As Associated Student Government (ASG) elections draw near once more, two ladies have stepped up to run against Current ASG President Beau Flores and his new vice president candidate, Angel Bautista.

Lauren Mason is running for ASG president while Alex Wagner is running for vice president. Mason came to Colorado Mesa University (CMU) from Denver and holds the current position of the graduate senator, while Wagner came from Conifer and is one of the two current fine and performing arts senators.

The Mason-Wagner team shares plans in their campaign to create a tighter bond with the community and to increase school spirit.

“We believe in building a community within the Grand Junction area, within CMU and within whoever we’re in contact with,” Mason said. “We believe in bringing an approachability [to student government].”

“I think one of the biggest things that we’re looking to do is to remove some of the intimidation of getting involved because I know a lot of students who have that desire to become part of a club or an organization and to join up and find their Mavily, if you’ll put it that way,” Wagner said.

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Mason and Wagner hope to make deals with local businesses that benefit both CMU students and the businesses themselves. “We’re in contact right now with some of the small businesses in town and we’re just trying to create that relationship with CMU and see if they will be willing to offer student discounts or just different ways that they want CMU to benefit them and they can benefit us,” Mason said.

Wagner said she wants to help clubs and organizations find opportunities to connect with downtown businesses as well. The Mason-Wagner campaign focuses heavily on the bridging of the school and the community, making Mavs proud to be Mavs and promoting involvement. Mason and Wagner will welcome activists and opinions, according to Wagner.

“CMU has struggled in the past with getting, I don’t know, school spirit,” Mason said. “I know my freshman year, there was a very big push to increase that spirit.” Mason brought up the spirit that was present her freshman year, when events such as t-shirt Fridays would occur, during which people could get t-shirts that were being slingshotted from the balcony of Escalante Hall.

Mason and Wagner can be found on Instagram with the username “masonwagner2020,” where they feature clubs and put their mission statement to work.