In the Associated Students of Colorado State University liberal arts senate race, five students will be running for six positions. Voting is from April 6 to April 8 on RamWeb. Some goals of candidates in the race are raising awareness of mental health issues, connecting with students and creating resources for students.

Josh Williams

Josh Williams, freshman political science student, said he is running in order to better represent students’ needs on campus.

“I felt that students needed a greater voice within student government,” Williams said.

Williams said he wants to talk with more students to see which issues they care about, and that his connection to the University through Residence Hall Association would help him get student opinions better.

He said he would like to collaborate more with other Colorado universities to get a unified student voice from across the state.

“We live in a more globalized world, and CSU just can’t keep doing its own thing, especially with tuition rates going up and the state not being able to support us as much,” Williams said.

Williams said he would also like to focus more energy on keeping the education standards high at CSU.

“I would like to talk to different students and see what we can do to make their educational experience here at Colorado State better, because education is primarily why they’re here,” Williams said. “The better of an education they can get, as well as the better the experience, the better they’ll be prepared for the future.”

Williams said he is an Eagle Scout, a member of the Order of the Arrow, which is a scouting honor society, and attended a camp hosted by the American Legion about student government.

Spencer Nolan

Spencer Nolan, sophomore history and political science student, has worked in ASCSU senate for about a year, and said he would like to continue working there because he knows there is more he would like to accomplish.

Nolan said mental health is his biggest goal. He worked on the mental health committee to create the new campaign, and said that because he deals with a mental illness, he can provide a different perspective in working with mental health within ASCSU.

“I think there’s so much more we can do along that line,” Nolan said.

Nolan also said he wants senate to become more transparent.

“I know we’ve run into issues with that before, but I know we’re also trying to make advances towards remedying that,” Nolan said. “I’m always happy to work with people on that.”

Nolan said he has written a few resolutions during his time in ASCSU senate and is used to how things are run. As a political science major, he said he also knows about how public policy works on a national level as well.

Pranaya Sathe

Pranaya Sathe, junior political science student, wants to create more opportunities and resources for students who are in nontraditional or unique situations, such as being younger than the average student with a certain amount of credits.

Sathe said she graduated from high school last year with an associate degree, and is finding it hard to find resources for students in her position.

She said she also wants to look into ways for students who cannot afford to study abroad to still be involved and learn from the experience.

“Instead of it being just looking at study abroad opportunities in itself, seeing ‘can we implement something like a pen pal system,’” Sathe said. “Or something where students can learn about something while they’re still here if they don’t have the resources or the opportunities to (study abroad).”

Sathe said she was born and raised in the United States but comes from an Indian family, which helps her  understand people on a more personal level.

Sathe said she has been on the Fort Collins Youth Advisory Board, and served as the chair from 2011-2013. She has been on the Colorado Youth Advisory Council, a youth ambassador for the India Association of Northern Colorado, was a part of the Larimer County Extension Advisory Council and was on the Larimer County Workforce Center Youth Advisory Board.

Taylor Bryan

Taylor Bryan, junior political science student, wants to offer students a more clear and transparent way to voice their opinions.

“I was a transfer student. … I’ve been here now for two years and I, to this day, have never been approached by, or seen any posters for, my liberal arts senator,” Bryan said.

Byran said there needs to be more easily accessible forums for students to voice concerns and opinions.

Bryan said he also wants to address the issue with way the Board of Governors sees the University.

“I think that there’s a huge issue with how CSU is seen by the Board of Governors and by the administration in general, and I want to try and address that and fix that problem,” Bryan said.

Bryan said his open-mindedness makes it so he will listen to student voices and make educated decisions based on the opinions he hears, not necessarily his own opinions.

Bryan said in high school, he participated in a program called Lockheed Martin Engineering Explorers Post, where he was the CEO of the mock company that created a real product for a real company, and managed about 50 people while making quick, educated decisions. He is also involved in Men in the Movement, and is in an internship working with legislators in Denver.

The Collegian reached out to Kelsey Bigham, but she could not be reached by time of print.

Collegian City Beat Reporter Sady Swanson can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan.