Hayden Taylor, a Colorado State University first-year, is running against Ava Ayala for speaker of the senate in the upcoming Associated Students of CSU election.

According to the ASCSU election website, Taylor is from Littleton, Colorado, and is currently studying political science.

CSU students can vote for next year’s ASCSU president, vice president and speaker of the senate on RAMweb April 3-5.

Background, ASCSU experience, qualifications

Taylor: I’ve always been into politics, so I went into political science at CSU. I wish that I did student government in high school, but I hadn’t found my place yet. I sort of stumbled upon ASCSU during Ram Welcome week, so I joined the Senate, and it’s been a lot of fun. So I thought this would be a good chance to take the next step and see if I can campaign and lead the body.

Motivations, campaign platform, priorities

Taylor: It’s two main things for me. One is that any time I tell someone I’m in ASCSU, they have no idea what that is and what we do. So I think it’s beneficial to have the name out there and be able to come to us when they want to see or accomplish something. Two, some of the senate meetings can be heated or intense. I think that I’m somebody who can calm that down a little bit and make us a functional body. 

Transparency is a big (priority), helping people know what we do and how we do that and being able to help when needed. Efficiency is a big one for me as well — being able to know what the students want and give it to them in a way that’s beneficial. Community is the last one, both within ASCSU and the CSU campus as a whole. So kind of unifying ASCSU in a way that is sometimes lacking and then making that a functional body that can benefit the CSU body as a whole.

A big thing that I want to do is just listen — having people know that the voices that they have and the opinions that they hold will be valued. My top priority is the transparency aspect of my campaign. I just got a bill passed by senate last week that will be adding a section to the ASCSU website showing the bills that we spend money on so that people can know what we fund.

ASCSU/student relationship, campus issues

Taylor: I think having the name out — “This is ASCSU, this is what we do, this is how we can help you” — that can get more people involved in that. I would intend to use social media to spread the word since that’s something that connects with a lot of people at this age.

I’ve spent a lot of time in senate, so I know the ins and outs of that. I’ve also spent a lot of time looking at the constitution and the bylaws we have, so I know a lot about how it’s supposed to go. We have a lot of people who have been in senate longer than I have, and so having them by my side would be helpful as well.

Housing is a big (issue); a lot of people don’t like the U+2 rule. We have taken some actions in senate to be looking at that with the city government, so I think continuing that would be good.

Reach Alex Hasenkamp at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @alexhasenkamp.

Editor’s Note: Read about speaker of the senate candidate Ava Ayala’s platform here. Find information on the president and vice president candidates on The Collegian’s website here.