Candidates running for Student Council offices met yesterday at a Hoos for Open Access forum to discuss what many candidates referred to as a need for a more socioeconomically diverse community at the University.
Candidates running for the Council positions of president, vice president for administration and vice president for organizations were present at the forum, answering questions first from the forum's moderators -- Hoos for Open Access executive board members Josh Mitchell and Kimberly Diaz -- and then from members of the audience.
When asked about the possible benefits of socioeconomic diversity at the University, second-year College student John Nelson, a VPA candidate, said University "students benefit from hearing other students' experiences from diverse situations and socioeconomic backgrounds."
VPO candidate Brent Via, a second-year College student, added that socioeconomic diversity "can open up students' minds to a world other than their own."
Isaac Wood, presidential candidate and third-year College student, concurred with his fellow Council candidates and added that he is also concerned about what happens to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds once they arrive at the University.
"Current programs do a great job getting students from lower-income backgrounds to the University," Wood said. "But do not do a great job maintaining a way for students to stay involved in all parts of student life once they are here."
In response to this perceived issue, Wood and his running mate, Sterling Elmore, VPA candidate and third-year College student, proposed establishing more student life scholarships. They also said they want to help contracted independent organizations raise sufficient funds so as to make membership dues and activity costs more affordable to students who otherwise would not be able to participate in extracurricular activities solely because of their financial means.
VPO candidate Ronald Barba, a second-year College student, said the best way to raise these new funds would be getting CIOs to network with one another and to cosponsor events based on similar interests.
Second-year College student Matt Schrimper, a presidential candidate, meanwhile, also proposed that the Council president, and the Council as a whole, should have a responsibility to be "more proactive and less reactive" to issues the student body finds important.
Third-year College student Kayla Wherry, a VPO candidate, suggested more effectively using the funding resources allocated to the 598 active CIOs to help aid students from low-income backgrounds to get involved in student life.
In this regard, Schrimper said he is in favor of a "University Unity Project," through which four to five issues are presented on the voting ballot and students are able to decide which issue is most important to them. Then, all committees of Council would be able to work together on resolving that issue, which could be socioeconomic diversity. This strategy would better allow Council to approach the University administration with goals and would help to unify the University community, Schrimper said.
VPA candidate Ethan Jorgensen-Earp, a third-year College student, concurred with Schrimper, adding that Council faced internal communication issues this past year, and that the proposed greater collaboration between various Council committees may help address the issue of achieving greater socioeconomic diversity.
Students will be able to vote for their preferred candidates for Student Council and for other organizations from Feb. 14 to 19.
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