Giving students a voice Presidential election coming up for SGA

Student Government Association presidential and vice presidential candidates will go headto-head in a debate at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre on March 3. The two teams hope to lead the charge for change at

OSU. As current President Riley Pritzlaff and Vice President Maddie Dunn end their term of leadership with SGA, two new pairs are competing for their positions. The debate is an opportunity for candidates to explain and defend their intentions for the student body.

For presidential candidate Austin Dedmon and his vice presidential candidate Olivia Kopang, their mission is simple: unite the Cowboys. The three pillars behind Dedmon and Kopang’s platform are awareness, understanding and action.

Dedmon plans to strengthen the relationship between SGA and the student body and ad- dress the issues students face while on campus. A strong relationship between SGA and students promotes communication between the two parties and allows SGA to identify the pressing issues students face on campus.

See SGA on 4A

Contestants compete in several categories. They are scored on their professionalism throughout the months of preparation and they have a private interview on the morning of the pageant. Each contestant must introduce themselves with a platform that, should they win, they will carry out throughout their reign.

Benard said her platform is Black representation and preservation of culture.

“That’s just a really fancy way of me saying that I want to build a community here,” Benard said. “I want to see more people be involved in the Mr. and Miss Black Oklahoma State University pageant. Especially seeing as it is Mr. and Miss and we haven’t had a Mr. in the past couple of years.”

See Pageant on 6A