SGA prepares for upcoming election debate

Sarah Stukenborg

The Student Government Association is preparing for its executive officer candidates to debate on issues for the upcoming election.

The debate will be on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Ransdell Hall Auditorium.

Keyana Boka, Cain Alvey and Austin Wingate are currently running as the presidential candidates for SGA in the spring election.

Cain Alvey, current administrative vice president of SGA, decided to run at the beginning of the semester because he feels that his ideas would represent all WKU students.

“I want to be the person that serves the students,” Alvey said.

He said the president is the official representative of the student body. The president has many responsibilities to the student body and SGA, including serving as the student regent on the Board of Regents.

“It’s extremely important for the student body to have someone to represent them,” Alvey said.

Some of Alvey’s ideas for the 2013 school year include a student book scholarship and a program that would enable students to design their own course.

“It would allow students to have more academic freedom,” Alvey said.

Keyana Boka, current executive vice president of SGA, has been involved with SGA since her freshman year, and she is excited to run for president.

“It’s always been something that I’ve wanted to do,” Boka said.

If Boka is elected, she plans on creating a senator spot designated for international students, creating a Preston Center guest pass program for students and pushing for more fair trade and local food options for campus.

“I’m very excited,” Boka said. “Campaigning is always a good time to go out and meet people and hear what students’ needs and opinions are.”

Boka is also working with the Parking and Transportation Committee to solve some of the current issues revolving around parking. She has an idea to expand SGA’s Safe Rides program by adding another shuttle.

Fort Knox senior Austin Wingate, who has served in SGA before and ran for president last year, is running again in the hopes of promoting diversity on WKU’s campus.

“Diversity creates unity,” Wingate said. “The more different people we have in leadership positions, the more understanding we can have of different ideas.”

Wingate feels that WKU needs more programs to help bridge gaps between students.

“A lot of students only associate with people that look or act like them,” Wingate said. “We need to find a common ground.”

Wingate plans to institute more policies that will enable students to graduate from WKU despite financial or GPA problems.

“I don’t want WKU to be known as a school that can bring students in, but not keep them,” Wingate said.

Wingate said if elected, he will commit himself to helping students rise above their problems and have more opportunities to be heard.

Mark Reeves and Bradley Cockrel are running for executive vice president, and Nicki Seay is running for administrative vice president. There are a total of 31 students running for SGA senate positions.

Students can vote for SGA representatives on Topnet on April 2 and April 3.