Two candidates — Solomon Davis and Jennifer Sutterer — will run for the office of Missouri Students Association president in 2019.
Both candidates have past experience as members of the MSA senate. Davis chairs the senate’s External Affairs Committee, while Sutterer operates as the Budget Committee vice chair, according to the MSA senate’s December 2018 roster.
Sutterer and her vice presidential candidate, Mary O’Brien, are running under the “Show Your Stripes” slate. Davis will campaign with Briana Dinwiddie, the slate’s candidate for vice president, under the slate “All In Mizzou.”
Both candidates’ websites focus on the issues of transportation, college affordability and mental health services for students.
Davis and Sutterer are also focusing on expanding the access of emergency menstrual products in bathrooms across campus. MSA senate passed a bill for $2,500 in funding to increase menstrual product accessibility during the spring 2019 semester, according to previous reporting by The Maneater.
The “Show Your Stripes” slate wants to ensure that drugs designed to stabilize overdose victims are offered in dorms, Greek houses and emergency locations on campus as well as increasing student awareness about health resources on and around campus.
The campaigns’ websites also address the increase in electric scooters on MU’s campus during the fall 2018 semester. Both candidates expressed support for the use of electric scooters but also state the need for regulation, citing concerns about student safety.
In a Feb. 11 press release, Davis and Dinwiddie’s slate expressed concern about student awareness of MSA, which they list as a central campaign issue.
“Many students don’t understand the functions of MSA,” Dinwiddie said in the release. “MSA is here to advocate on behalf of students. Not only will we facilitate conversations with students, but we will also work to bridge the gaps that leave students feeling as though their voices are not being heard.”
Both Davis’ and Sutterer’s campaign websites suggest starting a resource to help students find off-campus housing through a Columbia housing database. Sutterer and O’Brien are also advocating for income sharing agreements as an alternative to taking on student debt.
“It would be arrogant, incorrect, and unethical to promise that we have all the answers,” according to the Show Your Stripes website. “What we can promise is that we are committed to working with you and for you.”
_Edited by Emily Wolf | ewolf@themaneater.com_