Senator, College of the Arts Candidate: Isabella “Zaz” Alvarino 

Q: What is your platform? 

A: “I’m running for the students. I want to bridge the gap between the students and faculty. I want to run on a platform around diversity, mental health, student safety, sexual assault awareness and accessibility. I want to be a good representative for the College of the Arts.”

Q: Why should people vote for you?

A: “I’ve been an advocate for students already. I’m a part of Oscar-Ritchie Scholars mentorship club. I’m in the Honors Leadership Academy and I’m looking to help everyone’s experience. I will set realistic goals and will share student’s thoughts with faculty. I am also the freshman intern for USG.”

Q: What changes are you looking to enact? 

A: “I want to see more studio hours for underclassmen. I want to start a sexual assault awareness campaign. I want to advocate for diversity and mental health within our college. I also want to advocate for more in-person classes.”

Senator, College of the Arts Candidate: Trevor Walton 

Q: What is your platform?

A: “Being a biracial, Native American and Caucasian, and being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it is important to me that we hear stories for all our communities. Which is why I’m running for senator of College of the Arts because I believe that artistry has no bounds to gender, sexuality, race, religion and every perspective should be heard. Every day I will strive to make sure a new perspective from all of our students and strive to make our community more inclusive and diverse. I believe in representation and giving back to what the arts have given me which is allowing every student to be unapologetically themselves and this is why so many of us chose Kent State. I will also be focusing heavily on mental health to make sure each and every student has access to the resources they need.”

Q: Why should people vote for you?

A: “Though I am only a freshman, I think my youth gives me more refreshing ideas and my academic and life experiences will also be able to bring a new perspective to create more reform within USG. Being a double major will help to bring even more perspectives and ideas to the College of the Arts. I also want to help build a community during these tough times. If someone knows me, it’s most likely from hearing how loud I am around campus or saying hi to and complimenting every stranger I see while walking around campus, or even from the 13 clubs I am currently in. I think this shows how hard-working and dedicated I am to the student experience and the changes I would like to see here at Kent State.”

Q: What changes are you looking to enact?

A: “I would like to work on advertising more of the mental health resources offered here at Kent State because I think that while our university offers many wonderful resources and services for students here, they’re not as heavily advertised as they should be. Additionally, specifically for the College of the Arts, gaining more studio hours for fashion design majors, more practice hours for theater and music students; especially with COVID-19 it can be hard to practice your art forms, and I am grateful we even still have those studio options open here on campus, but I think expanding those hours in order for students to strive more to get better in their academia will be great. Finally, I would like to bring more inclusivity to the theater programs by encouraging more plays and musicals that allow for the casting of many different types of students. Within the freshman musical theater class, 50 percent of the musical theater students are BIPOC students, but they couldn’t give me specific numbers for other classes, so I want to make sure we keep up that high standard for diversity moving forward.”

Senator, College of Architecture and Environmental Design Candidate: Rebecca Wasson

Q: What is your platform?

A: “My platform is centered around my peers, especially within my program and throughout the entire college. I’ve noticed that we’re very close, we’re in the same classes all the time together and we have similar grievances sometimes. I was introduced to this position by a friend of mine who encouraged me to run, and I was interested because I like the idea of being a voice for my peers and being able to talk within other colleges, as well to faculty in our college and be that professional voice that faculty can listen to and be like ‘oh, this is what the students are needing.’”

Q: Why should people vote for you?

A: “I think people should vote for me because I am easy to talk to, which makes it easy for me to be that connection point between students and faculty. I’m very good at being able to raise my voice and concerns, without being disrespectful, and I think some students are too nervous to bring up their issues with faculty, advisors or even their other peers. Overall, I think people should vote for me because I want to be there to help them.”

Q: What changes are you looking to enact?

A: “Since I just joined this race and campaign, I haven’t thought too deeply about the specific changes I want to enact here. One thing I am really passionate about is the Period Project here at Kent and providing sanitary products throughout all the buildings on campus because right now it’s only present in a select few buildings. It’s not just meant for women, so I believe these items should be free and accessible in all bathrooms across campus. I also want to do something to help the students in the creative colleges because, being an art student myself, I know how draining studio work can be on a student’s mental health. I want to be able to help alleviate that stress and anxiety for students all across campus and provide them with the resources they need.”

Senator, College of Business Administration Candidate: Julie Buonaiuto

Q: What is your platform? 

A: “Emphasizing and giving more recognition to creatives in the business industry because far too often it’s looked at as just desk jobs and soulless jobs. There is so much creativity in the industry that needs to be recognized and students that are doing creative things, especially in the entrepreneurship category. I want to bring more recognition and opportunities for those students.” 

Q: Why should people vote for you? 

A: “I am a candidate that is going to advocate for all different types of students; I’m a very versatile person myself. I have a lot of different identities that I can advocate for within myself, but I also see myself advocating for every different type of student. I want to make sure that everyone is seen and heard in our student government.” 

Q: What changes are you looking to enact? 

A: “I would like to see more inclusivity within the entire school. Personally, I think there’s a lot of changes that need to be made for LGBTQ+ students, POC students and I think they need to be seen and heard more in our student government. I would like to be a voice for those people and make sure that they are all being heard.”

Senator, College of Communication and Information Candidate: Jenna Gilbreath 

Q: What is your platform?

A: “If elected for the senator of the College of Communication and Information, I am committed to ensuring that my position will be representing all students of our college, as well as our campus. In our current climate in our world, I think it’s important to not hesitate when addressing necessary issues and topics and by doing so I want to create a space for all opinions and voices to be heard. I feel like oftentimes people listen to respond rather than actually understanding what people are saying, and I want to promote more of that active listening throughout our campus.”

