Question 1

Our Platform

Accepted Answer

ST. OLAF CULTURE Bring more awareness to the student body about multiculturalism and culture-sharing within the St. Olaf community Celebrate all cultures present on campus through programs and events Commit to the pursuit of communal unity Advocate for a proactive and direct approach when it comes to cultural sharing Create more opportunities and activities for students to connect with each other and with St. Olaf staff, especially during the post-pandemic period A monthly series of talks and events to highlight the myriad cultures which make up our community Round table meals and discussions about pressing cultural topics, such as: Detail Antiracism, Queer phobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Xenophobia, etc. and work to be done to further improve these Acknowledge the success we’ve already made in these fields Improve support resources for students’ projects, especially for BIPOC students Provide better bureaucratic support for financial matters  Cultivate deep appreciation for students’ work toward inclusion efforts  MENTAL HEALTH Propose the school to hire more counseling staff from diverse backgrounds Offer students a variety of options to find a counselor they can trust  Client-friendly navigation webpage to choose which counselor is the best fit for them (similar to the Piper center’s Handshake appointment schedule) Encourage students to use more mental health services and build relationships with counselors  THE CAF Advocate for more options for students with dietary restrictions in the Caf, the Cage, and the Pause to satisfy students’ needs Install a task force to work closely with Bon Appetit’s executive team  Bring back the bag lunch lines to reduce the lines into the main dining Survey the campus for their dietary restrictions to better understand food preferences within the community  STUDENT EMPLOYMENT Propose a higher minimum wage for on-campus jobs to meet rising costs of living Especially in the Caf. Cage, and Pause Implement a Central Support Office for student workers To appreciate workers and allow them to express frustrations Additional support & benefits   SGA Create a Community Outreach Director position to assist SGA with community engagement The liaison between SGA and the student community Work closely with students’ projects and activities Provide direct support to culture sharing initiatives as outlined above Commit to bridging information and communication gaps between students and administration Commit to transparency and accountability Make meeting minutes more visible and accessible to the public Commit to giving bi-weekly updates in the form of public speeches on Buntrock crossroads Build trust with the student body with more visible SGA presence Active outreach by all coordinators and executive leadership by means of public tabling events and open meetings Additional office hours for BIPOC and international student needs Cooperate with public safety’s community outreach Commit to inclusion within the SGA executive branch Specific recruitment of BIPOC members into SGA leadership positions to gain higher representation and involvement in SGA decision making Support SARN and the Wellness Center in sex, drug, and alcohol education Recognize the current state of alcohol consumption on our “dry” campus Advocate for optional bartending courses to make alcohol consumption safer

Question 2

Meet Sebastian

Accepted Answer

I grew up in Vietnam, which is widely known for its community-oriented culture. My parents taught me that life fulfillment only comes when I live for others. This mindset plays an integral part in shaping who I am as a person and my perspective on the world.   When I came to the US to study abroad, I had difficulty adjusting to individualism, a culture opposite to the one in which I grew up. After spending more than 5 years in the States constantly trying to find my identity, I have learned that identity and community are not so incompatible - I am my own person, but one who desires to “live for others” and serve the community for a greater good.  I have brought, and will continue to bring about my perspective and unique background of cross-culture to St. Olaf as the President of the SGA if I get elected.  If elected, Jeremias and I dedicate ourselves to making these changes happen: Expand mental health resources and get students to come to the Counseling Center more as they will be back, in-person, and in a new building. Create more opportunities and activities for students to connect with each other and with St. Olaf staff, especially during the post-pandemic period. Facilitate the Presidential Transition Process by constant re-examination of students’ voices. Advocate for more vegan food options in the Caf and the Cage to meet the college’s sustainability goals. Develop better involvement from the SGA and a greater representation ratio within the SGA Executive Branch Propose a higher minimum wage for on-campus jobs.

