The Maneater breaks down Revive the Roar’s four campaign objectives: valor, vitality, vibrancy and veracity.
Editor’s Note: An incomplete version of the story was posted and has since been updated to show the complete story.
Kayla Modacure and Olivia Prudhomme’s campaign for the Missouri Student Association’s presidency and vice presidency is broken down into four main goals. The slate is organized under “the four Vs:” valor, vitality, vibrancy and veracity.
Valor
“We chose that word because it means having bravery in all circumstances,” Modacure said. “So, that’s the word we’re kind of spinning into more transparency. We believe that students would be more inclined to understand MSA and understand how it impacts them, and then how beneficial it is through awareness.”
The slate cited last year’s voter turnout as the reasoning behind this need for an increase in visibility. The slate acknowledged that the current executive branch improved awareness of MSA over the last year, and they plan to continue to grow that reach.
To do this, Modacure said she would begin a weekly newsletter for MU students detailing what MSA is doing in all branches.
“I think that it’s just a good way to hit every student on campus,” Modacucre said.
Modacure said the newsletter would be sent either weekly or monthly with either the current MU Info emails or as a separate email. The newsletter would consist of a report of what MSA is doing, as well as any upcoming events.
While the slate said it is currently unsure of what the design of the newsletter will look like, the slate said it plans to appoint a cabinet position to manage it.
Vitality
One of Revive the Roar’s main concerns is mental health.
“We believe that [mental health] is a very popular topic, but there needs to be more action towards that,” said Modacure.
Revive the Roar’s platform also includes pushing for a policy to write no-questions-asked mental health days for students into the syllabus of all MU courses.
“I think that [mental health is] something that’s kind of overlooked sometimes, especially with the stigma of needing a break and being determined as lazy or that you’re just not trying hard enough, or you just don’t want it,” said Modacure. “I think with what we want to do — we’re also breaking that stigma.”
Revive the Roar said it plans to send out a survey through their newsletter regarding student mental health. Modacure said potential questions would include, “How often do you feel fatigued?,” “How often do you feel the academic stress?,” and “How often do you feel like if you took a day away from classes, you’d be more productive throughout the week or for the rest of the month?”
Using the survey data, Modacure and Prudhomme would then advocate for mental health days with administration.
Vibrancy
Modacure said Revive the Roar wants to bring all students in the community together.
“I think there’s a lot of focus on IFC and PHA and NPHC and a lot of students are feeling not necessarily left out,” Modacure said. “But they’re feeling like if you aren’t in this organization, then it really doesn’t matter because no one’s really listening.”
Modacure said that there were certain groups — such as LGBTQ+ students and students with disabilities — that have certain taboos on campus surrounding their identity, which the slate would like to end.
“[There are] just pockets of campus that we feel like we know about, but they aren’t brought to the table,” Modacure said.
Modacure said that during her time as an Assessment Specialist, she heard about issues LGBTQ+ students and students with disabilities were facing via word of mouth.
“I’d be like, ‘Oh, I’m in MSA,’” Modacure said. “[People] were like, ‘Oh, you’re in MSA? What’s that?’ And then [I] explain a little bit what it is, and [people would say] ’Oh, well, I have something to tell you.’”
Modacure also noted the problem of binge drinking, and hoped to combat it with a color walk.
“[Binge drinking is] a college culture thing,” Modacure said. “Something that’s really hard to shift, but we wanted to have a color walk in the sense of bringing all parts of campus together for one united front that impacts almost everyone at this point.”
Modacure said the color walk would be an event where students wear the same color and go for a walk around campus visiting tables that provide information and resources about binge drinking. The “color” aspect of the walk would be a result of colored powder sprayed onto students to create a tie-dye effect on their clothes, similar to The Color Run, a nationally held 5K.
Modacure said the walk would be through the parade route used for homecoming and would take place in the Spring of 2025, allowing them to plan in the Fall of 2024.
Modacure said the idea for the color walk came from Jessie Johns, Coordinator of Assessment for MU Strategic Initiatives & Assessment, whom Modacure worked closely with during her time as the Assessment Specialist for the current executive cabinet.
Veracity
“The word veracity essentially means always being honest,” Modacure said. “So, essentially think integrity, always being honest, in that sense. We think academic excellence is one of the four [because] we’re a university — we’re all here to get an education and we think academic integrity should be at the forefront.”
Modacure said Revive the Roar would advocate for changes in the GPA system, changing the policy so pluses and minuses would not affect GPA. Instead of an A minus and an A holding different weights, any grade of 90 or above would equal a 4.0 for that course.
The slate’s plan for getting the GPA system changed is similar to their plan for mental health days. The slate hopes to gather student data and then present this data to administration to advocate for a change in policy.
Modacure said Revive the Roar also wants to focus on working with Campus Dining Services. Specifically, the slate wanted to work with the administration to help increase CDS workers’ wages to help with problems of understaffing, as well as work to provide more options for students with dietary restrictions.
Outside of their main four objectives, Revive the Roar has other plans they would like to focus on.
“I think that [transportation] goes so much with safety in that unity aspect as well,” Modacure said.
Revive the Roar hopes to establish a system to help students know which buses and sidewalks may be accessible at any given time, especially when things are frozen over and campus is closed.
As for interacting with other administrative organizations, Modacure said Revive the Roar hopes to set up a regular conference-style meeting between themselves and other organizations in order to build connections and understanding.
Prudhomme also spoke about the lack of awareness regarding MSA and its resources.“I have gone my whole college career without even knowing about MSA,” Prudhomme said. “It’s just really sad and I feel like more students should know about that and I feel like our empathy and wanting to create change is why people should vote for us.”
The MSA election debate will be held on March 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Wrench Auditorium. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. and students are encouraged to send in debate questions for both slates.
All undergraduate students will be able to cast their vote on vote.missouri.edu between Tuesday, March 5th at noon and Thursday, March 7th at 11:59 p.m.
Edited by Sam Barrett | sbarrett@themaneater.com
Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com Edited by Scout Hudson | shudson@themaneater.com