The driving force behind Ally Helms’ run for the Students’ Association presidential race is her passion for the SA and the students she represents.

Helms, a junior pharmacy major, currently serves on the SA executive board as the administrative assistant. She is partnering with Lane Speirs, a sophomore agricultural communications major and at-large senator.

One of their goals is to create a connection between the students and the incoming administration and help the administrators understand the campus climate.

“We want to make sure they understand what the climate is at SDSU,” Speirs said. 

The duo also wants to improve the relationship between senators and their constituents. 

“It’s really important that senators have the opportunity to openly and freely represent their constituents,” Helms said.

With new senators being elected, Helms and Speirs want to encourage them to build strong relationships with the students they represent. 

They will stress the importance of that relationship to the senators. 

Together, the pair want to use their diverse backgrounds to reach a diverse population on campus. Helms has connections through her major and also in the clubs and organizations she has been a part of. Speirs represents the agricultural community.

A priority for Helms is to continue the dialogue between different groups and organizations on campus. One way she has done this is to help Addie Borah, assistant director for student engagement, go through a list of groups and figure out the status of the organization. 

Helms was motivated to run because SA is her passion and stress relief. 

“This is what I want to invest my senior year into,” she said.

Speirs started his career on Senate as a freshman and by the start of his junior year he will have spent a year and a half on SA.

Speirs does not want to be the “middle man” between students and administrative officials. He wants for students to partner with their senator so they can have conversations directly with administrators. 

An area Speirs wants to improve is campus safety. His passion to increase safety is for the future generations of jackrabbits. For him, thinking about the future students gives him “incredible drive to make that campus better.”

Over the past year, SA has discussed issues that may be controversial. Speirs wants to “make sure [senators] don’t feel oppressed or judged for what they believe.”

Speirs said people began to ask him if he was going to run for the election. He wanted to run to fill the empty spots on SA with someone who is interested in the needs of the students. He feels that he is that person.

“I want to be the representation for the people. I want to be the voice for the people,” Speirs said. “I want to be there because the people want me there.”