Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress (HUSC) elections are right around the corner, with voting opening Feb. 17 and closing on Feb.19. This year, there are three teams of candidates campaigning for Internal and External President. Each pair of candidates has unique ideas and platforms for their candidacy. Below is an overview of each pair of candidates’ goals and their specific platforms in order of when they declared candidacy.

Amalie and Julia:

First-years Amalie Keller and Julia Sina’s platform is focused on accessibility, inclusion and sustainability.

“A big focus of ours is disability, so not only are we talking about making HUSC more accessible to people who aren’t involved in it, but also making campus accessible,” Keller said.

This includes things like adding more accessible entrances in more convenient spaces for students and involving outside organizations in the project to help with the cost. A second piece of their platform revolves around the sustainability aspect of campus.

“There is a huge issue with AI, people using it in classes and that sort of thing, especially when making art for clubs and things like that. We would love that to be artists or student workers on campus,” Sina said.

Both candidates decided to run after successful terms as First Year representatives on HUSC this current academic year.

“We both had worked on reaching out and seeing what people wanted done, and people said, ‘Well,l have you seen the pool tables?’ People on HUSC said that people had tried but weren’t able to get anything done, so me and Julia spent hours in the HUSC office, and we never gave up,” Keller said.

Ema and Sophia:

Juniors Ema Rheder and Sophia Nelson are running on a platform of uplifting student voices and creating connections between HUSC and students.

“We felt a divide between HUSC and the rest of the student population, and us not being in HUSC, we felt like we could shorten that divide,” Rheder said.

Neither candidate has served as a HUSC representative, but has been involved on campus in other ways.

“Our perspective with [Rheder] coming from athletics and [Nelson] coming from clubs, and working at Ginkgos and me at Whole Foods have been experiences outside of HUSC that will give us not better leadership but a different perspective going in,” Rheder said.

Some specific goals outlined by the candidates are focused on hearing student voices and creating tangible change on campus.

“I think finding actual tactile or visual changes that we can see on campus would be really important for students, because it’s hard to know things going on behind the scenes,” Nelson said.

Both candidates’ reasons for running were to bring their leadership experience to HUSC.

“We’ve been here for three years, and I think that gives us a lot of context for how the University has changed over time. A lot of it has been positive,” Nelson said.

Sadikshya (Sadduu) and Reaa:

Juniors Sadduu Paudel and Reaa Pandey’s platform is focused on improving campus life in multiple ways.

“We’re focusing on three main things: first, bringing student needs to action, second is building a vibrant community across campus and third is representing students with as much clarity as we possibly can,” Pandey said.

Both candidates bring a unique perspective to their leadership, as they have had many different opportunities and experiences on campus.

“Even though I’ve been involved on campus since my freshman year, it just felt overlooked in terms of policies, or anything they bring for students does not involve us as much, so I wanted to join HUSC as an international student Representative,” Paudel said.

Both students are focused on bringing life back to campus on weekends when many students opt to leave and return again for Monday classes.

“Everyone was getting this vibe of campus life not being as vibrant anymore. We’re trying to figure out how we could make it more accessible for students to stay on campus, making it more fun,” Paudel said.

Their reasons for running surround both their connection to Hamline students, as well as their identities.

“I think we have a pretty good idea about the main concerns for the student body because of the way we feel and resonate just as much with them and their concerns,” Pandey said.

The candidates will engage in a formal debate on Monday, Feb. 16, which will have passed at the time of publication. Voting opens the next day on Feb. 17, and students are able to vote until Feb. 19. All students are encouraged to vote via the Google Form being sent to their Hamline inbox.