Jia Wen Wang and Amy Nguyen, candidates for next year’s student body president and vice president, expressed their priorities if elected at a forum moderated by The Sunflower on Thursday night. Wang and Nguyen addressed how they would handle issues including state and federal challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and the student fee shortfall the Student Government Association faces.  

Wang and Nguyen are the only candidates running for student body president and vice president. Wang, the presidential candidate, is currently serving as SGA’s treasurer and Nguyen serves as the community engagement and outreach director for the current presidential administration. 

“I’ll be honest,” Wang said. “We were a little disappointed that another ticket wasn’t able to run just … because to us, it felt like students were not given a choice.”

Wang and Nguyen outlined their goals for their campaign: belonging, intentionality and persistence

“We are for the running 68th session student body president and vice president to positively impact the student body through our three campaign points,” Wang said. “… Because we believe that Wichita State University should be an environment for anyone and everyone.” 

Traversing shortfalls

Wichita State University, for fiscal year 2025-2026, is facing a $929,000 budget shortfall for student fees due to decreasing full-time student enrollment and previous accounting errors.. When asked how their campaign would address this shortfall as it follows into next year’s session, Wang said, “That challenge is not something that worries me.”

Wang said since she has had the experience as treasurer throughout the past two sessions, she is able to understand the history of the challenge while also understanding what the forward direction should be. She said she would work closely with the next student body treasurer and lend her expertise on the role while also gaining a “fresh new perspective” on how the next treasurer would care to handle this situation.

Handling organizations budgets while juggling the fairness of how high student fees should be is a complicated matter, but Wang said she has a clear message that’s been ingrained in her head since she started serving. 

“My philosophy is that students come first,” Wang said. 

Navigating DEI changes

With changes happening frequently at the federal and state levels for higher education, the newest SGA session will be on the frontline dealing with these modifications. Wang said that as these changes are enacted, she plans to keep an open line of communication between the administration, SGA and the students. 

“We would navigate through those changes to ensure compliance but also ensure that the student communities here can continue to thrive,” Wang said. “And to minimize the impacts that it would make.” 

Wang said during their campaign they offered a form for students to ask questions or give concerns on their social media platforms as hearing from the students has “always been a priority.” 

“I just want students to know that we are here to hear them out,” Wang said. “To me, I know every presidential campaign says this, but outreach is really important which is why Amy and I have been going to different organizations, not just to say that we’re campaigning or anything like that, but to ensure that they know our presence is personable and that they can always reach out to us.”

Priorities for the 68th session

Wang and Nguyen’s goals for the future session include helping students to feel welcome and then following through on their decisions and plans. 

Wang said while retention and enrollment is important, making students feel at home is a priority. 

“We need to support and contribute to the welcoming communities that reflect the needs and diversity of the student body,” Wang said. 

Nguyen discussed their second point of priority: intentionality. 

“There are a lot of programs and initiatives in place already here on campus, but they often sometimes lack intentionality behind it and the true genuine care to support our students,” Nguyen said. 

She said this campaign point emphasizes the need for feedback from staff and students to help them make lasting changes. 

“The goal should be more than just checking boxes and getting things done on our to-do list,” Nguyen said. “It’s more about ensuring that every action is meaningful and designed to make the student body feel comfortable.”

The third point, persistence, “ties everything else up,” Wang said. 

“Our commitment to the 68th session is tethered in this, ensuring that we don’t just start initiatives, but we really see them through with consistency and intentionality,” Wang said. 

Connection and outreach

Providing a connection between SGA and students was heavily emphasized during the forum. Wang said she was surprised to find out much of the student body is unaware of what student government is or that students can vote in elections while she was tabling for their campaign. 

Wang said she wants to ensure cabinet members don’t simply “sit around and do the work,” but instead truly have a passion for speaking with the students. 

“We can’t understand the students unless we have those conversations with them,” Nguyen said. “And so once we appoint our cabinet, (we will) just consistently (be) reemphasizing the importance of being able to continue that outreach that is currently being done right now.” 

Wang said she really admires the outreach current Vice President Matthew Phan is accomplishing during the 67th session and says she would love to continue that dedication into the future. 

“I really like the push that we’ve had to ensure that there is open communication and collaboration and not just between the cabinet members of the executive branch, but between all three branches,” Wang said. 

Wang said that she and Nguyen were grateful for the questions submitted by students. 

“We just want students to know that we’re students too,” Wang said. “That you can come to us for anything you might need, any concerns you might have, because we are here for you.”  

The 2025 general election president and vice president forum can be watched here. 

The election will be held April 7-9 via SimplyVoting. More information can be found here.