By Mackenzie Grizzard | Staff Writer
Campaign season for Baylor’s next student body president kicked off Wednesday, with three experienced juniors vying for the title. These three candidates have each had extensive experience in different areas of student government, making for a close presidential race.
Landon Self
Pflugerville junior Landon Self is a political science major. He has been a part of Baylor student government since his freshman year when he first served as a student senator. In his sophomore year, he served as the chair of the academic affairs committee. Currently, he is the internal vice president.
“I’m very proud of leading one of the most successful senates right here at Baylor where we’ve allocated $400,000 to student organizations and campus projects, all with the focus of serving our student body,” Self said.
In his campaign, Self highlights three deliverables he hopes to fulfill as student body president: improving the student experience, bringing back the student government airport shuttle and increasing communication between student government and the student body.
To improve the student experience, Self highlights the pillar of student flourishing from the Baylor In Deeds strategic plan and recognizes the diversity of student experiences here at Baylor.
“Student government does not have all the answers on how to improve the student experience; however, we can be a guiding point,” Self said. “What I’m wanting to do is form a special committee of students to give input on the student experience while also removing barriers for students … and making sure every student feels heard.”
The student government airport shuttle existed under previous administrations, but Self hopes to bring it back permanently for students who need rides to the airport during the holidays.
“As student body president, I would have my director of policy in my cabinet work with our student senate to fund this project long-term,” Self said.
Self said that his three years of experience in student government equips him with several important skills he plans to bring to the role of president.
“As the internal vice president, I know the senate like the back of my hand, and I run it at the highest level,” Self said. “Transferring that over into the student body president role, I will bring that knowledge and background of the legislative branch where I can have a good working relationship with our student senate to maximize effectiveness for the student body.”
Tanya Magesh
Plano junior Tanya Magesh is an environmental science major with a political science minor on the pre-law track. She currently serves as the director of policy in current Student Body President Lily Davis’s cabinet.
“I’ve worked very closely with our current student body president on all the initiatives she’s been wanting to work on, which I think has given me really good insight into her day-to-day life,” Magesh said. “I think that it’s just given me a good overall idea what the position is.”
Magesh hopes to refocus student government efforts to the “everyday student” by splitting her campaign into a student focus and a campus focus.
For her student focus, Magesh hopes to establish more mental health days for students, combat the instability of AIRBEAR Wi-Fi network and to create more 24-hour study spaces in the library during finals week.
“I have some ideas in process to see what is plausible and what might not be plausible,” Magesh said. “I want to work with administration to see if that’s something that could be implemented next year.”
As an environmental science major, another of Magesh’s focus areas is to work with the Office of Sustainability and the environmental science department and expand their efforts.
Another central aspect of her campaign will center around student wellness, particularly through the introduction of mental health days in Baylor’s semester calendar.
“I know Baylor’s attendance policy is very stringent, which is fair, but I want to see if there’s a way to work with administration to allow for mental health days because everyone is busy [and] classes are hard,” Magesh said.
Magesh also hopes to expand student government partnerships with campus administration and organizations, particularly IT, faculty senate and Baylor Parking Services.
“Something I’ve done as director of policy this year is working with IT and working with faculty senate,” Magesh said. “I really want to expand on those partnerships because we didn’t intentionally expand on them until the last couple of years.”
Magesh said serving as director of policy has given her a particular understanding on how student government works, and she is excited to bring that knowledge into a new position.
Throughout her campaign, Magesh said she wants the student body to understand that she is just a normal student like them.
“I really want to make sure that people know that there’s someone advocating for them, that I’m someone that really understands their struggles on a personal level and is committed to advocating for them,” Magesh said.
Elle Kalcik
Jenks, Okla., junior Elle Kalcik is a business fellow studying finance and economics on the pre-law track with minors in political science and math. She has served as a student senator for the past two years and hopes to promote more communication between student government and the student body.
“My main goal for my campaign as president would be just to increase the connection between student government and students and make sure students know how to access student government but also on the flip side, make sure that the work of student government is reflective of the wants and needs of the students,” Kalcik said.
Kalcik highlights the three main pillars of her presidential campaign: academic excellence, student life enhancement and campus improvements.
“For academic excellence, I’m hoping to eliminate Saturday finals,” Kalcik said. “I think a lot of the time, students don’t have enough time to adequately prepare for their finals, so they’re not able to preform or retain information long-term.”
Kalcik hopes to establish Friday as a permanent study day with finals beginning the following Monday.
For enhancing student life, Kalcik plans to take a stab at athletic events, encouraging students to stay longer at games.
“The way this would work is a system that would track your attendance, like how long you stay at events, and from there you get points that you can redeem for different benefits,” Kalcik said.
Lastly, Kalcik is keen on partnering with the city government to work on infrastructure around La Salle Avenue to promote student safety.
“Right now, La Salle is a big divider of our community,” Kalcik said. “We have a lot of students that are walking or biking across La Salle, so my hope would be to advocate for streetlights and crosswalks to increase safety and accessibility.”
In her two years as a student senator, Kalick said that experience has given great exposure to the “process of making change,” she said.
“One of my main responsibilities as a student senator is meeting with different organizations to help them with funding allocations,” Kalcik said. “I’ve gotten to work with a lot of organizations on campus and worked with identifying what their needs are and how we can best partner with them.”
Kalcik wants the student body to know that she truly cares and that her friendships and relationships are the most important thing to her.
“I want to be their friend,” Kalcik said. “I want them to know that in every aspect of my life, I go all in — and I am a fighter that will fiercely pursue their interests.”
