With the election days closing in, the race for the 2021 Students’ Association president and vice president is in full swing. With two tickets presented as candidates, each ticket is working deliberately to differentiate themselves amongst the competition. 

Voting for the 2021 Students’ Association election will be taking place March 23 and 24 as students across campus vote in the new president, vice president, executive board and senators. Come voting days, students will be able to participate in voting at the polling station located at the Union Market Stage. 

The Students’ Association presidential and vice-presidential race will be represented by two tickets this year: Zebadiah Johnson and Sarah Cook, and Andrew Rasmussen and Rachel Schoon.  

Zebadiah Johnson & Sarah Cook 

Why are you running for president and vice president? 

Johnson-   presidential candidate

When I got to campus as a freshman, I was not intending to get super involved. South Dakota State University became my home. What inspired me to run is I believe leadership through service is the best way to lead. This place has given me all my best friends, all my best opportunities, all my best experiences and I want to repay that through service to the student body. 

Cook– vice presidential candidate

SDSU has always been my home, and I have grown up coming to games and alumni events. SDSU has always been a part of me. Coming to State, I wanted to get involved and find my people. Once I got involved in SA, I really found that and created a home for me. I want to continue that legacy going forward for students to come and make our campus a better place for the next generation of students. 

What qualifies you and how do you plan to differentiate yourselves from the other ticket? 

Johnson 

On my end, not only experience on the Senate, but also we have not had many projects come through the senate this year. Summer Wellness Center access will be one of the biggest ones and only ones passed through this year. As people on the Senate this year, Sarah and I have some of the most experience. Sarah will be the longest-tenured senator on SA for next year. Her experience with budgeting as finance chair has been integral for learning how the organization works. As government affairs chair, I have handled all the external lobbying in Pierre and going between the city and government, as well. We have experience, both within the organization and external factors may be our opponents don’t have as much of. Between the two of us, we have served on 17 committees.  

Cook 

I think something different about our ticket is we have the experience on the Senate. We have been on the Senate for almost a total of 3 ½ years at the end of this term. We have worked with a lot of campus partners and different groups. We know how important those relationships are and are continuing to foster those, bring issues forward from students and make campus a better place. We have served on quite a few committees, as well. At one point I was serving on six committees and usually, senators serve on three to four at most. Just trying to get ourselves out there and get to know the most about SA and campus as a whole working with those different campus partners.  

What topic of change do you believe is most important to address?  

Johnson 

What I care most about, if I were the president, is greater collaboration between student groups on campus. Currently, it seems like some larger student organizations like UPC, Hobo Community or SA are separate. There is not a ton of overlap between leadership or communication between the leadership. I would like to see that more unified student voice on campus. SA seems like the conduit for that voice to the university in general. The whole first pillar of our campaign platform is designed on tangible improvements to student life on campus. That could be access to facilities, like summer wellness access if you register for the fall. That is a project Sarah and I have been working on all year and should be up this summer. Some things we have been working on this year, and our next term as well, are counseling services and healthy dining options. We want tangible student improvement to campus, as well as collaboration between student organizations on campus. 

Cook 

I completely agree. I know we just had a Presidents’ Counsel meeting for all the presidents across the organizations on campus. That was really beneficial to get some interaction with them and hear some specific issues for each organization. If we can continue that and carry on that project, having one or two meetings a semester and bringing those voices to the table as well. Making sure we communicate with everyone I think will be critical going into next year. 

Why should SDSU students vote for you? 

Johnson 

In my time on campus as a student, I have served on almost every aspect of student life from admissions to community assistant, to hall government, to various committees for student government. I am a Jackrabbit through and through; this is truly my home. We are the most experienced ticket on the ballot, as well, as I think our goals really align with what the student perspective has been. Our experience and the fact that we are 100% for the students are what sets us apart. 

Cook 

I would say our passion and drive to make SDSU a better place. That has been our whole goal this year on Senate, and that was my goal last year, being able to learn more about our campus, listen to students and make that positive impact and change on the place that we call home. 

Andrew Rasmussen & Rachel Schoon 

Why are you running for president and vice president? 

Rasmussen- presidential candidate 

I think Rachel and I bring some new and innovative ideas to the table that SA hasn’t seen or heard from in the past. Advocating for students most excites me. Both in my year of service and both of us interning out in Pierre, we have connections already built. I think it will be a great asset if chosen to lead next year so we can hit the ground running.  

Schoon- vice presidential candidate

We are really excited about the voice and opportunities that the SA Senate and presidency have to advocate for the students. I am the chief of staff right below the president and vice president right now, and I have been able to see how they work and get that firsthand experience. I am excited to unite the student’s voices. Just being able to unite that voice and use our platform to advocate for the students as well as we can.  

What qualifies you and how do you plan to differentiate yourselves from the other ticket? 

Rasmussen 

Looking at our platform specifically, the goals we have are very directed towards the students’ experience on campus, and that’s outside the Students’ Association. While we do have goals that are internal to the Students’ Association and how we want to run things, a majority of our platform is both making sure the experience we had at SDSU continues and that it’s even better for those coming after us. Say we accomplish everything that we hope to do if elected, we hope that students will have a better experience on campus. They will be able to see that they can pay the parking tickets off and go online to find the syllabus bank. There will be real things that students can say yes, this is what they accomplished.  

Schoon 

Our goals are really tangible. Some of the things that we could accomplish like a syllabus bank, that’s something you will be able to see and use. If we get the parking done, that money will stay in your pocket, if we get the washers and dryers, that’s literally a physical thing in every residential hall. We have some ambitious goals, but we also have some very attainable goals that every student can see the benefit from. 

What topic of change do you believe is most important to address?  

Rasmussen 

I think our most expansive and our most impressionable to the student population is our ADA students. That’s one of those things that, if it affects you, it dictates your entire experience on campus. Anything we can do to improve SDSU’s ADA accessibility is important to both of us. If we can do one big thing for SDSU it will be improving ADA accessibility. Obviously, renovating buildings to make them more ADA accessible is expensive and takes time. Something we want to do in the short term is a map that is specifically designed for ADA routes. It will save a lot of time and frustration.  

Schoon 

A big deal that we want to do moving forward is improving ADA compliance here at SDSU and making SDSU a more accessible place for anyone who might have a physical disability or challenge. This is a pretty personal issue for me. A good friend of mine freshman year was in a wheelchair and he was having trouble getting to classes in the spring semester because of all the snow on the sidewalks. Sometimes he almost got stuck, which is quite scary. He had a meeting with facilities and sidewalks and on his way to the meeting, he got stuck in the snow on the sidewalk. He had to transfer out sophomore year and that was sad for me to lose a friend to a completely avoidable issue. We want to make SDSU more accessible with ADA, and Andrew has already worked on that with live streaming and captions for people with hearing disabilities. My first resolution was asking SDSU to make a cart service for people at SDSU with either long-term or short-term physical disabilities.  

Why should SDSU students vote for you? 

Rasmussen 

Rachel and I both have the experience, dedication and passion for SDSU to move our ideas forward. We have the know-how to implement these things in a strong way at SDSU. 

Schoon 

We absolutely love SDSU. We are so thankful for this opportunity and we want to leave it even better than we found it.