Mizzou Momentum, the only presidential slate running in the Spring 2025 MSA Election, spoke with students about their campaign during a forum on March 3
MSA presidential slate MizzouMomentum sits at the table ahead of the MSA presidential forum on Monday, March 3, 2025, at Memorial Union in Columbia, Mo.
MizzouMomentum, the only slate running for the Missouri Students Association presidency, addressed their campaign goals during a public forum in Jesse Wrench Auditorium on March 3.
Presidential candidate Logan Kuykendall and vice presidential candidate Kaylie Lineback answered questions from Mizzou Student Media moderators and University of Missouri undergraduates about their platform and experience. The MU community was able to submit these questions for consideration in a google form posted on MSA’s Instagram.
Running unopposed
For the first time in 11 years, one slate is running for the MSA presidency. Kuykendall and Lineback need a single vote to win the election. Kuykendall said that when they heard MizzouMomentum would be the only slate, they knew it would be an uphill battle to motivate students to care about the election. However, since they are running unopposed, the slate said they have already begun to build an in-depth structure of what they want to accomplish in their term and have met with student organizations in the months leading up to the election.
“Two months in the span of just the tenure is a 20% increase,” Kuykendall said. “That’s a huge amount of time that, before, you wouldn’t have been able to have. I think using this as a powerful opportunity to reevaluate what we’re doing has been amazing for us to be able to hit the ground running come March 7.”
When asked why this election matters, Kuykendall referenced the competitive academic senate races also on the ballot. In a follow-up interview, Lineback emphasized that it is important to still vote for their slate because of their focus on communication with students about the issues they are passionate about.
The candidates said they want more slates to run for the presidency next year. Kuykendall noted that there can be several barriers to entering to run for the MSA executive office, including a lack of communication or knowledge on how to run for office between MSA members and the Board of Election Commissioners.
Next year, the slate wants to work closely with the BEC to improve the election process, including increasing accessibility to anyone interested in running. Lineback said that they are considering establishing a form with all of the election information and steps on how to run in an MSA election.
MSA presidential candidate Logan Kuykendall answers a question during the MSA presidential forum on Monday, March 3, 2025, at Memorial Union in Columbia, Mo.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
In July 2024, MU dissolved its Inclusion, Diversity and Equity division. The slate said that with current university, state and federal policies, MSA is unable to change DEI legislation, but still wants to advocate for inclusion on campus. The slate said that communication with students around DEI is the first priority of their tenure.
“We cannot change the law,” Lineback said. “The things that are happening at the state capitol and federal government are things that are very unfortunate. I don’t like to see what’s going on, and I don’t think the student body likes to see what’s going on. All I can say is, we can advocate for [DEI].”
Lineback said in a post-forum interview with The Maneater that MSA and Associated Students of the University of Missouri work with and monitor DEI legislation within the Missouri General Assembly. Through ASUM, Lineback leads advocacy days, reads legislation and keeps up with policy, all to see state activity on DEI and understand how it could impact students. The slate will use this information to educate MU students through MSA senate resolutions regarding their state rights and state DEI funding and standards.
The slate did not provide further information regarding this matter.
Working with other student governments
A key goal of the slate is to increase the communication and collaboration between MSA Graduate Professional Council, Legion of Black Collegians, Associated Students of the University of Missouri and the Missouri International Student Council. Kuykendall said he wants to reinstate monthly meetings to amplify different voices around campus.
“When we are proposing a solution or we are asking a question, we are making sure that we are not being the voice to advocate but we are elevating those who do that best,” Kuykendall said.
Kuykendall and Lineback currently serve as the president and vice president of ASUM, a student advocacy group the slate hopes to increase communication with if elected. They said they are planning to resign from their ASUM positions in the next 30 days. Through their work with ASUM, Lineback said they were able to take a step back and view MSA from an outside perspective rather than solely an MSA member perspective.
MSA vice presidential candidate Kaylie Lineback answers a question during the MSA presidential forum on Monday, March 3, 2025, at Memorial Union in Columbia, Mo.
Housing
The slate said they are currently discussing an emergency housing system that would provide temporary dormitory accommodations to MU students who are experiencing homelessness. The slate plans to work with Haley Hamblin, MU Care Team Basic Needs coordinator, to address this concern.
One anonymous question from the form asked about the upward trend in first-year class sizes and how it could affect this plan. The slate has not finalized how the finances for the housing would be made available.
“While we do realize that there is a large incoming freshman class, we also realize that homelessness is a percentage on campus that does need to be addressed,” Lineback said. “Whether it’s a singular dorm room where we can leave a student there for the nights so they have a warm place to go and a bed to sleep in is something that we would like to focus on within our emergency housing.”
Accessibility
Future accessibility policies were mentioned multiple times throughout the forum by the slate. They said that they want to work on Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and make infrastructure more accessible across campus. In a post-forum interview with The Maneater, the slate said that they do not believe the current MSA administration put enough focus on accessibility. They said they plan on communicating with the MU Disability Center and organizations like the Mizzou Disability Coalition to discuss how they might be able to support these groups’ goals.
Student Welfare
The slate plans to increase student welfare resources through MSA auxiliary programs, including Tiger Pantry. According to Lineback, many academic colleges have their own small food pantries. The candidates want MSA to collaborate with these pantries by delivering necessary resources through Tiger Pantry.
“This is something I’m very passionate about, specifically because there are a lot of things that we can do to really break the stigma about accessing food pantries and food security here on campus,” Kuykendall said.
Tiger Pantry also provides emergency food packs that include snacks and microwavable meals. The slate wants to increase the number of packs distributed and the number of locations where they will be available. Kuykendall also wants to increase the nutritional value of the packs and offer more diverse options of foods for students with dietary restrictions. Lineback said that the slate also wants Tiger Pantry to hold basic needs and menstrual product drives.
MSA presidential slate MizzouMomentum listens to a question during the MSA presidential forum on Monday, March 3, 2025, at Memorial Union in Columbia, Mo.
Financial Transparency
During the forum, MizzouMomentum said that they’d like MU to be more transparent about tuition costs.
“Right now it is very expensive to be a human being,” Kuykendall said. “If there is going to be a new addition to our stadium, or there’s going to be an expansion of this building, our students need to know why that is happening and why you’re seeing an increase in tuition.”
When asked how they will be transparent with the MU community, the slate said they don’t have a specific method to share tuition transparency. However, if elected, they plan to meet with stakeholders to discuss the best way to achieve this goal.
The slate has also discussed reducing student costs by offering services, such as Open Stax, that offer free textbooks to students.
Election Information
MU undergraduate students will be able to vote for the MSA presidency and for academic senators online from noon on March 4 to midnight on March 6. The ballot will be released at vote.missouri.edu
A comprehensive guide to the MizzouMomentum platform can be found here.
Edited by Maya Dawson | mdawson@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Emilia Hansen | ehansen@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com