By Farris Willingham, Editor-in-Chief
Sarah Cook. Photo: Submitted
Fliers posted on bulletin boards across campus, Facebook posts and hash tags on Twitter updates all read the same thing—“This Is Not A Campaign.”
It is the slogan for Sarah Cook’s presidential candidacy, which is part of Cook’s strategy to operate more than just a campaign. She wants to start a movement.
“I know it sounds kind of corny, but with our national politics we see all the time, campaigners promise the world things that aren’t realistic,” she said. “I’m not promising those things.”
Cook is working to solidify more student involvement in Student Government Association and campuswide change.
“They’ll become the voices that inspire those changes,” she said.
One of Cook’s platforms is OneOCU, which is her attempt at uniting the diverse student body through appointments to various student government positions.
Cook plans to establish 15 new positions across the board.
Another component of Cook’s movement is student commissions—groups divided by organizations where students will meet a few hours each month to discuss suggestions and complaints.
“The idea is that they will come up with ideas to make beneficial changes on this campus,” she said.
SGA has more than 40 positions filled, said Cook.
“If we can say every month a couple of hundred people are coming into our office to participate, the difference that makes could be huge,” she said.
The commissions would allow time for even the busiest students to get involved, Cook said.
“People don’t have to feel like they’re bogged down by student government, but instead are empowered by it and given a voice,” she said.
Cook would then utilize existing government tools, including initiatives, policies and Senate bills and resolutions, to implement change.
Getting more students involved in the allotment process of Senate was her biggest accomplishment, Cook said.
“In the past couple of years, outreach has dwindled,” she said.
Less than 30 organizations participated in Senate’s allotment process in Spring 2012, Cook said.
“At the beginning of the fall semester, we met with about 40 student organizations and outlined the allotment process,” she said.
About 40 organizations requested allotments in Fall 2012, Cook said.
“It’s not where it needs to be, but that’s okay,” she said. “I think the first step was changing the mindset of Senate to go out more to the campus community and talking to them about the resources that we have.”
Cook said Senate’s main fault was in the structure of the committees.
“We refocused a little bit what they did this year, so I think they improved from last year,” she said. “I still would like to see them improve a little bit more.”
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