The three TSG tickets, Break Thru TU, TU360 and Owls United, are preparing for next week.
Students will take to the polls April 6 to vote on the next governing cabinet of Temple Student Government.
BreakThru TU is ready to do what its name implies: break through to the Temple community.
“There’s an old way of doing things, and we want to break that,” junior early education major and BreakThru TU presidential candidate Natalie Ramos-Castillo said. “We want to break through to students, break through to the administration and break through to the community and remold it all because the current state of TSG is that no one knows what it is.”
Ramos-Castillo, TSG senator for the College of Education, allocations chair and TSG executive board member, as well as vice president of external affairs and services candidates, junior communications major Damon Williams and junior accounting major Alex Shelow respectively, said they aren’t selling unachievable goals.
The group spoke to Computer Services to get wireless printing and to Dean Betsy Leebron Tutelman about a campus memorial for deceased students and faculty.
Other initiatives include Philly Free Taxes for students, and a sweepstakes that, upon approval from the Temple University Council, would allow participants the chance to win a semester of free tuition.
“A frat brother once told me that a closed mouth never gets fed,” Williams said. “Our campaign ticket will make sure that everyone is comfortable voicing their opinion and that whatever you say will be heard and will be taken into consideration.”
The Owls United ticket defines itself by aiming to unite the Temple community and resources to give students the best access to opportunities.
“With unification and increasing school spirit, you get Owls United,” vice president of external affairs candidate Chanee Lay, a junior STOC major, said.
This group, led by presidential candidate, junior strategic and organizational communications major Malcolm Kenyatta, includes Maggie Thompson, a junior marketing major and senator for the Fox School of Business.
All Owls United candidates are involved in several student organizations and hold leadership positions around campus, in addition to their work with TSG.
“Only 10 percent of students are even a part of student organizations, so I think where I lack, Maggie or Chanee can pick up … we want to incorporate that same diversity we have as a ticket into the school,” Kenyatta said.
Owls United plans to make students aware of the opportunities available. The ticket says it will do this by holding events and forums that unite the community.
In addition to unifying students, other Owls United goals include increasing TSG’s presence on campus, supporting groups that promote diversity and bringing awareness to arts, community, scholarships and other opportunities.
“We can inspire the student body to believe in TSG again,” Kenyatta said, “and to believe that it can truly be their voice.”
TU360 has plans to make Temple come full circle.
This ticket is led by presidential candidate Jamira Burley, a junior international business and legal studies major.
“TU360 has a lot in its name,” Jessica Reed, senior human resource management and philosophy major and vice president of external affairs candidate, said. “We’re taking a 360-degree look at a students’ life, and we’re trying to touch all aspects of it.”
Vice president for services candidate Mark Fabbi said through his employment with a state representative, he has connections with government agencies and nonprofits he plans to bring to TSG.
One of TU360’s ideas is to create a business council, a program that will allow local businesses to donate services and products that student organizations will apply for in addition to allocations.
TU360 hopes to bridge the gap between diverse groups on campus.
Reed, also president of Temple’s NAACP, has worked with Queer Student Union to create a program revolving around diversity and “what it looks like.”
She added that rather than saying “vote for us,” she encourages students to be informed when voting.
Josh Fernandez and Angelo Fichera can be reached at news@temple-news.com.
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