The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

SMUs Tyreek Smith dunks as the Mustangs run up the scoreboard against Memphis in Moody Coliseum.
SMU finds new head coach for men’s basketball
Brian Richardson, Contributor • March 28, 2024
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Meet your student body officer candidates

Meet your student body officer candidates

In the past, The Daily Campus has endorsed what we thought were the best student body officer candidates. This year, we decided to take a step away from tradition. Instead of endorsements, The Daily Campus will provide a simple fact box, covering information about each of the candidates.

After interviewing all candidates in contested elections (student body president and secretary), we have compiled the main points of each of their platforms. Each interview lasted around 15 minutes. The points laid out below are a condensed summary of these interviews. We have highlighted the most important ideas that we believe the student body would be most interested in.

Over email, candidates in uncontested elections (student body vice president and graduate affairs officer) answered the same questions. Because these candidates will hold the positions they are running for, we also included this information in the fact box.

Candidates are listed alphabetically by last name. The Daily Campus does not support or endorse any one candidate over another.

Our goal in providing this information is to inform the student body on each of the candidates, not just promoting a handful. Polling opens April 1 at smu.edu/elections.

PRESIDENT

Carlton Adams ([email protected], carl4pres.com)

CarltonAdams.jpg
Courtesy of Carlton Adams

Hometown: Dallas, Texas

Degree: economics

Year: junior

Involvement: served in Senate for three years, Phi Delta Theta member, Hunt scholar, a founder of United Students Association

Goals

Calendar: “There isn’t anything close to an all-university calendar on-campus. In my mind, you’ll be able to filter by organization, holidays, school or basically any way you want. This is a resource I think every student can use.”

Safety: “I’d like to have designated Giddy Up stops in different sections of campus where drivers will pull up to like a bus stop. I’d also like to maintain lighting on-campus. I want students to know who to reach out to if they see a light out on campus or in different buildings across campus. There needs to be a crosswalk from the commuter lot to campus as well.”

Value Statement: “There should be more visibility of SMU’s value statement on campus. I’d like to implement some kind of signing day for first-years, making it a big deal to sign the statement for the first time.”

Chase Harker ([email protected], facebook.com/voteharker)

ChaseHarker.jpg
Courtesy of Chase Harker

Hometown: Prosper, Texas

Degree: management science

Year: junior

Involvement: served on Senate for three years as general member, Lyle senator, chair of student concerns committee, and chief of staff

Goals

SMU and Dallas: “I want to bring SMU back into the fullness of Dallas. I want to get a working relationship with the mayor of Dallas. I want to be in The Dallas Morning News and Channel 8 News. I want to take the presidency to that level. We’re Dallas’ school. Let’s bring SMU back to Dallas.”

Leadership: “I want to be the boldest president we’ve ever had. The minute after the election, if I win, I will be sending emails to leaders in Dallas and SMU. If something cool is happening in Dallas, SMU wants its own version. For example, the Dallas Entrepreneur Center. It was started by an SMU professor, but there is no connection with that Center and SMU. Cox kind of owns entrepreneurship at SMU. There’s so many entrepreneurial minded students here, but there’s no specific program at SMU. I want to help break down the wall between SMU and Dallas..”

Anna Norkett ([email protected], annaforpresident.wordpress.com)

Anna Norkett Photo.jpg
Courtesy of Anna Norkett

Hometown: Flower Mound, Texas

Degree: economics, public policy

Year: junior

Involvement: served on Senate for three years, Mustang Heroes president, College Bound project leader, Alternative Breaks member

Goals

Efficiency: “In my experience with Senate, I see that some things are broken and need to be fixed. I want to unite Senate under one vision. I want to hold the senators accountable for actually doing things in Senate. Every senator should be working on at least one or two legislations a semester.”

Office hours: “I want to have an online reservation system where you can go and sign up for an appointment with your senator and the student body officers. I want students to be able to put a face to who Senate is.”

Community: “I want to be the bridge between different organizations on campus. I want to have an all-University service day where different groups from across campus come together to work and learn more about each other. Putting all student organizations in the same space will help break down some of those barriers.”

