BY ALIZA GRAHAM / DAGLIGTALE STAFF WRITER

The Candidates for President of the Augustana Student’s Association for the Spring 2020 Elections are Tanner Gausvik and Arnold Gihozo. They are running for the President position for the 2020/2021 school year, and the Candidates Forum is set to take place on March 16^th, and voting will take place on March 18^th and 19^th, with campaigning ending on the 19^th.

Gausvik is a third-year English student and the current Vice-President Academic. Augustana will be experiencing a series of changes in regard to its funding, staffing, students’ services and job opportunities, and academic core; Gausvik is running for ASA President because he hopes that under his leadership, the ASA can help guide students through these changes. With so many changes occurring at once he plans to minimize any possible negative impacts these coming changes may bring. In order to accomplish this he will use the three pillars of his platform: Awareness, Advocacy, and Accountability. If he is elected to this position, one of his goals is to increase the transparency between the students and staff of the university, and work with the Vice-President Communications to find the best way to distribute information to the student population. He will address problems concerning the new core, and any of the cut services on campus. If any of the upcoming changes to this campus prove not to work, Gausvik plans to do his job to confront and hold those who made the decisions accountable.

Gihozo is a third-year Computing Science student and is also running to be the next ASA President. He understands the importance of the Augustana community and how Augustana is a unique institution. He strongly believes that this community still has more work to be done to improve the values and reputation it holds. In his platform he focuses on several major issues including mental health, sustainability, inclusion, and opportunities. Gihozo is planning a few initiatives on campus to help support students mental health such as an Emotional Support Group, Counselors on Campus, and North Campus Support. Over the past year, he has been working at the LAB office in order to find various ways to make our residences sustainable. He wants to work with the Augustana community to reduce waste on campus and increase sustainable ways of living. To help promote an inclusive community he is planning a platform for all clubs, groups and organization to work on issues regarding international students, minority groups and indigenous groups. He also plans to continue to support existing groups such as AQUA and Diversity Working Group to promote diversity at Augustana. Gihozo also plans on having Workshop Based Learning to educate on different cultures, groups and opportunities on campus. He believes the workshops could be an opportunity for each student to share their culture’s valuable aspects with the rest of the community. Finally, he wants to promote opportunities including student employment and employment development opportunities.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: You can read through each of the Presidential Candidates’ platforms, as well as the platforms for the candidates for all the other positions, on the ASA website.  Voting will take place online on March 18 and 19: you can visit the ASA Facebook page for more info.)