Lauren Buchanan
Broadcast journalism major, Sophomore

What do you hope to accomplish while in office?

“I want to stand strong with senators, directors and any student leaders to enhance their interpersonal skills with whomever they talk to.  The way each member of USG carries themselves is vital. The way one person acts in or out of our office can make or break USG as a whole.”

What specific responsibilities will you have?

“I would obviously be a key player in creating an open relationship between USG and the student body.  Being a broadcast journalism major gives me an edge because I have grown to embrace social media, multimedia and knowing how to write press releases.”

Why did you decide to run for this position?

“I decided to run for this position because I currently serve as the Senator of the Residence Halls and getting involved in USG has been that turning point in knowing that I belong at KSU.  In my senator role, the act that I enjoyed most and am insanely proud of is collaborating with other student leaders to pave a road to gender neutral housing.  That project has taken and is continuing to take a lot of communication with several students and faculty.  Long story short: I love creatively finding ways to efficiently get the word out.”

What previous experience do you have with student leadership?

“Besides currently serving as the Senator of the Residence Halls, I am also a resident assistant in Olson Hall, the (learning) community for communication majors.”

Why do you think you will be the best candidate for this position?

“I think I am the best candidate for this position because I have mass communication experience with TV2, and I have interpersonal communication experience as an RA.  Both types of communication are vital to this role.”

Now that the College Democrats and Republicans and PRIDE! are not endorsing candidates, what do you plan to do for endorsements?

“As far as endorsements go, I have been talking to various campus organizations about what USG is, how they in particular can benefit from what USG does, and how important USG is to me.  The key to getting endorsements from organizations or individuals is to just keep a good heart.”

Tia Loop
Fashion Merchandising major, Senior

Why did you choose that position?

“I am a senator this year and, just going through the whole process this year, I realized that’s a position I think I’d really excel at. I think I can really bring a lot to it.”

What specific responsibilities will you have?

“I’ll run all of our social media and do anything promotional for USG. What I would really like to see is teaming up with the senators to showcase their colleges and what they’re doing. Playing as a PR person for USG and for everything that we do and help get all of that across to the student body.”

What do you hope to accomplish while in office?

“What I would really like to see is USG coming together with the university to be more of a cohesive team as far as working with the students. We talk a lot about how everyone has to have a brand, and we all have these different ideas of what we’re doing with the different colleges and different organizations, but, at the end of the day, we’re all Kent State students. I think we need to focus on that a little bit more. We all go to the same school, so I want it be a little more across the board. We’re Kent State, not each of our individual things.”

Why do you think you are the best for the position?

“I would say my experiences with advertising and doing some promotional stuff within my senator position and my general interest in campus and Kent State and the student body. I feel like I can really connect with people on a different level and show them things they maybe didn’t know about Kent or didn’t fully understand and what’s available to them.  I like getting to know people and help get them involved in campus.”

What previous experience do you have with student leadership?

“I was on the panel for a council last year—we see over all the sororities. I was actually VP of communications on that, so I feel like that’s given me a lot of experience to take on this role, too. I’m the senator for the College of Arts, and I’ve had quite a few leadership positions within my own sorority. I’m in a couple clubs on campus: advertising club and fashion student organization.”

Now that College Democrats and Republicans and PRIDE! are not endorsing candidates, what will you do for endorsement?

“I’ve just been trying to get my name out on campus, doing some fliers and promotional stuff with Facebook and everything like that. Really, I just want to focus on the general student population and getting my name out there as a way to support them—not so much have them support me, but show them I’m willing to be their voice on USG.”