Q: Why should people vote for you?

A: “I joke around, and I say ‘you should vote for your best advocate,’ but I don’t think anyone will ever be able to be someone’s ‘best advocate.’ There will always be a time to learn and grow and I will admit to my faults if I make one. I will be open to having those hard conversations with students in order to learn from their experiences and fix my mistakes if that ever presents itself. I can admit that I’m not the best, and I don’t know everything, but I’m willing to learn and actually listen to our students on campus.”

Q: What changes are you looking to enact?

A: “I want to create more open conversations throughout our university. Something I’ve also noticed is that a lot of times with different opportunities on campus when people of color aren’t represented, some are quick to say, ‘well that’s because they didn’t apply,’ but I want to dive deeper into that. I want to figure out why they didn’t apply and ask questions like, ‘Are they not feeling welcome on campus or within that opportunity?’, ‘Are there any restrictions holding them back from applying?’, ‘Do they not feel safe and worthy to be in these spaces?’ and I want to make sure that all opportunities are promoted equally to all students. Additionally, I just want to listen to students and see if there are any consistent issues within their classes to see if there’s any way we can shift that to make it better for the students. Mental health is important, and I want to make sure I’m doing the best I can to help these students since I know how hard it can be.”

Senator, College of Education, Health and Human Services Candidate: Riley Elersich 

Q: What is your platform?

A: “I am currently on the College of Education, Health and Human Services senatorial committee, so I feel like that gives firsthand knowledge of what actually happens. I would say I have an understanding of both challenges and opportunities that the College of EHHS has to offer and I am excited and prepared to utilize all that I’ve learned in order to achieve the goals we all have. I want to create an environment in which the student body is excited and eager to share their opinions and I want to ensure that all voices are heard. I am confident that we have a student body that is eager to empower change.”  

Q: Why should people vote for you?

A: “I am a person that is very goal-oriented and I give 110 percent in everything that I do. I lead by passion and I know our student body has that in them too and I want to highlight that. Overall, I want to do what’s best for our college and our students, not just what’s best for certain people or groups.”

Q: What changes are you looking to enact?

A: “If I’m elected, I will ensure that all is done in clear communication and in an organized fashion and incorporating ideas of the entire student body. I want to continue the internship program we had started in the senatorial committee, as well as expanding the senatorial committee itself into a broader horizon of different majors and class standings. I just want to make sure our college experience is the best it can be, especially during times like these.”

Senator, Honors College Candidate: Meghan Williamson 

Q: What is your platform? 

A: “I lived in the Honors College dorms my freshman year, and I am a tour guide right now, and I would scream to the skies for people to live there and take the opportunity to make great connections. But in the past couple of years, I’ve heard that they don’t really feel a great sense of community there. I would like to build a better sense of community there and increase programming. That would work both in academics and outside of academics.” 

Q: Why should people vote for you? 

A: “I am very passionate about the Honors College. It’s my favorite part of Kent. I think I have the experience and leadership opportunities. I am the academic chairwoman for Phi Mu and with that comes having to take a holistic approach to academics and understanding that not everyone learns the same way. I would also say that I am a team player and I would work with other USG members to make these goals that I have become a reality.” 

Q: What changes are you looking to enact? 

A: “Overall, to increase the wellbeing of the Honors College. Honors students have real potential to be a real shining light on campus and once they leave Kent, but I don’t want them to go through it alone, and I want to be here for them on their academic journey. I would love to get a full-time mental health counselor for the Honors College, but I don’t just want to advocate for mental health resources for our college. I want to get more mental health resources across campus and get other members of USG to work towards bettering the resources already available on campus. I would love to work with residential staff at the Honors College to come up with some activities as well as do outreach for those students not living in the Honors dorms that could be virtual or in-person. I would also want to implement group study nights and set up a mentorship program with older Honors students helping freshmen with things like getting acclimated to campus and finding internship opportunities.”

Senator, College of Public Health Candidate: Nazli Dum 

Q: What is your platform?

A: “My platform for the College of Public Health is to try and showcase it more since it is a pretty small college here at Kent State, but with everything going on it’s really important for people to understand what it is and why it’s important and to show people what the college has to offer. I also want to support international students with public health because there can be a huge disconnect when those students come here for college. Additionally, I want to showcase diversity within healthcare since a lot of public health is the administration of hospitals, testing services and things of that nature. There are a lot of faults within the healthcare system and being able to show how our generation will be able to change that and improve in the future.”

Q: Why should people vote for you?

A: “My main goal is to make everything more inclusive and educate people, especially right now during the pandemic which has everything to do with public health. I just really care about everybody and healthcare in general and what that means for our future.”

Q: What changes are you looking to enact?

A: “I really want to help educate students on what really goes on in public health and help them to understand why it’s so important. With that being said, I also want to promote more honesty within the healthcare system. For example, when people get a COVID-19 test and they lie to their doctor about who all they’ve been around in the last two weeks to make it seem like they’re being socially distant. This only makes it harder on healthcare professionals and can also harm more people in the process. Additionally, I want to really interact with international students and help them navigate their way through public health. Overall, healthcare has a history of being racist, such as catering towards white people when they’re injured or need help and disregarding people of color when they’re experiencing the same things, so I want to help educate these students now in order to help foster a better healthcare system in the future.”

Blake Westover covers politics. Contact him at [email protected].

Ashley Blood is a student life reporter. Contact her at [email protected].

Lindsey Vlasic covers entertainment and the arts. Contact her at [email protected].