Elections for Students’ Association are coming up March 21. As President Blake Pulse and Vice President Anna Shane end their term of leadership, two new candidate tickets are competing for the position. Here’s a look at Hunter Eide and Carter Howell’s presidential campaign. 

Eide has served on SA for two years in the College of Natural Sciences. He’s worked on the government affairs committee, communication committee, board of directors and until recently, the finance committee. 

“We want to bring the student voice forward and prioritize students with our role and continue to have that student voice shared with administration to improve the student experience here at SDSU,” he said. 

Howell has not served on SA, but he is involved with hall government, FFA and the finance, insurance and real estate club. He is from Lithia, Florida, and studies agriculture business and business economics.

“Hunter was telling me about his campaign, and I took an active role as hall government president this year, and I kind of wanted to take a step up after that,” he said. “Hunter talks about what his passions were and we felt that they aligned.”

Eide and Howell’s campaign centers around three pillars: create, connect and commit.

They hope to raise awareness for resources on campus like free legal aid in the NESS School of Management, Jack’s Cupboard and create opportunities like handing out two diplomas for two degrees and hosting a fall graduation ceremony. 

Eide said it can be costly and inconvenient for students who graduate in the fall to return for the spring ceremony, especially for international and out-of-state students. 

“From beginning to end of your SDSU experience, we want to maximize every single day because we know that whether it’s a South Dakota resident and you’re paying $48 a day to come to school on average before scholarships and financial aid, Minnesota at $52, and out of state resident at $58, or international student at $128,” Eide said. “We just want to make sure that every single day, that dollars count.”

Under their connect pillar, Eide and Howell hope to connect students with better wifi connections on campus, mental health resources and create ways for students and faculty to interact. This semester, Eide headed the “Lunch and Learn” event hosted by SA, where students get a free meal and can mingle and network with their professors.

Eide and Howell will also commit to funding the newly created diversity liaison position, no increase in the General Activity Fee cost and free feminine hygiene products in the Student Union bathrooms.

 Howell said he hopes they can be a voice for the constituents and commit to hearing their ideas and feedback. 

“The two of us, we can’t possibly think of everything that can be improved at the school, but really committing to hearing the students and their ideas is one way that we can get a broader knowledge of what students really want to happen at the school,” Howell said.

Sen. Maddie Fitch from the College of Nursing and Sen. Ryder Mortenson for the College of Agriculture Food and Environmental Sciences nominated Eide and Howell for the presidential position at the Feb. 13 Students’ Association meeting.

“I think they both have a commitment to SDSU that will take students very far,” Fitch said. “I think they see the need across a lot of platforms and they’re willing and ready to advocate for students in those senses.