The role of Missouri Students Association president consists of many parts.
Chief executive of MSA, primary representative and voice of the MU undergraduate student body, key liaison between students and university administrators and, increasingly, legislative advocate of the university to state lawmakers — the holder of the office must strike an extraordinary balance of charisma and know-how.
To be successful, the MSA president needs both to speak loudly and to listen closely; needs both to take charge and to inspire others in leadership; needs both to champion the diversity of our student body and to help bring it together as what we like to call One Mizzou.
It’s a wholly unique and uniquely challenging job. The officeholder cannot, then, succeed on a strong platform alone. The president cannot rely on character and personality alone, either. Nor can he or she solely draw from past experiences to get by. The most effective MSA presidents combine all three to advance the mission of the organization — and along with it, the student body at large.
Of the three presidential candidates in this year’s MSA election, only one strikes this complex balance, in our view. Zac Sweets, along with his running mate Zack Folk, possesses the skills, the experience, the ideas and the character to best fulfill the many duties required of the MSA executive.
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When considering this year’s candidates — Sweets, Luke Blackburn and Mason Schara — we kept returning to the concept of approachability. All three slates expressed the necessity for the MSA president to be an approachable leader, someone to whom students are comfortable talking and sharing ideas, knowing their concerns will be taken seriously.
To us, Sweets is that leader. He’s amicable, genuine and friendly, but he’s also hardworking and practical. Such a balance would do well to serve students.
Optimism and positivity is, in our opinion, both a strength and a weakness for Schara and his running mate Kelsey Haberberger. They seem to be cheerleaders for the university, which is great, but we don’t see them looking at the university with a critical eye and asking the tough questions that will move MU forward. Schara refers to Haberberger as his best friend, which is great, but we question whether that would prohibit them from holding each other, or the rest of their hypothetical administration, accountable. We think Schara would lack the tenacity, pragmatism and willingness to challenge, all of which are hallmarks of a great leader.
In addition, the development of the CATs program gives us some insight into Schara’s leadership potential. Schara was tasked with developing and implementing CATs (Creating Active Tigers), which would keep track of students’ attendance at various campus events and provide rewards to those who attended the most. CATs was scheduled to launch at the beginning of the fall. It did not, and it’s still not close to launching. Schara said not consulting with advisers enough caused the delay, but regardless, if he can’t be held responsible to launch such a simple program, how can students trust him with the entire MSA organization?
We also have major concerns with Blackburn and his running mate Connor Hickox. The MSA president must be a champion of students, and we can’t picture Luke Blackburn in this role. He doesn’t have the kind of charisma and drive we want our student body representative to possess. Hickox is more excitable and a better salesman than Blackburn, but his MSA experience has also provided insights to his leadership; as Student Affairs Committee chairman for more than a year, Hickox accomplished very little. The committee’s power and influence dwindled under his leadership.
Beyond a few admirable initiatives to benefit the LGBT student population, their platform is quite weak. Blackburn and Hickox seem to take the side that administrators will shoot down anything remotely ambitious, and so their ideas are relatively small and lack impact.
Blackburn and Hickox also herald the idea that they best know how MSA works. We worry that’s a downside; they’re too ingrained in the current way of thinking. Pushing for the organization to present a united front, as the current administration has done, deprives MSA of the creativity and diversity of ideas needed to accomplish great things and truly _represent_ our diverse student body. Their slogan “Unite Mizzou,” to us, really means “Unite MSA.” It’s business as usual for the organization.
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Where Schara-Haberberger reflect unbridled, naive optimism and Blackburn-Hickox reflect jaded pessimism, Sweets and Folk occupy a pragmatic middle ground. They are realistic, reasonable and rigorously focused on the “hows” of getting things done. They understand MSA as an instrument to work with administrators to accomplish what students need, and want to function as inspired and inspiring leaders. They are communicators and advocates, but just as importantly, they’re listeners.
Sweets and Folk have the wealth of experience needed to serve the student body well, both within and outside MSA. They’re detached enough from the organization and its culture but experienced enough with how it works to continue what MSA does well and change what it doesn’t.
Sweets’ time as Outreach Committee chairman taught him about the need to connect MSA to the general student population. Their platform has exciting, achievable ideas to do this — holding presidential office hours in the Student Center, using the MSA website more as a portal for resources than an advertisement for the executive branch and the “Improve MU” website in which students can contribute ideas to make our university better. Sweets and Folk understand a key principle of good governance: to really help students, MSA must listen to them.
At a time when Residential Life is expanding rapidly and working at capacity, it is a huge benefit that Folk served as Residence Halls Association president and that he served extremely well — identifying and addressing many of the problems that currently plague MSA. Folk understands budgets not as limitations but as opportunities, and that’s critical. It’s the kind of budgetary vision that can truly advance the organization.
Sweets and Folk aim to establish a Housing Affairs Coordinator to address the problems and frustrations students have with both on- and off-campus housing. Where previous MSA administrations have tried and given up, we think Sweets-Folk could bring serious improvements.
Another key component of their platform is the revival of the Student Leadership Advisory Council, comprised of student leaders from organizations all over campus. The council sputtered out a few years ago, but Sweets and Folk have a greater purpose for it — more than just bringing organization presidents together, it’s about considering how whole organizations can work together to accomplish common goals.
Across their platform, we see that their campaign ideas reflect their broader perspective on how MSA can really evolve.
Among the three slates, only Sweets-Folk strike us as the kind of leaders we wish to have represent us and advocate for us. What they may lack in campaign donations or a “street team,” Sweets and Folk make up for in experience, focus and vision. Their reasoned and strategic approach to leadership and emphasis on listening belie a progressive and attainable platform. “Talk less, do more” is their unofficial mantra; “Moving MSA Forward” is their official one. We feel they have the ability and motivation to do both, and so we unequivocally endorse Zac Sweets and Zack Folk for MSA president and vice president.
_We encourage you to vote at [vote.missouri.edu](http://vote.missouri.edu) between Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. and Nov. 13 at 5 p.m._