The ASUI Senate election is fast approaching for University of Idaho students. Candidates spoke about their platforms and answered questions about topics from enrollment numbers to diversity in a Nov. 2 forum. Here’s a roundup of the candidates.
Tanner McClaine
Hometown: Middleton, Idaho
Year: Freshman
Platform focus: Student involvement and academics
McClaine wants to create a reward system for students on campus to “invite students to be more involved on campus through rewarding the most-involved students” and to promote Career Services because “a lot of students get a major, but at the end of the day, they don’t know what they’re going to do after school.”
McClaine said he would seek to increase enrollment by promoting Career Services so potential students are aware of their career chances after attending UI.
McClaine was captain of a mountain biking club in high school, founded a club that allowed him to plan events and fundraisers and was president of DECA, a business club.
Secilia Lopez
Year: Sophomore
Major: Biology
Platform focus: Diversity, civic engagement and student involvement
Lopez said, as part of a minority group, she “know(s) the struggles firsthand.” She said she wants to make more dedicated spaces for multicultural students and encourage students to have “difficult conversations regarding diversity.”
“It’s very difficult for now, in these times, for people to acknowledge clubs, especially for first-years that aren’t really aware of the university’s organizations and all that it can provide,” Lopez said.
She said she would seek to promote these initiatives on social media.
Lopez said she would increase enrollment by promoting what UI has done to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, in case prospective students are nervous about coming to campus.
Lopez was student body president and a member of Future Farmers of America during high school. In college, she has held an e-board position in Alpha, a business club for Latinx communities. Lopez also said she participates in an advocacy and activism club as well as a retention-based club bringing high school students to UI.
Madison Fitzgerald
Hometown: Twin Falls, Idaho
Year: Freshman
Majors: History, political science and international studies
Platform focus: Mental health awareness
“I think the university should implement a class to better educate students on how to be an ally to those who struggle with mental health,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said this education would consist of “a mandatory class to educate students on where to seek help and how to be an ally with those who struggle with mental health.”
Fitzgerald said she would raise enrollment by advertising the university’s resilience and ranking.
Fitzgerald was president of both her DECA business club chapter and of Rotary Interact, a community service club. She also started the Welding Skills USA club for her high school. Fitzgerald said she was a triplet, so she “knew what it was like to share and compromise.”
Zayne Hunter
Year: Junior
Major: Marketing
Platform focus: Price of parking and medical clinic locations
Hunter is planning to advocate for an on-campus medical clinic, but he also has his eye on parking.
“The number one thing that I heard when I was talking to students about what they think should be changed… was how expensive parking passes were,” Hunter said. “My main goal in all of this is to lower parking pass prices and maybe even go into adding more parking.”
Hunter said he would raise enrollment by starting an advertising campaign targeted at parents about COVID-19 testing results and campus safety precautions. He said he was already running social media campaigns for the College of Business and Economics about how UI events are fun and safe.
Hunter said he participated in The Gem Boys State, a simulated student government at the state capital. He was also class vice president, class president, event coordinator for student government, National Honors Society chapter president and state officer for the Technology Student Association.
Joseph Tibesar
Hometown: Caldwell, Idaho
Year: Freshman
Major: Management information systems
Platform focus: Promoting campus services and ensuring student support
“When we pay for college, we’re not just paying for our classes; we’re paying for the services, the tutoring, for the organizations, for everything on campus, and it’s our job at ASUI to promote that,”
Tibesar said. Tibesar said in order to increase enrollment, the university should advertise its safety.
“I myself almost took a gap-year,” Tibesar said. “The reason I didn’t was because I saw an email from the university that said we were all going to get tested… That right there is what we need to promote to the students and incoming students.”
Tibesar worked in a youth council in Caldwell, which he said gave him experience in lobbying to congressmen and state representatives, as well as vocalizing what the younger population wants and believes.
Peyton Loffer
Hometown: Meridian, Idaho
Year: Freshman
Platform focus: Helping students access resources and be the best they can be
“Mental health for me is a key factor to success…,” Loffer said. “We need to make it easier and promote the counseling center a little bit better, because I feel like most kids don’t feel like they have the best access to it.”
Loffer said to increase enrollment, she would use social media to promote that UI is keeping students safe with free COVID-19 testing and the Healthy Vandal Pledge.
“I think we need to promote that we are on a Hyflex…” Loffer said. “It’s really cool that we still have access to classrooms and still have access to our teachers.”
Loffer led a few clubs in high school. “
I like to be a leader, and I like to help other people, so I think using that can help me to support the students on campus,” Loffer said.
Cody Roberts can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CodyRobReports.