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Each presidential candidate showed students their character and who they are as leaders during the Associated Students of Colorado State University debates last Wednesday night in the Lory Student Center Theatre.
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Candidates Ben Amundson and Alex Farias reflected leadership for ASCSU that is friendly, approachable and student oriented. In discussion of inclusivity at Colorado State University, Alexandra Farias stated, “My office will always be open. The vice president’s office is your office, not mine.”
“The vice president’s office is your office, not mine.” – Alexandra Farias
Amundson revealed having friends within the city council that will allow him to hopefully spark change for the U + 2 movement. Amundson and Farias made promises of helping with food insecurity and parking, and although their promises are far reaching, they believe the work they have already done in senate is a testament to how they will act as leaders.
“He who is faithful with little should be trusted with a lot,” Amundson exclaimed.
Joshua Johnson and Joshua Griffin showed the most dedication and passion for this school. They want to increase transparency within ASCSU and make sure all voices are heard. “Just because you’re not the loudest voice in the room does not mean your voice does not matter,” they said.
They want to bring more spirit to CSU with talks of a spirit week and a parade that student organizations can become involved in. They care about people from all walks of life, and they proudly stated, “The first lesson I learned in leadership is that you care about students first.”
Braun and Taylor seem like they know how to run a campaign, and they’re good at saying what you want to hear. They embodied strong, powerful and almost intimidating leadership.
“I don’t have friends at city council, I have working relationships,” Samuel Taylor snapped in rebuttal to an earlier comment by Amundson. They asked to be held accountable, to be asked the tough questions and to keep the discussion going.
They had the most concrete answer for promoting inclusivity on this campus. “It’s not enough to just say we will include everybody. The first step is understanding your privilege,” noted vice presidential candidate Madison Taylor.
Quintana and Ammar were quieter and gave vague answers, but they want to actually know the students. They brought up the ideas of public forums at CSU that are similar to a town hall meeting where anyone can come and bring up issues.
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They came off as unsure during the debate, and they tended to talk around a lot of the questions without providing concrete answers. However, their intentions are good, and they seem to be the most willing to directly interact with students.
“It’s one thing to say we think we know what the students want, but we want to actually know,” they reiterated.
Flint Corliss and Wyatt Mount seemed like they didn’t have the answer to a lot of things, but were willing to build a team of people that did. In response to how they will reduce food insecurity they said, “There’s someone out there with a better answer.”
“Rams take care of rams. We want to be there to help you,” they said in their concluding statement.
The truth is that with any of the candidates, ASCSU will be in good hands. However, each one of these candidates will bring a different leadership style to office, and it is up to student’s to decide what kind of atmosphere they want in ASCSU.
Vote for the candidate that you believe in and who you know believes in you.
Katrina Leibee can be reached at letters@collegian.com or Twitter @KatrinaLeibee.
