Peyton Loffer is a fourth-year student double majoring in agricultural economics and Spanish. Loffer is running for ASUI president alongside vice president candidate Jack Schneider who is a freshman double majoring in accounting and finance.
Loffer is from Kuna, Idaho, and has been involved in ASUI for four years as vice president, chief of staff, vice president adjutant, and senator. According to Loffer, she got involved in ASUI because she wanted to be more knowledgeable about the University of Idaho and meet more people.
“I wanted to make a change and a difference too,” Loffer said. “But I didn’t know it was something I wanted to do until I was introduced to people that were in leadership and really looked up to them.”
Loffer said she considers herself a problem solver and wants to become ASUI president to help students gain knowledge and access to resources to help students with their problems.
Loffer and Schneider believe they are a balanced ticket that could represent many students on campus.
“I’m going to be a rising sophomore, Peyton’s going to be a rising fifth-year senior. I spent all of this year living in the residence halls, Peyton has been in Greek life for all of her time here. I am in the College of Business, Peyton is in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the College of Letters and Art Sciences,” Schneider said. “So, no matter if you’re a new student on campus or an older student on campus, whether you’re in the dorms or Greek life, our campaign has something that can relate to a lot of people.”
Loffer and Schneider’s campaign is focused on three main platforms including elevating student voices and events, enhancing communication and transparency, and engaging students in Vandal Pride.
“We are both very passionate about elevating student events, putting the student need for activities first,” Schneider said. “We would love to establish another, separate ASUI website, separate from the university, where we can publish all important ASUI information. This would also be a one-stop shop for students to request support, request promotion for their upcoming events, and really open a direct line of communication between students and student leaders.”
Another thing Loffer and Schnieder want to do to increase Vandal Pride is convince the Idaho state government to declare a University of Idaho Day in the state of Idaho. Currently, there is a Boise State Day, where Boise State University administrators and students meet with legislative representatives to share progress reports and research. Loffer and Schneider would like to see the same for UI.
Loffer and Schneider also want to be very transparent about how student fees for ASUI are used.
“I think a lot of times, people don’t know how much money we [ASUI] spend or where we spend money and I think it’s really important for students to know,” Loffer said. “Hopefully that would go on a website that we create.”
One last thing Loffer and Schneider would like to do is establish a university-wide committee, that the ASUI would facilitate, where different leaders on campus could meet to discuss campus issues and solutions.
“The ASUI would be facilitators of this [committee] and would make sure all of the groups on campus are being heard and they feel like they have a voice at our table,” Loffer said.
Loffer and Schneider said that good ASUI leaders have experience, passion, and love.
With a combined five years of experience in ASUI, Loffer and Schneider believe they learned crucial skills such as communication, organization, teamwork, and focus. They also believe they are very passionate about the university and passionate about being in leadership roles.
“The third thing, similar to passion but I separate it because I think it’s the most important, you need love for what you’re serving,” Schneider said. “Peyton and I both love this university. We love the people here, we love what it has done to us, we love what it does to the students, and now we just want to give back and improve that so it can continue impacting the lives of students, community, and faculty down the road.”
More information about Peyton Loffer and Jack Schneider’s campaign can be found on their Instagram @loffer.schneider.for.asui.
Georgia Swanson can be reached at [email protected]