go to class, and that’s half your day, but it’s what you do with the other half. I think, if you look at some of the platform points, like one of my big things is student experience, and I think that’s the No. 1 thing that is the problem with UA right now is just some people have a great experience and some people won’t. And we should, as an SGA, maybe strive to have everybody have a decent experience at least.”

Q: What do you hope to change?

“The main thing I would hope to change is being more catered to their population, which is more than 50% out of state. I’m from Kentucky, more than six hours away, and I would hope that in-state and out-of-state students would have the same experience. Because when you’re here for the first eight weeks, you kinda sit there and you’re just like, ‘I don’t know what to do right now.’ It would be different if you went to the same university as everybody else, like all your high school friends, like some people in Alabama do. It’s just bridging the gap and letting them kind of hit the ground running at the same time – which, I know you can’t hit the ground running as much as if you had high school friends that went here, but it’s maybe making that gap shorter and so that you’ll be on the same playing field as out-of-state and in-state students.”

Q: What’s one last thing you want voters to know about you?

“Just that I am here for them and they can hopefully come to the office whenever they want and that they should really use Bama Asks, because I think that’s a really good tool that I helped implement and personally even I’ve used to get in contact with somebody that I wouldn’t have known to get in contact with.”