Editor’s Note: Allec Brust and her running mate, Mareena Winchell, were previously employed for the Rocky Mountain Collegian. Brust was the former Collegian opinion editor, and Winchell was a former reporter for the Collegian arts and culture desk.
Colorado State University’s student government announced candidates for the upcoming presidential election and Speaker of the Senate election Friday evening before the start of CSU’s spring recess.
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The four campaigns running for president and vice president are:
- Liam Aubrey with running mate Lynsie Roper
- Allec Brust with running mate Mareena Winchell
- Jacob Epperson with running mate Carter Hill
- Tristan Syron with running mate Kevin Sullivan
Current College of Business Senator Liam Aubrey and running mate Lynsie Roper, who sits on the Board for Student Organization Funding, wrote in a statement to the Collegian they want to increase transparency and involvement in ASCSU, fight for food security and affordable housing, create a safer environment on the CSU campus and promote environmentally-friendly projects on campus.
“Liam and I have worked tirelessly to create a platform that will truly benefit students,” Roper wrote. “We want to grow and encourage the ‘Rams take care of Rams’ mentality.”
Brust and her running mate, Winchell, have no prior experience with ASCSU, but recent incidents on campus encouraged Brust to run for office.
“The past year at the Collegian, we reported on some disturbing events around campus that ultimately led me to my decision to campaign for ASCSU president,” Brust wrote. “This past year has been riddled with contention, hate and bias motivated instances on campus. This is unacceptable, and Mareena and I share a passion for stopping this painful rhetoric in its tracks.”
Epperson wrote in a statement to the Collegian that he served as a Senator on the Undeclared Leadership Council for the Intra-University representing undeclared students. Epperson’s running mate, Carter Hill, is currently a chair member on the Officer of Fraternity and Sorority Life Interpersonal Violence Committee and is the Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Service for the Interfraternity Council.
“Our primary reason behind declaring our candidacy is simply the idea of giving back to our CSU community,” Epperson wrote. “(CSU) and more specifically, our fellow students, have provided both us many great opportunities and experiences. Therefore, we believe that we should reciprocate the same through service and leadership in an organization that all students are associated with!”
Syron, who previously worked as a senator, ran for ASCSU vice president in spring 2017, and worked as director of campus engagement for the current ASCSU administration, is running with Kevin Sullivan, the current ASCSU Senate Recruitment and Retention Officer.
Syron wrote in a statement to the Collegian that he and Sullivan’s campaign will focus on parking, classroom and registration enhancement, and textbook price reduction.
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The two candidates campaigning for the Speaker of the Senate position are Merall Sherif and Benjamin Amundson.
Sherif is the current power chair of the ASCSU Senate, the Women and Gender Advocacy Center senator, vice chair of the University Issues Committee and the founder of the ASCSU Women’s Caucus.
Sherif wrote in a statement to the Collegian that her campaign will focus on building impartiality, community and diversity in the senate.
“I am running for speaker because I want to build an inclusive senate environment conducive to tangible legislation that puts the needs and concerns of rams at the forefront of their student government’s agenda,” Sherif wrote. “I plan to encourage an office culture that connects students directly with their senators to create programming and find resources to address campus issues together.”
Amundson, currently a senator for the College of Agriculture and a member of ASCSU’s External Affairs Committee, wrote in a statement to the Collegian that he and his campaign team are passionate about cultivating compassion.
“We believe student government representatives are not there for themselves, but rather to facilitate dialogue that ultimately works to serve and care for our CSU community,” Amundson wrote. “It’s not enough to talk about problems on campus. We need to act, be involved, and be the driving force to resolution. We decided to have me run because we believe in the positive message of compassion that my team sends, while we simultaneously believe we can positively facilitate dialogue that makes students’ needs met.”
ASCSU will hold two debates involving the president and vice president campaigns. The first debate will occur March 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the CSU Plaza, and the second debate will be held on March 28 at 7 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Theatre.
Students can vote for a campaign on RamWeb from 8 a.m. on April 2 to 4 p.m. on April 4. Campaigns will conclude April 4 at 4 p.m.
Stay with the Collegian for profiles on each campaign and further coverage of ASCSU elections.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to remove Kiaran Stewart as a candidate for the Speaker of the Senate position.
Collegian News Director Haley Candelario can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @H_Candelario98.
