The Vanderbilt Student Government presidential candidates see eye-to-eye on at least one issue.
They all appear to agree on the need for strong advocacy for students' needs, even if it creates conflict with the administration.
This idea has been reflected in the campaign slogan Jared Anderson and Courtney Holliday favor — "Standing Up for Students," in the aim of Reid Simon and Randall Norman to bring the voice of student organizations into VSG and in the focus Joseph Williams and Wyatt Smith place on the upperclassman experience.
The three tickets gathered Tuesday to turn in their completed petitions and kick off the campaign season, which began officially at 7:30 p.m.
Anderson said student government must bring issues students want addressed to the administration and created a platform that emphasizes connecting The Commons to the rest of campus, bringing technological advancement to academics and using internal VSG reforms to improve its ability to respond to students.
"I think the best predictor for which ticket would be the best to handle these issues and take a strong stance with the administration is our past record," Anderson said.
But Norman said the variety of experiences she and Simon have had within VSG make them a more effective ticket.
"(Simon) spent multiple years doing back end stuff, and I spent two years as a house president really having contact with students," she said. "We really have the experience at both ends, and when we pull that together, we feel we can pool a variety of skills to present a unified front."
VSG should be more effective in its communication with students, Simon said, as student groups do not feel they can accomplish their goals through VSG.
"The one thing we do the worst is tell people what we do and kind of brag about ourselves," Simon said, adding that he would expand VSG to include a third legislative branch focused on the needs of student organizations.
Williams said their more external focus will be directed at the improvement of the upperclassman experience, "the one thing Vanderbilt has forgotten about," as well as making capital improvements to campus residences and connecting Peabody to main campus.
"The Commons is great for recruitment and getting our application rates up, but at the end of the day, once we get them here, we want them to feel like they've had a four-year experience, not just a first-year experience."
Williams said he and Smith have more experience working with administrators than anyone else in student government and said no one has pushed the administration to improve life for upperclassmen.
"Neither of us are the type that just sit there in meetings or don't talk very much with our hands folded," Williams said. "We're the ones talking all the time, making sure the administration knows the student voice on these issues."
— Glenna DeRoy can be reached at glenna.h.deroy@vanderbilt.edu
