Student Government Speech Night
Reported by Kathryn McClintock
Photography by Daniel Sandvik, from unsplash.com
Newberg, Ore. - The polls for next year’s student government closed March 14. Mark Giese and Meredith Green were voted student body president and vice president. Danielle Korthuis is next year’s vice president of Finance. The class representatives include senior Rory Brown, juniors Ana Imes, Olivia Grijalva, and Anastasia Kilian, and sophomores Moriah Reed and Trevor Wilber.
Before the voting started, the candidates for next year’s student government gathered in Bauman Auditorium to give speeches on March 11. The theme of the night centered mostly on what students wanted to change at George Fox University (GFU), which led to a list of grievances aimed at GFU’s safety, inclusivity, and administration.
Candidates for sophomore student representative, Moriah Reed and Trevor Wilbur, both saw GFU as a place in need of greater diversity and change. Reed’s message centered on the fact that many people on campus are suffering. She talked about her past experiences as a leader on campus, listening to the hidden grievances of students who GFU left behind.
Wilbur focused on the lack of student athletes in student leadership, and cited his desire to focus on the impact of clubs and extra-curriculars in the lives of students. He also described a plan to help students with chapel credit, suggesting that an app already in use at sporting events could make it easier for students to log time at local churches.
Candidates for junior class representative, Olivia Grijalba with Anastasia Kilian and Ana Imes, had similar messages as well. Grijalba and Kilian, both studying abroad next year, would each take a semester as the representative. They cited their work with many of the committees on campus, including the Title IX, menstrual hygiene, and alcohol committees. They outlined their specific goals, which were to foster diversity and acceptance. In that vein, they promised to support people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Imes focused on more general topics, love and safety. She spoke about her experience with community on campus and how powerful that love has been. She described the way a lack of safety can limit community, as people who feel unsafe on campus may not open up to community. She stated her willingness to listen to the student body and convey their wishes to the administration.
Senior class representative candidate Rory Brown and Danielle Korthuis for vice president of Finance gave speeches too. Brown described herself as a middleman between the students and student government, and Danielle mentioned her background as a summer employee in the finance office as a qualifying factor.
There were two tickets for president and vice president: Mark Giese and Meredith Green, and Tyndal Longstroth and Maya Burgess.
Giese mentioned his past advocating for his sister with down syndrome and listening to his mother, and talked about using these experiences as president to advocate for students and listen to their voices. He mentioned wanting to institute more frequent newsletters for more concise and consistent communication between the student body and student government.
Green, VP running with Giese, again spoke about the voice of the students. Her goals were to make people comfortable speaking who might not otherwise, and ensure that their needs are also adequately communicated. She mentioned that she had experience with college administrators in the past, and knew how to speak with them.
Longstroth and Burgess spoke together, with Longstroth running for president and Burgess running for vice president. A good portion of their speech focused on how they had come to run together. They talked about making campus safe both physically and ideologically. They said that safe spaces would give them the ability to work for justice and love for everyone on campus.
They used the analogy of an hourglass: the student voices were at the top, the administration was the foundation at the bottom, and they aimed to be the funnel that delivered the student’s needs to the administration. They stated that while the administration is important, the university could not exist without the students.
At the end of this night of speeches, students asked questions. Notably, after all of the negative statements about what GFU lacked, one student asked everyone what they loved about GFU. Answers varied, but many reiterated that while GFU is a great place for many, it isn’t for all, and that no one would want to make GFU a better place if they didn’t first love it.