Click below to find out what each candidate had to say:
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Sean Feehan
sfeehan1@uwyo.edu
After their landslide primary victory, ASUW presidential candidate Ahmed Balogun and his running mate Ricardo Lind-Gonzales hope to see the same success with the upcoming ASUW presidential elections.
Balogun and Lind-Gonzales said they are actively involved on campus and desire to use their experiences to represent the UW student body.
Balogun, an Engineering major, is from Nigeria and the first international student to ever run for ASUW president. During his time at UW, he has served various multicultural groups on campus in such positions as Chairman of the United Multicultural Council of ASUW, Vice President of the Wyoming African Students Association and Director of Diversity and Leadership with ASUW.
Balogun said his experiences on campus inspired him to run for ASUW president.
“We have been involved a lot on campus serving students,” he said. “We have a lot of experience engaging with students with hearing the complaints of students about things they want addressed, so that was our motivation to run to hopefully address these things with our experience being part of several campus programs.”
Lind-Gonzales is from Casper and an Education major. He has also shown active engagement on campus, serving in organizations such as the Multicultural Student Leadership Initiative, Student Success Services, Gear Up, the Student Wyoming Education Association, Kappa Delta Pi and as an RA for the residence halls. The VP candidate said he believes their experiences can bring a new outlook to ASUW.
“Ahmed and myself have outreached to a lot of different organizations on campus,” said Lind-Gonzales. “We both have had a diverse group of experiences and we are trying to bring in a whole different perspective to ASUW.”
The Balogun/Lind-Gonzales ticket includes a four-point plan, describing what they will emphasize during their time in office. One point is improvement in campus-student connection, which includes reforming CollegiateLink. Another is asset storage for RSOs and student leadership development by increased funding for conferences for students who cannot afford them.
The candidates also proposed setting up an online forum called WyoVocal, where UW students can engage in an active discussion regarding issues faced on campus.
“Students can go there and put up complaints or suggestions about things they want to see improved on campus,” Balogun said. “Then other students get the option to vote on it or comment on them. After 50 or 100 votes – or whatever ASUW feels is a significant number of votes – ASUW will take the issue up, investigate it and find a solution to it.”
Mitchell Nedved, who ran against Balogun and Lind-Gonzales in the primary elections, said he sees the ambitions of the candidate team as well-meaning, but does not believe their goals are all necessarily achievable.
“I think that they have a lot of aspirations without recognizing how short of a time span one year is,” Nedved said. He also questions the Balogun/Lind-Gonzales ticket’s desires to change CollegiateLink.
“Unfortunately that’s a contract through residence hall and dining, so it would take an exorbitant amount of money to get out of that contract,” Nedved said. “I think that they can still improve it, but I just don’t know if they can do it to the extent they are promising.”
Balogun and Lind-Gonzales will learn the results of their efforts next week when the voting poles close at 5 a.m. on Wednesday April 16.
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[su_spoiler title=”Henry Rawlings, Anya Tracey want to make student voice heard on issues such as tuition” style=”fancy” icon=”arrow-circle-1″]
Adam Croft
acroft2@uwyo.edu
Henry Rawlings, one of two remaining presidential candidates in the upcoming ASUW elections, is a genuinely enthusiastic person.
Whether standing in the breezeway of the Union trying to motivate students to cast a vote for him or introducing himself to a student-journalist, Rawlings conveys, like any good political candidate, a genuine interest in the people he encounters.
This enthusiasm echoes in his leadership style.
“One of the best things I think you can do as a leader is to try and bring out the best in the people around you,” said Rawlings. “As president that would be one of my biggest strengths. The legislative body is your only outreach to students sometimes, so you have to remind them that they were elected for a reason and that it’s not just something for their resume, that they actually have to go out and get things done.”
Both Rawlings and his running mate Anya Tracy said they are well versed in the workload required of an ASUW senator. Both were freshman senators with ASUW backgrounds.
“I was elected both as a freshman senator and as a representative of the Arts and Sciences College,” said Rawlings. “During that time I worked on the Student Outreach Committee as well.”
Tracey said she is seasoned as well, despite being a sophomore.
“Last year I was a freshman senator and this year I’m a senator for the college of health sciences and the chair of the RSO Funding Board and I sit on the Budget and Planning Committee,” said Tracy. “I think experience within the body is what sets us apart from our opponent. We’ve both served in ASUW a lot and personally, I think that’s important.”
Rawlings said experience is not the only thing setting them apart from Ahmed Balogun and Ricardo Lind-Gonzalez, their opponents for the ASUW president and VP positions.
“We have a great understanding of the student perspective as well,” said Rawlings. “We know that there are kids that are active in on-campus organizations as well as students that go their entire collegiate career without getting involved. Our goal is to represent all of the students, not just the ones that get involved. We think we have a grasp on the student perspective.”
Despite the duo’s experience and insight, Rawlings and Tracy faced an uphill battle getting into the general election. Rawlings and Tracy’s competitors were well aware of the narrow margin of victory they enjoyed.
“Both Henry and Anya are tough competitors,” said Mhamed Samet, a presidential candidate who took third in the primaries. “Their third day was just good enough to get them into the primaries by a margin of two votes.”
Despite their near defeat, the executive hopefuls said they are already planning how they will approach the offices they aspire to hold.
“One of the biggest things we can do is send senators out to talk to constituents, even if it’s just a mandatory email,” said Rawlings. “If we had done that last year, there would be less conflict regarding the USP changes. If senators had emailed everyone the night we knew about those changes, the student voice would have been in the initial plan.”
USP changes are not the only issues the next ASUW leaders will have to confront.
“Tuition is going to be big. One of our biggest roles will be to get that back to the students,” said Rawlings. “Also, there’s a major development plan going on within the university right now, and the students need to have a voice there as well.”
Despite these issues and the workload they will entail, both Rawlings and Tracy said they want to lead the student body of the University of Wyoming and are excited to hit the ground running if they get the chance.
“After working with the university, you see that there are actually people out there trying to get you the best possible education,” said Rawlngs. “It makes you fall in love with the school. And what better way to serve a place that has given me so much?”
ASUW elections begin on Monday and run until Wednesday.
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