Question 3

Relevant Experience

Accepted Answer

What experience would you bring to the President role?  Friends who know me personally sometimes praise me for being able to balance schoolwork and internships while still maintaining to serve the community in different leadership roles: Resident Assistant, SOAR Leader, Tutor, SI Leader, and President of Ole Thrift Shop.   The most relevant experience I have to bring to the role is my time serving as the President of the Ole Thrift Shop. In this role, I oversee every other member of the team. I make timelines, deadlines, and delegate tasks to others. I assist my team with tasks from budgeting to setting up sales. I can relate a lot of these skills from my experience at OTS to this role in SGA. I ensure that everything is organized and well-communicated so that everyone is on the same page. I listen to what others have to say and synthesize everyone's ideas to make a collective decision. Moreover, I was there for everyone and reached out to them when someone seemed to be having a bad day.   What I found most rewarding from these leadership roles is being able to help others. Holding these positions made me realize how important and impactful a leader can be because every decision I made could impact people in many different ways. Thus, having the mindset of serving the community at the front of my mind, I constantly evaluate and analyze whether what I do would be beneficial to others or not.

Question 4

Meet Jeremias

Accepted Answer

Having grown up in the German state foster system, I have been faced early on how crucial it is to understand the structures that govern communities. Throughout my experiences in this system, however, I've realized the politics inherent in community governance structures can seem abstract and therefore instill a feeling of exclusion rather than inclusion. Inclusion. Fostering inclusion is not just an abstract statement to me, but a lived mentality that needs to be reembraced again -- through concrete measures and active outreach to all members of our community.  Inclusion is the key-word as to why I want to run for vice president. I want to work with the wide-range of our student body together, ensuring that the enlarged realities that we see, such as the current process for a new college president and therefore greater potential to change, the phase-out of the pandemic, the fact that we will have a new residential building, the reality that food has gotten worse, the reality that anti-racist discourse needs to happen much more. This will be a process that includes the student body. I want to reach out to the community, show greater presence, table outside and be as receptive to the student needs as possible. That's the work of a vice president that I would love to commit to that creates openness and inclusion.   My years in foster care have shown me how crucial it is to work WITH the community, and NOT JUST FOR the community -- and its aim is inclusion. That is what makes leadership profound and effective: When it is collaborative, tangible and trustworthy.

Question 5

Relevant Experience

Accepted Answer

What experience would you bring to the Vice President role?  Over the past years, I have decided to focus on my work related to the overarching issue of child poverty back home while I want to now dedicate myself fully in my senior year to serving the student body. This work unfolds in three central ways. First of all, I have published a bestselling book that is focused on child poverty related issues in Germany. Second, I have been a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany for seven years, and have held positions that go as far as co-working on an official government program of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate with focus on implementation of a mobility ticket affordable for low-income people. I have also helped out campaigning for our current Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz. In addition, I co-worked on an action plan that aims to mitigate the impact of children who are on the run with the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. Currently, I also help the German Crespo Foundation to establish a scholarship that will help young people leaving young people in their process of leaving the state foster system into adulthood. All these experiences will prove to become handy for the VP role as they are of administrative, and procedural nature. If you want to read more about the concrete things I did, you can find a brief list of the things I did and still do over the years both here in the US and back home, in Germany – the country of good bread, great hikes in the alps with a visit at the Oktoberfest. ;)  At St. Olaf and the US: Future: Future Peer Advisor at the Piper Center Recipient, PPIA JSI Fellowship 2022, | Carnegie Mellon University (Public Policy & Data Analytics)  Currently: Worker at the Human Resource Office  Past: Grand Prize Winner, “Ole Cup” Entrepreneurship Competition |Northfield, Minnesota October 2019 – March 2020  Currently in German (2021-present) Chief Developer, Scholarship for Crespo-Foundation | Frankfurt, Germany June 2021 – present  In Germany in the Past: Best-Selling Author, Piper-Verlag (Germany’s Premier Publisher) | Munich, Germany Member, Board of German UNICEF Youth Council |Cologne, Germany  Consultant, Ministry of Economic Cooperation & Development |Berlin, Germany Sept. 2015 – 2018

Election Results

Total votes: 1010

President and Vice President

Sebastian Pham and Jeremias Thiel

BORSC Coordinator

Fenton Krupp

DISC Coordinator

Mbuyisile Tlhwaele

PAC Coordinator

Sol Potek

SOC Coordinator

Nazareth Salazar Toruno

VN Coordinator

Noah Massanari