Major: Junior political science major and women’s studies minor

Involvement: Pre-Law Honors Society president, vice president of programming for Campus Activities Board, Men Against Misogyny on Campus president and The Remember Project Board of Directors member

Q: What would be your No. 1 priority if elected?

A: Evident change. In student government we have a lot of tendency to just talk; there’s a lot of rhetoric, initiatives, resolutions etc., but hardly do we ever see actual evident change. One thing we want to do is unify the student body and have campus outreach. Our administration will be very researched-based, so we will research what the campus wants and do a lot of interactional, personal outreach so students feel comfortable and know that they are represented and know who they can go to. Once we garner that, we can come up with an effective engagement strategy to create that evident change.

Q: How would you help the SA connect more with students?

A: We have three pillars: campus outreach, effective engagement and evident change. In student government we have a lot of tendency to just talk; there’s a lot of rhetoric, initiatives, resolutions etc., but hardly do we ever see actual evident change. One thing we want to do is unify the student body and have campus outreach. Our administration will be very researched-based, so we will research what the campus wants, and do a lot of interactional, personal outreach so students feel comfortable and know that they are represented and know who they can go to. Once we garner that, we can come up with an effective engagement strategy to create that evident change.

Q: How would you help the SA connect more with students?

A: We have three pillars: campus outreach, effective engagement and evident change. Helping the SA connect more with students has to do with the first two pillars. It’s not enough to post on social media or post fliers. We need to be out and present on campus being some of the most prominent students, going to all the events, going to student organizations, meeting with faculty, meeting with the administration and assuring that students know us on a personal basis. That way, not only will they feel comfortable expressing their wants and needs to us, but it will give us a greater avenue to really understand what they want. I think that if we have more face-to-face and personal interactions … we can connect on a deeper level because the more personal interactions you have the more power you have to mobilize as a student body. That’s the only way real change is going to happen.

Q: What do you see as the main cause or causes behind NIU’s declining enrollment? How can the SA help combat these problems?

A: The problem is lack of engagement. Students aren’t as engaged as they could be on campus, and I think the best vehicle for that engagement is involvement. If we really bolster our involvement here at NIU through unity. I think we can get a lot more students interested in becoming a more involved student on campus. Also, the SA needs to have better public relations. It is not acceptable that a large majority of students don’t know what the SA is, but if we incorporate the plan that we have for campus outreach our name will get out there a lot more.

Q: Could you name an issue you believe NIU is facing and describe how the SA could help the university resolve it?

A: NIU is facing a lot of issues with retention and enrollment. The Student Association, being the body that oversees all the student organizations on campus, we can really bolster our engagement if we go about it effectively. One way to do this is by diversifying involvement here on campus, so we’re having student organizations from all disciplines and collaborating for events in leadership and in service events to assure that every student here that’s involved is having a worthwhile experience. As we continue this process, we will make involvement here at NIU more appealing, which will lead to more students being involved which I think really keeps students here. If we engage students early … we can keep our retention rates going up.