Q&A: SGA presidential, vice presidential candidates Killian Richeson and Shane McGoff

Octavia Carson: What do you want to accomplish?

Killian Richeson: Basically, we want to make SGA relevant again. Although it has been moving toward that this semester and this year, I still feel like it is not exactly getting to where it could be specifically. I love the idea of what academic priorities is doing when they are working with getting online major signing and online audits, which is perfect. We want to continue that because it is not going to be something they are going to finish this year.

Also, just actually mobilizing the individuals within SGA, I feel like a lot of individuals, especially within the house, feel like they are more of SGA’s drones rather than actually being able to be apart of something that is bigger than themselves and use the groups that they represent to do good on campus. We want to get them mobilized and push them to actually create SGA into a better organization than what it currently is. I know that kind of hits more on the idea of having a bicameral system but again bicameral or unicameral, although it's supposed to have been dropped, it is still going to be a discussion that is going to be brought up in the future. Either way, Shane and I can work with both of these, but what we want to do is just get those students, focus on them and how they can actually contribute to SGA and how they can contribute to what they want SGA to be, rather than us making them work for us.

When you go within our platform, we also have holding the University accountable, making sure that they are putting these public records, for which we can see, online instead of having to do a Freedom of Information request on them, which is ridiculous for a public institution. We should be able to see this and hold our own university accountable.

Also, we want to try to strengthen the university’s commitment to existing academic departments rather than something that has yet to send something through and gets the top priority from the university. We don’t really think that is right. They should dump more into what students are currently here for and enrolled for rather than what could be possible later on.

OC: How would you handle a situation such as the FA crisis?

KR: Honestly, the way Vince (Cavataio, current SGA president) did it, I do commend him. Seeing, when I was treasurer, what he went through was very difficult. The way that it should be handled, although I know that it would have been popular for SGA to come out and support the faculty, is to play that line of what it was. Supporting either one would not have been appropriate or consistent of the goals of SGA in my opinion. If the students within the house of representatives and senate wanted to bring up an independent proposal to have SGA push through it, then that’s their power as being a part of the legislature.

However, what Vince did in the role of the executive is exactly what he should have done. Stating that the university needs to remember that the students are being affected by this, the faculty needs to remember that the students are being affected by this, that we are the ones holding them accountable, that they need to remember what’s happening to us rather than what is happening with them. I feel like they easily forget that, but the way Vince handled it would be much in the same way that I would handle a situation such as that. If students within the legislature want to bring it up, that’s fine with us. We need to clearly state that we the students don’t support either one, we support the student view.

OC: Since the unicameral proposal will not be on the ballot, what would you like the bicameral system to look next year?

KR: When I was senate leader, the senate ran under this document that was referred to as the rules of the senate, which was an operating procedure, expectation for senators, expectation for senate leaders, expectation for senate leadership and what the senior senators should do. I have never understood why the house can’t have something like that in itself. Why can’t the house also have this form of governing document on their own to hold the senior leadership within the house rather than just the house leader accountable? I think that moving forward, bringing this kind of organization to the house will be key in actually making it more relevant to a lot of the students. If the senates have it, I don’t see why the house shouldn’t. If you take that kind of a document and apply it to the 170-200 students who are now there consistently, I really think that will be a large jumping point form, making the bicameral system far more effective than what we have ever had and getting rid of the idea of making a unicameral system.

I think what we have is flawed, but flaws can be fixed, and it’s just about working with it and engaging students who are in the house. It's great seeing them so fired up with the idea that they could possibly be gone. Now we need to take that energy and channel it into something better and that is going to be one of the direct things moving forward. How can we now make you more effective? Taking their voices, taking the input from them, taking what we have done with the senate to fix a problem we had in the senate and moving forward.

SM: I would like to see a restructuring of the senate. I don’t agree with how they represent academic colleges. We have an Academic Senate that speaks for the various departments that we have on campus and that speaks for the various students that are affiliated with those departments. I had a roommate who is a legal studies major and he represented the college of fine arts. That is not a group that he can really relate to and he is not going to be involved with any of their RSOs. It's like if Michigan was represented in the United States senate with someone that is from the state of Ohio; it wouldn’t make that much since. I think something needs to be changed with how the senate is set up, whether it’s going about it alphabetically or whether you break up campus and just grid it.

KR: Even if these aren’t the options that are carried through, just getting that dialogue so we all finally get on the same page of how can we make this better. We don’t think that we need to cut anything, we just need to strengthen what we have.

OC: Shane, how do you think having no previous SGA experience can be effective?

SM: It gives me a fresh set of eyes. When you are in an organization, a lot of times it is hard to see what can be improved and what can be tweaked about it, because you have been in it for so long. I think Killian recognized that when he asked me to step in. I have been fairly effective in my work with (Residence) Life and RHA. I have seen how various organizations work and I have also seen various groups on campus come together and really accomplish something. That is what I want to do.

I want to focus on the internal structure of SGA and making sure that we are running efficiently. But I want to start making SGA something that reaches out to other groups and other organizations on campus. Partnering with RHA to do something, getting more involved on campus with leadership conferences or programming. Maybe pairing with RHA and working on D.R.E.A.M. with them, that is a huge leadership conference that gets a lot of great programs and a lot of great people. I think my outside expertise can really help me reach out to more students.

OC: Killian, you have a lot of experience with SGA, but this is a different role. What do you think will be your role as president?

KR: I have a unique perspective on this one since I have seen the last four presidents and their perspectives. My role in SGA will be not just serving as that link between SGA and the administration and faculty, but also as engaging SGA, which is the biggest thing, and as I have said earlier, Vince has done a great job at this.

Our goal is to be better than what Vince has been, because if we just try to match as good as he has been, we are going to be stagnant. Stagnation is not going to make us more relevant. What we want to do is match what he has done and then surpass it. It is going to be engaging the house and senators while still respecting the boundaries of the legislative and executive branch. It will be engaging my own executive board to work with going out to reach out to RSOs, talking with them, meeting with them, being visible at basketball games, wrestling matches and volleyball.

It is about being out there in the streets, talking to students, having more tables where you can just ask SGA anything, even if not a single student that day says anything, except at the very last minute one person talks, that is important. My entire job is going to be getting us out there, getting the information disseminated, being the leadership that people can rally behind and come to when they say, "My project is going far, can you help me?" Yes I can, here is the channels to fall through, and if you need help, I will through my name behind you. So that is going to be what my position will be; it is really engaging and relighting that spark in SGA.