Comptroller: Jake Stone
The Eagle found Jake Stone extremely open and willing to engage with us, even going so far as to ask us questions about what we would like to see from him as comptroller. Additionally, he seems well-versed in campus issues, incredibly passionate about the work of the comptroller and able to bring the most concrete ideas about what he will do to improve students’ experiences at AU. Stone is clearly a great listener. However, we hope that he will understand when he has to say no and will not burn out early in his term by attempting to please everyone. Regardless, he would provide a much-needed fresh face in SG, with fresh ideas to match.
Secretary: Martin Valderruten
Although he is running unopposed, The Eagle found Martin Valderruten capable and genuine in his approach to the job of secretary. Although Valderruten clearly has the dedication and energy for the job, we do feel that he will have his work cut out for him. He has many big ideas that may be hard to implement, and he will have to avoid letting those lofty goals get in the way of day-to-day responsibilities. We also hope Valderruten will provide The Eagle with a better relationship and more open communication with the Student Union Board and Kennedy Political Union in the future.
Vice President: Logan Billman
This endorsement was a tough decision for us. We feel that both candidates bring great things to the table, but ultimately Logan Billman was better prepared and had more organized, attainable ideas than his opponent Jack Fitzpatrick. If Billman is elected as vice president, we hope he will be able to incorporate Fitzpatrick’s enthusiasm for the job into his work. We loved Billman’s ideas on planning through advocacy, and we felt that he had great ideas on how to bring a more diverse array of speakers to campus.
President: Sasha Gilthorpe
When making our deliberations on who to endorse as president, we tried to focus only on each candidate’s platforms, their in-person pitches to us and the verifiable facts that we had reported prior to their presentations Saturday evening. Taking all of these things into consideration, we feel that Sasha Gilthorpe is the best candidate for AU. Gilthorpe was composed and energetic in our meeting. She didn’t use buzzwords or dance around questions, and she is clearly running because she wants to be an advocate for students, not for her own personal gain. We felt that Gilthorpe showed great initiative by compiling her yet-unpublished report on student workers’ conditions, and she had the most pragmatic, logistically sound steps to implementing each of her goals. If elected, we hope she will be able to incorporate some of her opponents’ best ideas, such as Martin Slezak’s roundtables with club leaders and Bryan Paz’s excused absences for mental health issues, into her tenure as president.
Student Space Referendum
We endorse the Mary Graydon Center third floor student space referendum. This referendum could be a very significant statement from the students to the University that a space like this would be beneficial to us. Currently, we have no real student hangout space other than eating areas, and it would also give many of AU’s clubs an actual location for meetings and storage. We hope that whoever wins the elected SG positions this year will make the student space a major part of their advocacy during their tenure.
