College of Engineering Senator Sam Brohaugh, a third-year studying civil engineering, and College of Humanities and Social Sciences Senator Erinn Foote, a second-year studying political science and philosophy of law, are running for student body president and vice president. The ticket is running on a platform of improving outreach between Student Government and students, providing fair opportunities to all students and addressing concerns of underrepresented groups on campus like graduate students.
Housing was a focal point in Brohaugh and Foote’s platform. Both want to reform the housing application system to give priority to financially disadvantaged students, alongside helping upperclassmen receive on-campus housing.
“It’s so hard for upperclassmen to get on-campus housing,” Brohaugh said. “We’re really trying to gear up some housing policies to take care of those upperclassmen who may not be able to get on-campus housing, and then just more accessibility on campus. For example, Bragaw Hall has no elevators, so for a student who may break their leg or have something else happen to them while they’re here on campus, they have got to climb the stairs every time.”
Both also call for re-evaluating Title IX, the process the university takes for students who have experienced sexual assault and harassment, due to issues in its system. Alongside re-evaluating Title IX, both plan to implement a task force in collaboration with OIED, Student Conduct, the Title IX office and the Women’s Center. Brohaugh and Foote hope to improve sexual assault prevention trainings for incoming students and provide more resources to students who go through the Title IX process.
Graduate student policies and rights will also be tackled by Brohaugh and Foote. Both expressed a desire to investigate graduate student fees, and to see which fee-funded campus services are used by graduate students.
Brohaugh and Foote also discussed working with the Graduate Student Association (GSA) to create a graduate student bill of rights, where issues such as maximum number of working hours would be settled. They also plan on working with the GSA to create a graduate student parking pass to further aid graduate students.
Outreach and interactivity with the student body was another focus. Their platform plans to bring back events such as NC State’s Diversity Education Week, alongside increased interaction with the Wellness and Recreation department to increase both awareness and recreational events. They also discussed increasing support of various campus community center activities such as the African American Cultural Center, the GLBT Center, and NC State’s Women’s Center.
“You can’t just not talk about diversity,” Foote said. “We’re not a diverse campus. We really aren’t. So we want to bring it back so we can have these tough conversations, but at the same time, we also want to partner with different community centers and campus offices so that it’s not just the sole burden of multicultural organizations.”
Brohaugh and Foote highlighted practicality, with both stressing how important it is to work together with both the student body and faculty to pass policies. Both were hopeful that with their experience and rigor, their policies will be enacted.
“At the end of the day, even though we’re advocates for university administrators, we need to be here looking after every student,” Brohaugh said. “I think Erinn and I are both capable listeners and advocates, and it’s a lot deeper than the positions we’ve held.”
Both candidates have been involved in Student Government for the past two years. Foote discussed her past experiences in Student Government, this year serving as Senate secretary, public affairs chair and a CHASS senator. Brohaugh has served on both the finance and appropriations committee.
“For Sam and I, our records speak for themselves,” Foote said. “We’ve been doing [Student Senate] for about two years, and for both of our two years, we haven’t been doing the bare minimum. We took leadership positions, worked on initiatives, and gave up our time. We were in a meeting during the Duke-NC State basketball game, and when they won, we just had to keep going, you know? And it’s because we care.”
Students will be able to vote all day on Monday, March 2 and Tuesday, March 3 through the GetInvolved website.
