With Colorado Mesa University’s Associated Student Government elections starting up, candidates may be wondering what we look for in a student body president and what sort of changes we all would like to see take place on our campus.
I believe that a student body president should not only represent all students on campus, but also actively look for changes that students may need or want in order to stay comfortable and content at CMU. So far, nothing but the best has been provided during my short time at this school from the student body president.
“The student body president is just someone who can represent us correctly to the faculty; somebody who is in touch with a large group of people,” Matthew Gottachalk, a CMU student, said. “[A student body president] is a good speaker and can represent themselves well.”
On top of this, it truly is important that the person filling this position gets to know who they are representing and puts in that extra effort to do so. Everyone has different needs, and every mind comes with unique ideas. It can be helpful to gain perspective from different types of students.
A minor change I would like to see on campus is the time in which the dining hall opens in the morning on weekends. I am an early riser, and having to wait for breakfast until 10:30 a.m. can be an inconvenience.
Students should feel comfortable about going directly to their student body president and addressing changes they’d like to see on campus. This allows for a relationship between the students and who is representing them.
“I like all the activities we have on campus,” Emily Dodson, a student who sees no major change necessary on campus, said. “I would want [the president] to be super active in that way, just to kind of keep everyone involved.”
Gottachalk feels the number one thing that needs changing on campus are the dirt parking lots.
“I park out there every day. It is pretty important to me personally,” Gottachalk said.
I completely agree with Gottachalk’s statement, since I have a car on campus. Anytime I decide to leave campus, I have to avoid many potholes in the dirt lots that could be fairly damaging if someone passing through wasn’t aware of them.
Changing little things like parking lots are what students should communicate to their student government, and these are the types of things that the student government should be on the lookout for as well. A student body president who listens and communicates with who they are representing is what I, and many other students on campus, hope to continue to have during this upcoming election season and its results.
