Today and tomorrow, students will once again have the chance to cast their votes in student government elections, deciding who will represent them in the year to come. These elections play an important role in students’ lives and have the potential to shape campus and affect the student experience. It is incredibly important for students to cast informed votes to choose candidates that will work diligently as advocates for students’ ideals.
As the executive candidates for the Michigan Action Party, we commit ourselves to working for students and being active voices for change. The four of us have dedicated our college careers to improving the University and are committed to working tirelessly to improve your experience on campus.
There is a lot of misinformation as to what exactly MAP represents. We are not politically affiliated. Rather we are focused on improving the campus experience for students in as many ways and through as many venues as possible. This semester, we are running a full slate of nine LSA Student Government representatives and 13 Michigan Student Assembly representatives. As party leadership, we can draw upon our many years of experience to assert that the representative candidates running this year have campus experiences that are diverse enough to accurately represent the student body. They also have the passion to fight tirelessly for improvements throughout the coming year. We do not blindly follow a party ideology, but rather we dedicate ourselves to achieving tangible results and creating positive change for students on this campus.
In the past, MAP representatives have planned campus events including homecoming, Taste of Michigan and Gayz Craze. Our members have also played a large role in student government’s recent success, including the effort to find a reasonable commencement venue, creating the Peace and Social Justice minor, planning for next fall’s Energy Futures theme semester and working to change the academic calendar. MAP members are serving on several administrative committees, including the LSA Curriculum Committee, the Michigan Union Board of Representatives and the Student Relations Advisory Committee. Through our work on these committees, we have not only succeeded in providing a strong student voice but also building strong relationships with administrators that will allow us to continue effectively representing students.
Although the general theme for our executive campaign is increasing student participation in all University decisions, we are dedicated to achieving a platform of specific ideas and project goals. On MSA, we plan to work to expand health insurance coverage for students, organize buses for away-game sporting events, increase LGBT outreach and secure off-campus lighting. On LSA-SG, we plan to work to improve orientation advising, create a more inviting government climate, improve class descriptions in the LSA Course Guide and raise awareness about LSA-SG’s functions on the administrative level. This list includes just a few of the many ideas that we will work hard to achieve in this next year.
We have the experience, dedication and passion that are essential to creating positive change on this campus. We hope that you feel comfortable giving us your vote and trust us to represent you for the upcoming year.
John Monaghan is the MAP vice presidential candidate for LSA-SG. Sabrina Shingwani is the MAP presidential candidate for MSA. Arvind Sohoni is the MAP vice presidential candidate for MSA. Leslie Zaikis is the MAP presidential candidate for LSA-SG.