JB Stockslager ([email protected], jbprez4me.squarspace.com)

JB.jpg
Courtesy of JB Stockslager

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona

Degree: finance

Year: junior

Involvement: served on Senate for one year, Lamdba Chi Alpha president, Alpha Kappa Psi professional development chair

Goals

Boulevarding: “This is one of the most uniting experiences on campus, but a lot of the smaller organizations can’t take part because of their smaller budgets in comparison to fraternities and sororities. But that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have a place. I want to start a program that allows these organizations to get out on the Boulevard. It’s very feasible for us to do it.”

Spirit: “I have worked with SMU Athletics for a couple years now. I was basically the student representative involved in creating the MOB program. We want to get section leaders to explain cheers and chants to the MOB and lead the section. This will get all of the students involved, sober or not. For games, a lot of the time the alumni seats are empty. There should be a way for alumni to, if they know they can’t make it to a particular game, to give their tickets back to the students.”

VICE PRESIDENT

Connor Volz ([email protected], facebook.com/connor.volz)

Volz.jpg
Courtesy of Connor Volz

Hometown: Rowlett, Texas

Degree: music and finance

Year: junior

Involvement: Served on Senate for three years, saxophonist, bass singer, Alpha Kappa Psi member, SMU intramural soccer team captain

Goals

Funding: “I am a seasoned member of the Senate Finance Committee. The funding of organizations and their unique programs is so vital, yet many organizations – both big and small – find confusion in the intricate filings and requesting processes. I wish to reform not only the Finance committee’s standards and procedures, but also to better the liaison process between senators and their respective organizations they directly serve.”

Boulevarding: “I would like to look more closely into the new Boulevarding regulations. I know other Student Body officers will surely want to collaborate and tackle this issue quickly, in manner that is both fun for all students, as well as preventing any behaviors that do not reflect what a true Mustang acts like.”

SECRETARY

Whitney Babin ([email protected], heyevent.com/event/1598729090373150/whitney-babin-for-smu-secretary)

Whitney Babin headshot.jpg
Courtesy of Whitney Babin

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Degree: mechanical engineering

Year: sophomore

Involvement: served on Senate for two years, Sigma Phi Lambda co-founder and president, Mustang11 director

Goals

Inclement Weather: “The first thing I want to get done is revising the SMU inclement weather policy. It severely needs some revision. It’s absolutely ridiculous that we don’t know if classes are canceled until 6 a.m. Most of the time, all the school districts around us have announced cancellations before or at midnight. I think it’s a fair time and we have plenty of forecasts to go on by then.”

Spirit: “Chad Morris truly wants to get more students involved and I really want to be that liason between the football program and the students. I believe that with Morris, the entire feel of football season will change dramatically. I want to get more students excited about football.”

James Jang ([email protected], facebook.com/VoteJamesJangPreMajor)

JAMESJANG.jpg
Courtesy of James Jang

Hometown: Louisville, Texas

Degree: management science

Year: sophomore

Involvement: served on Senate for two years, co-founder of non-profit FACT, Big iDeas winner, SMU Ambassador

Goals:

Updates: “There’s a lot of times where Student Senate passes legislation and campus has no idea what we’re doing. I think that they should know how that’s affecting them. A monthly email which summarizes what Senate is doing would help that communication barrier. Also, when something big happens, like the UC, I would like to send out a campus-wide email about it right away.”

Funding: “It really takes a week longer than it should for organizations to get funding from Senate. I would like to have organizations pitch their ideas directly to Senate and during that same meeting, Senate will vote on whether or not to give that funding.”

GRADUATE AFFAIRS OFFICER

Sarah-Michelle Stearns ([email protected])

Stearns.jpg
Courtesy of Sarah-Michelle Stearns

Hometown: Dallas, Texas

Degree: law degree, masters in economics

Year: graduate

Involvement: involved in several organizations, common goal of all is to provide network and learning opportunities to students

Goals:

Representation: “My main goal is to advocate on behalf of graduate students so that their needs are met.”

Community: “I would like to be a part of the process in finding ways to build a greater sense of community at SMU. I am excited to work with students on the main campus to achieve the common goal of making SMU an even better place.”

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