Erik Fogth: Logan Vice President candidate interview
First off, we know that you’re the only candidate for Logan Vice President. Why should students look forward to you representing them?
I’ve been pretty excited about this because a lot of people ask me, ‘Don’t don’t you want the nobility of running against someone and winning?’ I was like, ‘No, trust me. I went through that last semester.’ I don’t feel the need to run against somebody necessarily. I feel like I learned a ton from last semester. It was a much more competitive race than any race would have been this semester, anyways. I feel like I’m coming back into this position with ten times more knowledge and even more experience than I had last time. I probably learned a lot more from losing the last election than I would have if I were to have won the election. I’m excited to take that new drive that I have and show students that, no, I’m not gonna be quitting. I’m not gonna sit down, but I’m gonna come back up. I’m gonna rise again. I’m gonna make it even better than it was going to be last year.
There are a lot of different organizations to get involved with at USU. What made you want to get involved with USUSA specifically?
That’s an awesome question. My freshman year I went to the Aggie Blue Leadership Conference, a leadership conference that got me super excited, super stoked about what USU had to offer. I was noticing that my friends at other schools didn’t really have as many opportunities as Utah State did for this involvement. We have this chance for us to show our leadership skills and to help students on campus, so I’m pretty stoked about how that was something that got me excited about it. I went and applied to every committee you could possibly imagine – to every student events committee, to every president’s cabinet position, to everything and I was rejected from all of them. I was rejected from every single one. It was all in one day. I guess they all collaborated and sent out their letters on the same day. I remember being super depressed, so I joined this fraternity called Sigma Phi Epsilon. It was the same day that we were going through our initiation ritual and I remember Cooper Lowe, the events vice president, telling me, ‘Hey, this isn’t the end.’ I remember peers and mentors like Jaron Hunsaker, who was the president at the time, personally bringing me into his office. Even though he was rejecting me, he told me that this wasn’t the end, that there’s more to get involved in. So, it’s cool. I had these cool mentors that really pushed me and showed me that there is a lot out there. I think for me that was the beginning of me saying, ‘Okay, this isn’t the end’. It was my first time kind of turning things around, getting really involved on campus, and seeing the difference it’s made on my life and students around us. Involvement not only gives us a community of people that we can know outside the classroom, people that will support us, people that will help us and love us in our commitments and our duties of giving back to them, but because it creates a community and gives us fulfillment in college.
What is one improvement that you think USU needs? How do you plan to put action to it?
That’s a very valid question. I think a lot of students don’t feel like they have a voice, or, if they did have a voice – if they tried to express it – it wouldn’t go very many places. Really, we only hear from the 200 to 300 people that get involved on the third floor of the Taggart Student Center. Those are the students that decide what all students need of the 18,000 students that are on campus. So, it’s kind of a cool opportunity for me in this new position; I’ll be taking a lot of the old USUSA president’s charter, and I’ll be able to implement a lot of the platform points I had last semester into this next year. One of those things that I wanted to do is increase the availability of the USUSA president and President of University. This would include working together and having some initiatives to be able to help students feel like they have a voice. We want to be able to present ideas that we were able to accomplish that were student opinions so students see that their opinions were validated and that when they do speak up that their voice does matter because we’re actually implementing the ideas that they’ve had. I’ve been doing tons of surveys and I’ve got a list of probably 50 to 60 different ideas from students I’ve gathered. I just want to make sure that I’m more available to students than were presidents in the past.
How would you handle disagreements and help make those difficult decisions that might go against your fellow officers’ viewpoints?
That’s a fair question. One of my majors is global communications. My favorite part of all of the four majors that I’m doing is the portion of my global communications major that has to do with conflict resolution. I’m in Advanced Conflict with Clair Canfield right now, and it has been the most impactful thing for me. I think resolving conflict starts with an understanding and belief in a true commitment to a person’s dignity. If I truly feel like my peers – no matter what their ideas or opinions are – feel that their opinions are valid, I can be able to understand where they’re coming from, listen to where they’re coming from, and be able to express my ideas in an air of mutual respect. I will be able to come across in a way that will not create contention or create tension, but will help them feel like I do respect their opinions and do love them. But, if I have to disagree then we’ll be able to find an agreement that will allow us to collaborate.
What’s your favorite place to eat on campus?
That’s a good question. I love Morty’s Cafe. They just barely started taking meal swipes and that was the best thing that ever happened to Utah State Universitycampus because it’s $8 at Morty’s Cafe, which is a lot. People don’t know about it. They’re still going to The Marketplace because they don’t know that Morty’s started doing that. Hands down the best place on campus. The peanut butter shake? I love it, I love it. I always get the Morty’s burrito. That’s my favorite. Especially on Wednesday, it’s a burrito and a drink for $5.
-Michael.Popa@usu.edu