Minette, Wasinger write-in campaign focused on accessibility, connecting students to resources
Only one ticket declared their candidacy for SGA president and vice president for this year’s SGA elections. But two write-in campaigns are wanting to fill those top positions.
Hunter Minette and Annie Wasinger, both members of Student Government Association, are one of those write-in tickets.
Minette, who’s running for president, has two years of experience with SGA. He previously served as a senator and now he’s serving as SGA’s director of legislative affairs on the president’s cabinet.
“I think it’s important [to have another option], regardless of the platform,” Minette said. “I think it’s a good thing to be able to get other students’ input and have students who represent all these different areas of campus and [have] the option to choose.”
Minette said while their names are not on the ballot, there are advantages to writing in names.
“That’s a positive overall, it means there’s more students who understand what’s going on on campus, with the initiative of writing the name correctly, they know exactly what they’re getting and what we represent,” Minette said.
Wasinger, who’s running for vice president, is currently a freshman senator with the association.
Wasinger has used her platform as a senator to advocate for students with disabilities, and is wanting to use this new position to do the same.
“There’s this accessibility cycle and this ableist cycle, what happens is you have a campus and location that isn’t ADA compliant like our campus,” Wasinger said. “It sends this message to students with disabilities and incoming students of, you know what, you’re not welcome here because you can’t access certain buildings.
“This is long overdue for us to be in full compliance.”
Two years into the pandemic, Minette said that it’s important to have leaders who are flexible and capable of leading during unprecedented times.
“We need to acknowledge that it’s definitely a transition period that’s happening right now [and] COVID is not over, wherever that ends up going,” Minette said. “I think it’s important to have at least two people in an office who understand [and] can make those hard decisions.”
SGA voting opens April 4 and goes through April 6.
To learn about the declared candidates, click here. To read about the other write-in campaign, click here. All candidates are participating in a debate tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the Rhatigan Student Center room 223.
Lindsay Smith is the former editor-in-chief and newsletter editor for The Sunflower. Smith was a journalism major at Wichita State with a minor in creative...
Kathlynn Short • Mar 30, 2022 at 11:58 pm
Hi there, Kathlynn Short here – confused about the earlier usage of my name in a different comment. I’d rather folks not use my name to comment on Sunflower articles (something I wasn’t really anticipating typing today).
I agree with Hunter, it’s important to have options. Additionally, I think this ticket could be a good option! Write in campaigns can be exciting and effective in student governments, and I am interested to watch what happens in the election next week.
I’m keeping my mind open until the debate tomorrow, but I know I already have faith in Hunter’s knowledge of SGA, and I am inspired by Annie’s unrelenting defense of the WSU disabled population. They have both proven to be strong members of SGA, and I would believe that could remain true even if this campaign falls short.
I look forward to watching the debate on the 31st (Thursday, 6 pm, Santa Fe room and livestreamed on SGA youtube), and I encourage everyone else to either tune in or show up.
LC • Mar 30, 2022 at 10:47 pm
I think these two have experience and are prioritizing empathetic values. This is what I prefer in leadership.
I don’t mind taking time to research my candidates over just picking the singular declared option to acknowledge our voices.
Kath Short • Mar 30, 2022 at 5:47 pm
they decided to run the week before the election…how much can they really care when they didn’t want the role enough to file?
Mark Barlow • Apr 1, 2022 at 4:17 pm
I can only provide my perspective on this, but throughout the SGA candidacy filing window NO mention was made that only 1 pair was intending to declare for Pres/VP. This is only my first time participating in SGA (running as a senator) but I only found out about this through the Sunflower.
Trust me. Had I known ahead of time, I would have likely declared for President rather than Senator, if only to provide the student body a choice. I’m thrilled to see other students stepping up to make these elections anything approaching fair and democratic.
That being said, yes, it does also concern me how longstanding members of SGA allowed things to progress to this point. There is an unfortunate pattern in WSU’s student government to run unopposed. I endeavor to be a part of ending this particularly ugly tradition.