SGA voting season is upon us! Don’t forget to cast your vote today or tomorrow online. Remember: every vote is important and a vote today could mean a change tomorrow (or really, next year, but you know what we mean).
Perhaps you caught this week’s campus celebrities in front of Hoff Dining Commons today… it’s hard to miss them in their awesome red shirts! SGA ticket AFJ, consisting of Andrew, Fare, and Josh, spent some time outside to socialize with Xavier students and to encourage people to vote. We’re excited to have gotten some of their insights on their platform to share with our Her Campus Xavier readers!
Meet the Ticket AFJ
A is for Andrew Redd ’17
Major/Minors: Philosophy, Politics, & the Public (PPP), Political Science
Hometown: Lafayette, Indiana
What outside experiences are you bringing to this election and, if elected, to SGA?
I have been a part of SGA since freshman year. I served as the chair of student rights and identity and the chair of residential affairs. I helped changed the Medical Amnesty policy so that all Xavier students feel safe and know that help will be there in times of need. I am a site leader for Alternative Breaks along with being a Manresa Orientation Leader. I have experienced a lot of different parts of Xavier’s community and I will take the knowledge that I learned from my peers so I can represent the student body adequately.
What made you want to run individually and as a group with your running mates?
I have never seen the passion for Xavier University that Fare and Josh show every day. Their unique backgrounds, experiences, and driving passion have proven to me that we are more than ready to become SGA executives.
What’s one fun fact about you?
I can whistle like a bird.
F is for Fare (Olafare) Olagbaju ’16
Major/Minors: Economics, Political Science
Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria
What outside experiences are you bringing to this election and, if elected, to SGA?
Each of us is passionate about every platform point discussed and put down on paper. I like that it is not voluminous because it allows us focus on the goals we have set for ourselves and goals we look to accomplish for the university. I have served on the board of the African Students’ Association and been a member of numerous clubs and societies, I enjoy contributing to discussion and analysis and appreciate different people’s point of view. What has helped me a lot in my transition to American life is exposure to an entirely new culture and set of customs. I am intent on learning and acting out lessons learnt.
I believe our ticket brings a new angle to the way SGA operates, based on the foundation past leaders have set and our new and different perspective. It is also a benefit to us having Andrew on our ticket because of the guidance he will provide to Josh and me.
What made you want to run individually and as a group with your running mates?
It started out with Andrew reaching out to me to run alongside him. I met Andrew right after my first year of being on the first-year OT team and our friendship was cemented with the responsibilities we both had on Xavier Crew and our love for politics (he’s way more into it than I am just to clarify). I said to him, “Hey, let’s get a girl on our ticket so we look like the perfect picture” and he hesitated. He told me to think carefully of someone who is like us, and someone who will not cower in voicing ideas; someone who will be relentless in achieving goals—this was hard for me. And then Josh came in literally on a skateboard, (you all will probably understand this is due time—maybe…) and Andrew said to me, “I think we’ve found our third.” We each made the effort to hang out a bit more than usual in order to get to know one another. As a team, we were open to correction and dedicated to sharing our vision for Xavier University: friendship.
What’s one fun fact about you?
I’ve known how to play the piano since I was a kid, but it just doesn’t sound right when people are around me listening—or watching a video of me playing…
J is for Josh DeVincenzo ’16
Major/Minors: International Business, Spanish
Hometown: Princeton, New Jersey
What outside experiences are you bringing to this election and, if elected, to SGA?
I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to do a lot of traveling throughout Latin America. In the process, I have learned a significant amount about cultural identity. I have seen diversity and inclusion work in my own family and around the world; it is an incredible thing. If we were to win SGA, I would wish to bring light to the commonality amongst all of us. That commonality being that we are all Xavier students and that is something to be celebrated. I have hope that ideas like our Inclusion Panel will help in this effort.
What made you want to run individually and as a group with your running mates?
Fare and Andrew had approached me about running after they had decided they were going to. In all honesty, I was hesitant. But, then they informed me more about what they wanted to do for this University and instantly ideas of my own started developing. I admired the fact that they wanted to take this campus further by taking large strides for the good of everyone. I am running so I can take part in these wonderful plans and take initiative on the ideas of this community.
What’s one fun fact about you?
If I could have a guilty pleasure playlist with only four artists, they would be Ellie Goulding, Ellie Goulding, Ellie Goulding and Ellie Goulding.
Now onto some questions from Her Campus Xavier:
Why do you feel like your group works well together?
Andrew: We are great friends that come from different walks of life. We all have different opinions but we are able to bring these different opinions together so that we can better the Xavier Community.
Fare: I sincerely believe we work well together because we are really straightforward in our thought process and do not cower when it comes to letting someone know when they are not performing as well as we each promised. Andrew is the builder, I would like to believe I am the bricks, and Josh is the cement that keeps us together.
Josh: The value in our group is the fact that we have all really gone in different paths during our time at Xavier. I think the fact that now we are a solid body of three from very different backgrounds, we have an advantage when it comes to generating ideas for the greater student body. Andrew has been incredibly helpful with his SGA experience. Fare and I have served as leaders in various organizations and understand what it means to process an idea fully and see the results. We hope to be very impactful and a representation of this campus as a whole.
Are you excited about your platform? How long have you been working on it?
Fare: EXTREMELY EXCITED! We have been working on it since early to mid October last year and continued to perfect it to what it is now. It was over 6 pages but we felt that we needed to be a little realistic and do some things students will respond positively to. If our platform had a theme, it would be bridging the gap between students that are extremely involved on campus and those who feel as though Xavier is just a place you just enroll in to get that fancy and expensive certificate at the end of four years. Sharing individual opinions will help in understanding where we stand in life and why we find ourselves in certain positions.
Josh: We are frequently asked, “Do you think that you three will be able to do everything on your platform?” The answer is that this platform is not for three to pursue. From this platform, our goal is for people to get excited and get inspired to take this platform as far as they wish. It truly is, OUR platform. I cannot wait to see where our fellow students and faculty take it.
If you could pick one thing for everyone at Xavier to know about your platform, what would it be?
Andrew: J-Term. We have been working on it for the last month or so. J-Term would give students an opportunity to study abroad, take an accelerated course, or do community service. This would be a great opportunity for Xavier students to have.
Fare: My favorite platform point second to the Inclusion Panel is The X Den. Do not take this the wrong way but understand me when I say that I feel as though Gallagher is a place a number of students go to because they have to. Think about that for a minute if you like.
With The X Den put in place, we create an incentive for more students to willfully stop by and relax, learn and talk. I like the relaxation part of this the most. Our ticket also views The X Den to be a place where school spirit is at the center of its operations. I’m sure you have heard us talking about putting up the fight song in there, the all-time crosstown shootout series and dedicating it to Father B. We are still open to ideas from students.
Josh: This might be a bold statement. AFJ’15 will not tread water in place, but will swim miles and miles ahead. For all the tangible things that we will bring to this campus, there is a lot of value in the intangible. Community and tradition will be a goal that we will need help with. We hope that in our platform, students will see that we are thinking deeper and further for Xavier University.