Deadlines for nomination packets for the upcoming Associated Students of Fort Lewis College elections were recently extended, which allowed for more students to sign up to run for an executive or senatorial position.
Lindley Gallegos and Jacob Smith are the most recents students to put in their bid for the executive team election.
Gallegos and Smith are both juniors at FLC. Neither are current members of ASFLC, but Gallegos participated in student council her freshmen year.
Due to Gallegos’ participation on the volleyball team, student tours and her activity with The Independent video department, she believes that her connection to the school makes her and Smith strong candidates for representing the student body.
“We could reach a huge portion of our student body. From athletes to artists, business majors to art majors,” Smith said via email.
The Gallegos/Smith executive team’s goals for office include creating a mentoring program for transfer students and students who begin school in the spring semester, Gallegos said.
Their major goal is to increase student voice on campus, and be active representatives for students.
“We want to create an atmosphere where students feel like they have a set of peers to lean on and bring issues to the table, and for us to create a feeling that we will do our absolute best to address those issues,” Smith said via email.
Due to the deadline extension for nomination packets, the elections are filling with more students that are not current participants currently in the ASFLC.
Additionally, Gallegos believes that there is a lack of interest in the ASFLC elections because students are not aware of additional benefits like the recently passed senate scholarship.
Gallegos believes that there is a lack of publicity concerning the scholarship.
“I don’t think students know what it is,” Gallegos said.
Gallegos said she would consider repealing the scholarship if it was not fulfilling its duties of motivating senators and and creating student interest.
Both Gallegos and Smith plan to be active in the Colorado Student Government Coalition, they said.
“We both feel it would be an incredible opportunity to meet other student governments, and to get the Fort Lewis name out there,” Smith said in an email.
Overall, Gallegos and Smith want to leave an imprint on students at FLC, so that students know that their representatives care about their concerns.
“The legacy I want to leave is one that I was a guy that students could come to no matter what the issue was, big or small, and have them believe that I would exhaust every option to find a solution,” Smith said in an email.