Royce Johnson, junior sociology major, running for senator of College of Arts & Sciences

What is your platform?

“Basically, there’s three things that I’m focusing on: the meal plan, internships, and student voice.

Meal Plan, I would like to increase the amount of nutritious and healthy options for us. We’re here for such a long period of time, during these years the food that we take in is going to take a toll on our bodies. But, most importantly get some variety of food, kind of switching it up, bringing us some more choice in that aspect.

For internships, I would like to work with the Dean of Students and program managers of our various majors that we offer here at Kent State and partner with outside companies, to create a funnel for Kent State students for after they graduate into internships that will help prepare them for the real world once they leave here and also give them a step ahead.

Another thing is student voice. So, in the form of a town hall setting, I really wanna know ‘Hey, what do you like about Kent State? What do you want to change? What do you want to see for your college experience?’ And then what can we do, the best that we can, to make that come true and make that reality happen. So, just to enforce that students have power, we can create change and just be there to be our students’ voice.”

Why should people vote for you?

“I think people should vote for me because I have the ability, the background, and the commitment.

Ability, I am a leader. I can speak up. I have the commitment as far as I am passionate about this. I care about our experience here, I care about our students. Me being a student myself, I understand that these four years are important and let’s make the best of it. So, what can we do to make Kent State the best university that it can be? Also, I have the background. I have been a delegate for my fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha Inc., I am also involved in several eboards [and] several different organizations here on campus. It’s just something that I care about and that I am really willing to go ahead and try and do the best that we can do to voice our student opinions and try to create change.”

What changes are you looking to enact?

“I think that goes along with my platform. Those are the three main things that I am working with, so we’re looking at meal plans, internships, and then student voice. But the main thing that I really want to look forward to is giving students an opportunity to voice how they feel, voice what they like about Kent State, voice what they want to see changed. And then how do we work towards that to allow students to feel like they’re being heard, they’re creating their own experience, and then just enjoying themselves here at Kent. That’s what I look forward to, is being there and connecting with our students.”