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ASCSU Elections: Meet speaker of the senate candidate Hayden Taylor

Allie Seibel and Aubree Miller

March 24, 2024

Collegian | Cait Mckinzie

Associated Students of Colorado State University speaker of the senate candidate Hayden Taylor poses for a photo March 22.

Editor’s Note: This article is part of The Collegian’s 2024 ASCSU elections coverage. Search 2024 ASCSU elections on collegian.com to see complete coverage of all other candidates.

With campaigns for the Associated Students of Colorado State University elections for the 2024-25 academic year fully underway, The Collegian sat down with speaker of the senate candidate Hayden Taylor to discuss his background, campaign platforms and future plans if elected.

Taylor is a sophomore studying political science and legal studies. Taylor serves as the current internal affairs committee chair in the senate.

Background, ASCSU experience, qualifications

Taylor: I’ve been involved in ASCSU now (for) two years, and I love it; it’s a lot of fun. … I love the senate; we get to do a lot of … funding and stuff, … which is always kind of cool to see. It’s fun to be able to see how student fees get spent and have a bit of a voice in that, too. I’ve been a committee chair this year, which is like a leadership position within the senate, which is kind of giving me a bit of a taste of how to do the job (of the speaker) because it’s kind of like doing that on a mini scale.

Campaign platform, campus issues, priorities

Taylor: (Advocacy is) the biggest focus of my campaign because … how we make change is by being the voice of what students want to see. Advocacy looks like just being in touch with students and what they want.

ASCSU has had issues with that in the past, with being out of touch, … (and) it’s about being in touch with what people want to see and then being able to communicate that to people who can actually make those changes, and especially in an elected position, that gives you credibility.

I think that you need to be able to make some of those changes happen. Anybody can go and talk to anybody about anything. But if you have the votes of the students, then that means something. It’s about getting people involved, mostly being able to have communication with clubs and student organizations and just day-to-day students.

Knowing the issues that we face, one of the big ones I know of is the cost. The cost of tuition and housing, I think, is too high. I know people who don’t come to CSU anymore because of the cost of it. And that’s an issue, you know — we shouldn’t be forcing people out of college. But I think that if you can know some of those issues and be able to communicate that to the people who can have changes with that, we’ll be able to do that.

It costs simply too much to get a college education. And it costs too much with housing as well. ASCSU has had a big focus in the past on U+2 with the city, which is good; we should be focusing on that. But it costs too much to live on campus, too. I’m living beyond my budget living on campus now. And I know I’m not alone in that. So being able to get CSU to a place that’s financially accessible to people, I think, would be a big focus of mine.

ASCSU/student relationship, ASCSU future goals

Taylor: A lot of people on campus don’t know what ASCSU is and what we do. So being able to get that message out and to get people involved would be huge. We have some involvement, but like we’ve kind of seen, ASCSU has, at times, (been) out of touch. And so being able to get people involved in getting us focused on issues that impact the day-to-day lives of students on campus is, like, the ultimate goal of mine.

Being able to get social media active and going again so that people can be connected with us would be huge. I think going to classes and tabling on The Plaza (and) going to clubs and student organizations to get that input (is important). And that’s all definitely things I’ll be planning to do if I’m elected.

I think last time, I just didn’t know much about the elections and just what that looks like and how to do a campaign effectively — even though the ultimate vision, I think, is the same because that’s something I’m passionate about. I think it’s just changing how I go about that to be able to connect with people and get them involved and get them voting.

Reach Allie Seibel and Aubree Miller at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.

ASCSU2024

About the Contributors

Allie Seibel, Editor in Chief

Returning for her second year as editor-in-chief, Allie Seibel could not be more proud of the experience The Collegian has given her over her tenure at Colorado State University thus far. Seibel is a junior in the Honors program and on the prelaw track, studying journalism and media communication with minors in legal studies and business administration. She is also an Honors ambassador and an Honors peer mentor as well as a satellite imagery writer for the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at CSU and a member of the Center for Public Deliberation. Seibel started at The Collegian the summer before her first semester of college, getting involved through her orientation session and beginning her first year as news editor. She got the position before ever setting foot on campus as a student, which was one of the most formative experiences of her collegiate journalism career. She then began her current role her sophomore year, becoming the youngest editor-in-chief in Collegian history. Under Seibel's leadership, The Collegian was awarded an all-around best in show fifth place award at the College Media Association's national convention. Seibel is from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and spends her free time reading, cooking, cross-stitching, paddleboarding and taking photos. She is a huge traveler and seizes any opportunity she can to see the world. As she begins her second year at the helm of The Collegian, Seibel is excited to continue the immense legacy of the newspaper both in print and online by expanding investigative coverage and pushing readers to discover more about their surroundings on campus. She looks forward to maintaining The Collegian's reputation as a trustworthy news source both on campus and in the community.

Aubree Miller, News Editor

Aubree Miller is a news editor for The Rocky Mountain Collegian and could not be more thrilled to take on the role. Miller started as a reporter for the news; arts and entertainment; and life and culture desks in fall 2023 and has nurtured a love for news and keeping up with what is going on in the community, no matter how small or large the occasion. Going into their sophomore year, Miller is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in journalism along with two minors in women’s studies and ethnic studies. They are incredibly excited to keep the CSU and Fort Collins community up to date on news while keeping a focus on ethical and fair journalism and social justice, giving a voice to each and every person The Collegian interacts with. Miller is originally from rural northern Wisconsin and has lived in Aurora, Colorado, for the past eight years. Passions for reading, writing and music have flourished during their time at CSU thus far. That passion for writing translated into journalism, where writing is combined with being able to help others and to tell the stories that may not always be told. When not working at The Collegian, Miller can be found attempting to bring back '80s fashion trends, crocheting, listening to Taylor Swift and hanging out with their cat. Miller is immensely proud of their work with The Collegian thus far and is thrilled to continue learning and growing as an editor.

Cait Mckinzie, Photo Director

Cait Mckinzie is a second-year student double majoring in art and journalism and media communication. She is one of two photo directors for the 2024-25 school year. Despite growing up in Renton, Washington, Mckinzie knew she wanted to go to Colorado State University since middle school. She had only ever been to Colorado twice, but she visited campus once, and that was all it took. At first, there wasn’t much in Fort Collins that Mckinzie was familiar with. But in high school, she was the co-head of visuals for her school newspaper, so she applied to The Collegian as a photographer to get back into a similar environment. Mckinzie was first introduced to photography by her grandfather, who has been a photographer most of his life. After he gifted Mckinzie her first camera in her junior year of high school, she began to take any assignment she could for her high school paper to improve her skills. Of all the memories made in her first year at CSU, most of the interesting ones came from The Collegian. One Halloween drag show assignment, a lot of mentorship and a few months of practice later, Mckinzie found herself being offered the position of photo director for the next academic school year. Mckinzie is excited for another year at The Collegian and aims to continue learning and growing during her time as one of the photo directors.

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