Clara Alder: USUSA president candidate interview

USUSA officers receive a significant amount of responsibilities and expectations from fellow students. How do you plan to effectively take on this new role while also being a student and having your own life and responsibilities?

I have had robust leadership experiences in my time here at Utah State. I have served as our current USUSA traditions director, and I am currently serving as our representative from Utah State on the Utah Board of Education safety and equity commission. I have served as an A-team member, and a peer mentor for connections as well. So I’ve got a lot on my plate. I also still manage my time as a full time student, and an active member of the honors program and the psychology honors program. I expect and know how much work being student body president will be and my experiences and my leadership has prepared me to really excel in this role as president.

I feel my experiences will help me also understand students. I am an undergrad and I am just like everyone else. I know what it’s like to be a student where we have days that we’re really excited for, and days that we’re not as excited for. The ups and downs, you know, the roller coaster of college. I understand all of those things, so I’m fully prepared to serve as an empowering student body president. I’m here to empower others. I’m here to really serve our student body, all students, all stories and all voices. I know just how rigorous this is, and I feel that I’m fully prepared for it.

What makes you stand out from other candidates? Why should people vote for you?

I have had many alleyways of involvement. My story looks a little bit different from other people’s stories. My first year, I applied and interviewed with over 10 committees and organizations and I didn’t get any of those. But I still applied myself. I became a CAPSA advocate and a certified leader in that. I truly understand how to work with individuals from very different backgrounds. I am an inclusive leader, and I have experience from lots of different areas. I have a large understanding of inner-institutional knowledge from my work on the A-team, as well as my work currently in student government, and also just a fierce passion for students and stories. As Miss USU, I created the Stories Project where I got to learn the stories and names of many different individuals here at Utah State, and really capture them.

Something that also sets me apart is I’m here to advocate for all students, and what that looks like is students across the state.We have many students who go to lots of different campuses and centers, and online learners, and I’m here to advocate for all of these students. We’re all in this together, and it’s kind of fun. My parents always would always call me “Can do Clara” growing up, because I truly care. I truly care about everything I do, and everything I put my mind to I will always accomplish. Just like with this role as president, we can do great things together as a Utah State Family. We can come together and do great things. I’m here to lead that. I’m here to be the inclusive leader to really capture all of our stories and advocate for everyone. Everyone across the state, everyone in their own bubbles, and everyone across the board.

If you are not elected, how will you continue to be involved at USU?

One thing that’s really amazing about Utah State is we have so many different ways to get involved. I know that the initiatives and the platforms that I have developed, done research on, made plans for and been realistic about, and I will complete those are president. I also believe that these are things that can be completed in any role.

As president, I also want to empower others, truly. I want to help even my opponents accomplish their goals, because really more minds are better than one mind. There are lots of different ways to get involved at Utah State, and it’s about finding your niche. I really think that I can accomplish all of the things that I’d love to accomplish as student body president, but I know that my passion for Utah State will not fade, so I will accomplish these things no matter what.

What is one improvement that you think USU needs? How to plan to put action to it?

One thing that I believe we can improve on as a collective capable student body is improving and resting more awareness and accessibility to sexual assault resources. I think that a lot of times it”s hard to understand what those resources are, how they can impact us and how they can help us. I also really want to create a realistic and strong student board that sits and gives input to these resources, because we need that student feedback. We as students can step up and be leaders in this issue and really help create these resources to be more accessible, and make it something we’re more aware of. I truly believe through my work with CAPSA and hearing stories from different students that this is something that’s important. As I’ve worked on the Board of Higher Education safety and equity commission, this is something that the whole state, all higher education institutions, have room for improvement. I think that we can really come together as a student body to make those improvements, and I really want to increase that awareness and accessibility on the prevention side of sexual assault.

Who is your celebrity crush?

My celebrity crush has to be Big Blue. I’m in a leadership class right now, and I tried on the head of Big Blue and I’ve never had more respect for somebody in my entire life. This is just like one of the most demanding positions at Utah State. Also, Big Blue is a celebrity, so he can be my celebrity crush. Big Blue, if you’re reading this…

-Jared.Adams@usu.edu