The votes are in for UCO’s student government Harman-Adams presidential ticket wins UCOSA

Sam Kozlowski

Contributing Writer

Two new leaders of the University of Central Oklahoma Student Association won election last week, in post-Spring Break campus-wide voting. Lauren Harman and Saveion Adams were elected UCOSA’s 2023-24 president and vice president, respectively.

UCOSA’s purpose is to carry out the needs of students by addressing their concerns, allocating funds for school organizations and improving the quality of life for all at UCO. Both campaigns faced off to answer questions about their goals at a forum held March 10, just prior to Spring Break, at Constitution Hall.

Harman and Adams were selected to answer questions first at Constitution Hall.

The Harman-Adams campaign is pushing to enhance equity, strengthen transparency and cultivate a sense of community that is inclusive for all.

Building a strong relationship with interim President Andrew Benton is essential to their campaign, they said.

Harman and Adams said they hope to strengthen transparency, including holding conversations with people directly affected by the ongoing problems. This would include meeting with disabled students and hearing their voices, similarly with foreign students on foreign-related issues and more.

Harman, a junior, has previously served as a public relations senator and secretary for UCOSA. She is majoring in professional sales with a minor in leadership. Her aim is to actively listen to students after empowering them to speak up about problems on campus. Adams, vice president and junior, plans to be a voice for those too intimidated to speak up and for those without the means to reach out.

“I work with high schoolers with dreams of going to college and graduating,” Adams said. “With TRIO, I mentor these students and give them tips to maneuver through college.”

TRIO was established by the U.S. Department of Education in 1965 to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

As vice president, Adams wants to improve the college experience for African-Americans and increase awareness about UCOSA for those who may be intimidated by civic involvement. Student engagement is an important issue to tackle, and Harman-Adams aims to get more people involved in events.

“It starts with student engagement,” said Logan Boyd, the election commission chair. “If students are not involved, it starts to taper off and the university dies. We are already seeing that with our numbers in retention and enrollment.”

Students running for president and vice president — Harman, Adams, Izzi Barry and Lauren Berry — are all members of Leaders of Tomorrow.

Both campaigns discussed improving marketing and advertising for UCOSA to increase student knowledge about the organization and upcoming events.