SGA presidential teams enter final week of campaigning
After the one-team campaign of last year, two teams are competing for the Student Government Association presidency and vice presidency roles for this year’s election.
The teams, who both announced their candidacies at the SGA Jan. 19 meeting, will face off in two debates Feb. 25 and 29, followed by the election on March 2 and 3.
The election pits juniors Nathaniel Steinlicht and Michelle Novak against junior Cameron Frentress and sophomore Anna Madsen. Steinlicht and Frentress are the presidential candidates, with Novak and Madsen running as their vice presidential candidates, respectively.
Each team has a distinct vision of how they would govern if elected to the SGA executive office.
Team Frentress and Madsen
The Frentress-Madsen team has a three-point platform consisting of student safety, student experience and student outreach.
Their student safety element aims to “make students feel comfortable being in Vermillion and at USD,” Madsen said. This includes improving lighting around campus and the creation of a “home safe” program, in which a university official would be available 24/7 to escort those who don’t feel comfortable going outside alone.
Madsen said the student safety platform was inspired by “some of the things that have happened over sort of the last year” on campus.
“A lot of students live off-campus, and so when you’re walking to and from campus, it’s important to have good lighting,” she added.
The student experience proposal aims to improve campus events and “gets students more involved,” Frentress said.
To improve the student experience at sporting events, the team would like to enhance game experience, improve the tailgating area and would work with the South Dakota Board of Regents to have alcohol be sold at USD sporting events.
The team’s student outreach strategy hopes to “kind of reverse how SGA works right now,” in which organizations must approach SGA. The idea is to bring SGA to the students, similar to a Senate outreach plan proposed by Steinlicht and Novak.
“We want the culture of the Senate to be more accessible to students,” Madsen said. “SGA should always be working to make a meaningful impact on the student body. It shouldn’t just be a resume-line builder, we actually want our senators to go out and find out what students are concerned about.”
Team Steinlicht and Novak
Steinlicht said his first priority if elected will be to “make campus a better place,” beginning with the Wi-Fi quality on campus.
“We really want to start working with the IT department, figuring out what the problem is and fixing it,” he said.
Another priority of the Steinlicht-Novak campaign is to create a “Senate outreach program,” said Novak, which will help students involved in other organizations interact more effectively with SGA.
“We essentially don’t want to stop campaigning even if we win,” Steinlicht said. “And we also want to make Vermillion a better place, too.”
Novak said their campaign will also continue working to get charging stations at the Muenster University Center, and possibly other buildings around campus.
“I think it’s something students are really interested in having,” she said.
Steinlicht also noted that he and Novak have roughly four years of combined SGA experience, and that they’ve been involved in a number of SGA initiatives, including the religious absence policy and college forums, including the recent Math Emporium forum.
The pair also have a good, working relationship with current SGA senators, Novak said.
“We do have a good relationship with the Senate, so we feel like that’s definitely a positive situation,” she said.
Cameron Frentress
Hometown: LeMars, Iowa
Year: Junior
Major(s): Sports Management
SGA Experience: One year
Other activities: Sport Management Alliance, Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity
Anna Madsen
Hometown: Ruthton, Minn.
Year: Sophomore
Major(s): Political science
SGA Experience: Sworn in December 2015
Other activities: Political Science League, honors program, study abroad
Nathaniel Steinlicht
Hometown: Milbank, S.D.
Year: Junior
Major(s): Political science and history
SGA Experience: Two years
Other activities: Mock trial, AWOL, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity
Michelle Novak
Hometown: Winner, S.D.
Year: Junior
Major(s): Communication Sciences and Disorders, minor in Communication Studies
SGA Experience: Sworn in September 2015
Other activities: Speech and debate
