As part of the Sunflower’s continuing coverage of the 2015 Student Government Association elections, the Sunflower talked with the president and vice president candidates on both tickets.

Manon Marcotte and Dalton Glasscock are the president and vice president candidates on the Marcotte Glasscock ticket, and Joseph Shepard and Khondoker Usama are the president and vice president candidates on the Shocker Alliance ticket.

Voting begins Wednesday and runs through Friday. Students can vote for SGA candidates through their myWSU account. The Sunflower will have coverage of the election results in the April 6 issue.

Shocker Alliance

Motto: Shocker Alliance sees SGA as a place “where students can benefit academically and socially.”

Main Objectives: The main goals of Shocker Alliance center around four pillars of serving WSU students: Cultural Competency, Service Outreach, Campus Enrichment and Communication. Shepard and Usama both stressed the importance of including diversity within student government, as a way to better represent campus. “We need to practice real democracy if we think student voices matter,” Usama said.

Running inspiration: Usama said he and Shepard are running because they think they have the experience to successfully serve as president and vice president of SGA. “We believe we advocate for the rights of students for the right reasons. We believe we’ll be able to make this Shocker Nation a better Shocker Nation for years to come,” Usama said.

Meet Shepard: Shepard is originally from San Diego, Calif. He said he is happy to call Wichita his home away from home because of the family unit he said Wichita has. Shepard is a senior majoring in criminal justice with a minor in psychology. He is president of the Multicultural Greek Council, facilitator for Men of Excellence through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and is a member of the Black Student Union. Shepard serves as an at-large senator this semester for SGA.

Meet Usama: Usama is a senior in computing engineering with a concentration in computer science and electrical engineering. He is also pursuing minors in psychology and mathematics. Usama is originally from Bangladesh and has been a student at WSU since 2011. He is president of the American Red Cross Club and vice president of the Fairmount Neighborhood Association, a position he’s had since May. He previously served as an at-large senator for SGA in 2012.  

Marcotte Glasscock

Motto: Innovate, Inspire, Ignite. “With the Innovation Campus, there’s so much potential we have at the university. We really want students to be involved in that,” Glasscock said.

Main Objectives: Marcotte and Glasscock have talked with the Student Veterans Association about having a day care center on campus, similar to those found at area YMCAs, as a resource for non-traditional students with young children. The two also want to host town hall meetings at the west and south campuses. Glasscock said that ultimately, the two see student government as a resource for students.

Running inspiration: Glasscock said he and Marcotte have a good working relationship with their positions in SGA. He said they counterbalance one another with their personalities. “We both have different personalities—she keeps me in check, and I keep her in check, so I think it’s a good working relationship that’ll definitely be beneficial to the student body.”

Meet Marcotte: Marcotte is a junior studying psychology. She originally came to Wichita State as a music theater major. Marcotte is from Winfield, about 45 minutes south of Wichita. She is the organizational outreach chair for SGA and is a holdover senator from the 56th session of SGA. She is also a past fine arts senator in SGA.

Meet Glasscock: Glasscock is a sophomore majoring in business management with minors in political science and leadership. He attended Maize South High School and has been a Wichita resident all his life. He serves as the chief of staff in SGA, a position he’s held since November. Before his term as chief of staff, he worked for the Pat Roberts re-election campaign as a congressional field director. Outside SGA, Glasscock is vice president for the Interfraternity Council and the philanthropy chair for Phi Delta Theta.