A university education means we belong to a community. We learn with each other, but also from each other. From our many perspectives and experiences, we challenge ourselves to be better students and better people. This is why we’re among the ‘Leaders and Best.’ This process of education produces leadership in a multitude of ways.
As tuition rises, students are paying more and more to a student government that gives back less and less. We aim to change that. We are forUM, a new party and a new idea: From our different pasts we come together as one voice for the future so we can make profound, long-lasting improvements to our campus community.
We’re led by students who come from a wide range of academic and extracurricular interests, a diverse set of backgrounds and a vast array of skills and beliefs. We hold these qualities to be assets — tools tested by the fires of our passions — forged in the belief that we might allay what divides us into an alloy of what unites us.
ForUM is running LSA junior Chris Osborn for president and LSA junior Hayley Sakwa for vice president of the University’s Central Student Government. We chose them because they represent the best of the University and the best of our ideals.
Osborn currently serves as CSG treasurer and has a financial prowess incomparable to any other student on campus. This is critically important in understanding the intricacies of an organization like CSG, where he has successfully managed a $700,000 budget and overseen 22 commissions. He’s a proven leader who deeply cares about this institution and will do right by students as he has done time and time again.
Sakwa volunteers her time in a variety of roles, including at University of Michigan Hillel and in the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. In 2011, she founded the Jewish Detroit Initiative, engaging University students with city residents through social action, education and fun. She’s committed to fostering a culturally inclusive university.
Now, we don’t pretend to have all the answers. But the ones we do have, we think, are the best. These are the planks of our platform:
Equity: We would like to see a student representative on the Board of Regents. Many other university boards have student representation, and we believe it’s time our university did too. Our 40,000-plus student population deserves one seat at the table.
Accessibility: We’ll advocate for an increase in healthful food options on campus — especially the year-round availability of fresh produce. We think it’d be a great idea to make the MFarmers Market a permanent institution, and perhaps open a café dedicated to fresh, local ingredients.
Synergy: Wait times and paperwork at University Health Service are a nightmare. Let’s simplify things by putting critical information — lists of medications and allergies, blood types and health insurance — onto our Mcards, so we can swipe in instead. The University figured out how to use an Mcard at TCF ATMs; surely this isn’t beyond our reach.
Efficiency: We propose a common application for student organization funding, taking the current 15 or so down to one. This will reduce paperwork, increase transparency and smooth students’ frustrations greatly.
Diversity: Finally, we must not forget that these are just our ideas. We’d like to hear yours. The strength of our university has always been measured as much in the diverse perspective students bring as it has in the results they come up with. Following this model, we’d like to use CSG as a medium to foster collaboration between diverse student groups on campus.
If you think we’d be a good fit for you, and you for us, come to our mass meeting next Tuesday, Feb. 19 in 3330 Mason Hall at 6 p.m. We’re individuals whose record of leadership is second only to our conviction that a just and more equitable university requires new leaders and new ideas. We believe that the change we seek is greater than the sum of our own differences — that this idea binds us all to this new forUM for student government.
Fortune favors the bold. Join us.
Eaghan Davis is an LSA junior. Taylor-Ryan Nedd is an LSA sophomore.