Mason Fouquet and Nazanin Kasirosafar are running for student body president and vice president with a campaign centered on improving communication and transparency.

Fouquet, a junior in business administration, and Kasirosafar, a senior biological sciences major, have each served less than a year on the Student Government Association. 

Fouquet serves as a business senator on the government oversight committee and Kasirosafar serves as a Liberal Arts and Sciences senator and chair of the academic affairs committee.

Their campaign focuses on hearing from those they serve first, then taking action based on that communication. 

“If I’m here walking through the business building and I’m not there in the senate hall, there are things going on that I have no idea about,” Fouquet said. “Suddenly, university policy changes, and I’m thinking ‘What went wrong?’”

The lack of transparency and effective communication channels creates more questions about where the money students pay to attend WSU goes, Fouquet said.

Three goals of their campaign are increasing outreach, ensuring each student has a say, and prioritizing accountability.

Outreach and accountability

The pair said they want to ensure students’ needs are at the forefront of student government decisions. 

Backlash from the funding recommendations recently made by SGA’s Student Fees Commission shows an area where SGA could improve, Fouquet said. Both candidates voiced difficulty turning down funding for organizations that depend on student fees.

They think the finance commission could have prioritized student needs better through the process.

There are also many things they think SGA has done very well for students.

“I believe SGA did well at supporting student organizations and creating other opportunities,” Kasirosafar said.

She spoke specifically about how SGA just voted to recommend an honorary A+ to the grading scale. The initiative was put together by the academic affairs committee that Kasirosafar chairs.

That process included a survey sent out on ShockerBlast, an example of how Kasirosafar prioritized student input into her actions.

Fouquet said creating moments for students to communicate needs and wants is always at the center of how they lead. He thinks WSU has a culture of mutual respect for your neighbor and not bringing each other down.

Kasirosafar echoed Fouquet’s view by speaking about her personal experience of being accepted by the WSU community.

“A favorite part of Wichita State for me is how supportive everyone around me was,” Kasirosafar said. “Including my friends and the community around me, especially for someone like me who came from another country.”

Both spoke to how the new experiences they had at WSU were both culture shocks and something they value greatly.

Fouquet grew up going to all catholic schools, and Kasirosafar grew up in Iran. WSU exposed them to environments they were not familiar with. Those new perspectives showed them the value of WSU’s culture and motivated them to protect and improve it.

That includes leveraging their positions to create change in certain SGA processes and challenging powers above them.

“If we’re going to be representing the student body as number 1 and number 2, then we want to hear what issues we even can challenge and what we can’t,” Fouquet said.

Kasirosafar echoed that sentiment and said they want to work as leaders through collaboration.

“A good leader is someone who listens and communicates with others, while working as a team,” Kasirosafar said.

The campaign is currently using Instagram as a way to outreach to students, with a link to a Google Form in their bio to allow students to provide anonymous feedback and input.

Background and experience 

In addition to being a student senator, Fouquet serves as the vice president of WSU chapter of Turning Point USA, a conservative student group. He is also a member of the St. Paul Catholic Student Center.

Turning Point USA has created an experience of hearing other students’ opinions and having constructive debates and discussions through tabling events, Fouquet said.

He said growing up in Wichita and having family who went to WSU, he’s had a connection to the community since he was young.

Kasirosafar has been a member of multiple honors society organizations, such as Phi Kappa Phi and a Dean’s Advisory Council. She is also an alumnus Chair for Mortar Board Honor Society.

They see their short-term experience on SGA and experience from other on-campus commitments as creating a unique perspective on how SGA could improve.

“I think students are able to see how we can impact student lives, because they see us as relatable,” Fouquet said. “They see us as not just on this level of long-term senators.”

Each student body presidential ticket will debate each other on March 26 and April 2nd at 6 p.m. in Rhatigan Student Center 233 and livestream on SGA’s YouTube.

The general election will take place from April 6 to 8. Ballots will be emailed to students via SimplyVoting.