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Find out more about who you’re voting for

On Thursday, the Utah State University Student Association hosted a meet and greet event between students and candidates in the upcoming USUSA elections. 

Held on the first floor of USU’s Merrill-Cazier Library, the event invited students to interact with candidates through informal one-on-one conversations and cookies from Crumbl Cookies.

USUSA public relations and marketing director Cameron Olds said this is the first time USUSA has hosted an event like this as part of the annual student elections. Olds said the purpose of the event was to provide a new outlet for students to get to know candidates outside of the candidates’ A-Frames during elections week.

“It was a good way to spread more information without annoying people,” Olds said. “It sounds like people have made connections and spoken with candidates that they vibe with, and they’ve made some decisions, which is what we were hoping would happen.”

Students and candidates at the event also offered feedback. Most students and candidates saw the event as a step in the right direction for USUSA elections, particularly in regard to fostering relationships between future student leaders and other students.

Dallas Cook, a USU student who attended the event, said the setup of the event was a pleasant surprise.

“It wasn’t what I expected,” Cook said. “I like it because instead of just getting opinions pushed in your face, you can kind of get to know them and see how they are one-on-one as a purpose instead of as a candidate.”

According to Caine College of the Arts Sen. Nathan Scott, the event also helped students to be more informed voters, Scott included.

“I think it’s important not just to vote for people you know,” Scott said. “I think it’s important to vote for people who are qualified and able to do what they say they’re going to do. I honestly wish that they had it around when I was running.”

Rachel Taylor, a USUSA executive vice president candidate, said the event was also an opportunity for candidates to foster positive relationships.

“It’s hard sometimes not to dehumanize your opponents and not get competitive,” Taylor said. ““I think it’s a step in the right direction, quite honestly.”

Sami Ahmed, the current USUSA president and candidate up for reelection, said he was surprised at the number of students who came to the event. Ahmed also said while he had no input into the event beyond scheduling, he was happy with the results.

“Student elections seem like the most annoying things, and I know because I was one of those annoyed students, but it really means a lot to those students who are running,” Ahmed said. “I think it’s a great event.”

Past USUSA elections have not been without controversy. The 2017 USUSA elections marked the presence of online bullying in connection with candidates. In 2018, USUSA election bylaws experienced a massive overhaul to comply with USU’s free speech policy. Last year, a candidate was penalized for violating other campaign bylaws.

Olds is a USUSA election co-chair alongside Cooper Lowe, the USUSA Student Events vice president. Lowe said USUSA had received negative feedback regarding campaign practice from students following last year’s election. 

According to Lowe, many of the complaints focused on the use of A-Frames in campaigning. Students said having candidates campaign almost solely from their A-Frames throughout campus made it both annoying to walk to class during elections week and difficult to interact with candidates on an individual basis. Lowe said this event was designed in response to that feedback.

“[The A-Frames are] still going to happen, but we wanted to facilitate something where the candidates could have a casual conversation with students and where it was really nonthreatening,” Lowe said.

To incentivize students to come to the event, Olds and Lowe ordered 300 cookies from Crumbl. According to Olds, most of their advertising for the event spread by word-of-mouth and instagram posts focused on Crumbl cookies. 

“It looks like a lot of people got to know candidates that they otherwise would have avoided at the A-Frames during election’s week,” Olds said. “Obviously Crumbl helped too.” 

Lowe agreed. “What better to incentivize students than with cookies?”@jshwilki

jshwilki@gmail.com