Minnesota continues to let us know that winter is not over and we continue to grumble about the weather, disappointed but not surprised. While we wait for spring to blossom, Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress (HUSC) Spring Elections are well underway. This year students are faced with the wonderful challenge of deciding between three capable and driven presidential teams.

Liam & Ikram

Sophomore HUSC Secretary Liam Temple is running for president with Students Organization Committee Chair and junior Ikram Mohamud as his vice president. The main aspects of their platform include strengthening connections and increasing transparency.

“We understand the disconnect that exits between the reps and the exec board and the exec board and the rest of [the organizations and students],” said Mohamud. “One of our [goals] is to better connect those intricate parts.”

One of the ways Temple and Mohamud plan to do this is by having volunteer hours, during which HUSC executive members and representatives attend organizations’ meetings and assist them as needed, for example setting up for events.

As for transparency, Temple and Mohamud strive to make students more aware of the resources available to them through HUSC.

“There are so many resources that HUSC can provide that people just don’t know about,” Mohamud said. “I think though we try our best there needs to be another layer taken off. We need to be more transparent.”

One of these resources is money, and Temple believes it should be given better value.

“What has stuck to me that I want to change is making our student fee work for the students. . . I think a lot of people don’t realize this but we pay every year a student fee that goes to the money that HUSC is able to give out,” Temple said. “It seems like the funds are there, the student fee is charged and then a lot of money just doesn’t get spent [for various reasons]. . . We shouldn’t be wasting people’s money and that’s a priority for me.”

Temple is running because HUSC is one of the most important things that he does and will do. Mohamud because she wants to make connections and have a hand in making the Hamline experience better. Both want to help the Hamline community.

If elected to these positions the candidates hope to gain more leadership experience, make connections, inform people about HUSC and gain the interest and ideas of students in HUSC.

Emily & Ray: Our Campus. Your Way.

Diversity Initiative Steering Committee Undergraduate Chair holder, junior Emily Lincoln is running for HUSC president with HUSC sophomore class representative Ray Doss as her vice president. They are running on the basis of diversity, accessibility and food justice.

They believe the main solution to these issues is creating more visibility for HUSC on campus.

“Helping raise awareness of what HUSC is, how it operates, who we are, who the representatives are and how to access them is really important,” said Doss.

“Our Campus. Your way.” is the slogan for their campaign.

“We really want to emphasize listening to the students, [and] working on their behalf,” Lincoln added.

The candidates decided to run based on encouragement from a friend and their friendship.

“[A friend] planted a little seed in our heads and then we sat down and started talking to each other,” said Lincoln. “Over the course of that time we realized that we agreed on a lot of the different issues. . . We [think] we have the qualities to improve them.”

These qualities include active listening and engaging in dialect with others and their experiences as student leaders, including HUSC positions and being New Student Mentors (NSM). Doss also teaches a class at Hamline elementary and Lincoln is a Peace Corp outreach intern.

If elected they expect to face challenges and are prepared to constantly fight to accomplish their agenda.

“I think our challenge comes in staying true to our platform. . .we’ve put together these campaign promises, [and during a meeting with Sara and Paige] they warned us,” said Doss. “. . While they said [our campaign promises] were all possible. . . there’s stuff you realize you just can’t get done and we don’t want to surrender.”

They hope to expand their own involvement in HUSC, get the entire campus involved and unify the student body on issues.

Raie & Oubeida “What Can WE Do for US?”

Hamline African Student Association (HASA) event coordinator and sophomore, Raie Gessesse is running for HUSC president with HUSC sophomore class representative, Oubeida Our0-Akondo as her vice president.

Their platform is forged on the aspects of community and alliance.

“ [We want to] create opportunities to interact and engage with [not solely the Hamline campus but also] with the communities that house us- hand in hand, Midway, McVay,” said Gessesse.

Ouro-Akondo supported her president with a quote from former Minnesota U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone.

“Benefiting the community in which we live will help our community because once again, we all do good, when we all do good.”

The candidates decided to run because they saw an opportunity to enforce the core values of Hamline (service, leadership, scholarship, diversity and community), increase visibility and ensure equity for all students.

“We want to foster a community in which all students are able to bring their holistic selves to campus and feel valued and recognized,” said Gessesse. “We also intend on expanding the collaboration and unity of student organizations on campus. . . [and strengthening] the values Hamline is founded on.”

One of the challenges they expect to face is communication. Ouro-Akondo expanded on why it is crucial.

“The flow of information is important because that is how people are empowered,” she said. “We plan to improve this through a more effective HUSC newsletter, more face to face conversations and being very intentional with how we communicate.”

Gessesse who was appointed by Governor Dayton to serve on his young women’s initiative cabinet in Fall of 2016 made sure to make a point about the challenge of balance.

“I think one of our biggest challenges will be maintaining personal relationships while making HUSC a priority.”

If elected they hope to improve the Hamline community as well as themselves and use their personal experiences with inclusion and alliance to do so.

Sara & Paige: It ain’t over yet.

As we are in the middle of HUSC spring elections, President Sara Antony and Vice President Paige Natzke are in the middle of their term, and it has been a great run so far.

“It’s not over yet, we’re half-way done but so far it’s been going really well, we fulfilled most of our campaign promises and everything else we’re [working towards],” said Natzke. Their accomplishments include work involving DACA, Start By Believing and getting students of different walks of life involved.

“[One of our accomplishments is] getting more students involved from different backgrounds,” said Natzke, “and getting students more involved in faculty, staff and administrative committees, and both of those we pass with flying colors.”

Antony and Natzke view their executive board as one of their biggest accomplishments.

“I’m very proud of our executive board, that was the first thing we had to do and I’m just very proud of the people that we’ve hired and the things that they’ve done,” said Natzke, “and also the representatives who’ve been elected, giving them the resources they need has been the most rewarding.”

The year also saw more attention to issues that have not been concentrated on.

“It’s been a pretty calm year as far as things HUSC has had to make statements on,” said Antony. “We’ve gotten to focus a lot of energy on things that haven’t been dealt with for a while like right now we’re working on accessibility.”

As they continue fulfilling their agenda and their successful term, they have some advice for the future candidates that will take over.

“Your job will be easier if you hire an exec board that you can trust, rely on, engage and excited,” was one of Antony’s biggest piece of advice. “You’re the student voice, you serve undergraduate students of Hamline first and foremost. Period. . . It’s not about what you want, it’s about what Hamline students want.”