This the Reveille’s profile on Energize’s 2024 campaign. For the Reveille’s profile on Empower’s 2024 campaign, click here.
The Energize campaign, headed by Joseph Liberto running for LSU student body president and Amelia Carman for vice president, hopes to bring an outsider’s perspective to Student Government and bring transparency and accountability to the institution.
The Reveille sat down with Liberto and Carmen to delve into their backgrounds, motivations and plans for the university.
Getting to know the candidates
Liberto is a sophomore from New Orleans majoring in international trade and finance. He is the philanthropy chair of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and is on the executive board for nonprofit Hams for Fams. He was involved with SG in high school. 
Carman, also hailing from New Orleans, is a construction management sophomore. She is a member of Kappa Delta sorority on campus and works with the nonprofit Dancers with a Purpose. In high school, she was president of a number of clubs, but said running for SG wasn’t on her radar.
Neither candidate has been involved with LSU SG before, Liberto and Carman see this as an advantage rather than a drawback. This sentiment is amplified by their slogan “fresh faces and different perspectives.” The pair said they represent the “average Joe” and that their background away from SG allows them to be more in-tune with what the average student wants and needs.
“The thing is, we’re not really running for Student Government president. We’re running for student body president,” Liberto said. “You know, we’re for the students.”
Energize has 45 people on its ticket supported by 17 staff members. 
Purpose
Liberto and Carman said they want to get more people involved and engaged with SG, specifically by showing that just because a student hasn’t been involved in it since freshman year doesn’t mean they can’t join now. They said that SG’s goal should always be making the students’ voices heard.
“And if we can’t do that now, let’s make it happen,” Carman said.
“[SG] should meet students where they are, wherever that is,” Liberto said, “and build them up through community, through representation and most importantly through being an advocate for students.”
The pair said they hope to unite the campus, specifically by building bridges between SG and Greek life. They said they intend to be people that students feel comfortable talking to and making connections with.
“It’s hard to feel heard on such a big campus,” Carman said. “We’re here for the students, and everyone deserves a seat at the table.”
Goals
Fluid parking passes
The Energize campaign platform showcases ideas like fluid parking passes, which would expand residential lots to access for commuter drivers and vice versa. 
“Everyone complains about parking, parking, parking. This is our way to actually do it,” Liberto said. 
According to Liberto, the Energize staff has talked to administrators and people who handle parking on campus and that they think the fluid parking pass “would be the way to go about it.”
Academic achievement
Energize is also advocating for a more organized academic scheduling system. The scheduling system would be entirely cleaned up to be more user-friendly and would use dyslexia-friendly fonts. Carman, who has dyslexia, knows firsthand that the current system can be confusing and difficult to navigate.
The system currently provides priority scheduling for students with disabilities, but that comes after the honors college. Energize hopes to change that and offer more equitable access.
Red Zone Awareness
Carman took the initiative on Energize proposing an updated conversation surrounding Red Zone awareness. The Red Zone is the time from the start of fall semester to Thanksgiving break when sexual assaults on college campuses happen most frequently. Energize wants to focus specifically on freshmen during Welcome Week and during the semester through residence halls.
“I think that it [Red Zone awareness] should be advocated for and sometimes it gets overlooked, especially by freshmen,” Carman said. “I really wanted to advocate for that, and if I have the platform to do it, I wanted to do it.”
Peer mentorship
Another initiative the campaign is working toward is introducing a peer mentor program for first-generation and out-of-state freshmen. The program would be a way to connect freshman students with upper-division students who are more comfortable and have more experience at LSU.
“It’s a lot, being here. It’s a big world,” said Carman, who is a first-generation student. “We just want to make the world smaller for them.”
Student outreach
A priority of Energize is to find ways to get the average student engaged with SG. To kickstart this effort, the campaign has set up “Ask Energize,” a hot link for simple questions, comments, concerns and an optimal way to get back in contact. Ask Energize can be accessed through the campaign’s Instagram page, @libertocarman2024.
“It just opens the gates,” Liberto said, “and you can do it from your couch.”
Carman said that every student should feel welcome to ask questions and participate in student government, especially since “we all pay money toward Student Government.”
Energize’s message to students
“We see problems that could be changed, and we want to make a difference,” Liberto said. “We want to be the difference.”
“We’re new faces that’s committed to accountability and transparency. We also bring new perspectives. We are committed to inclusivity and ensuring all students have a seat at the table,” Liberto and Carman said in a campaign video.
The Energize campaign policies and updates can be viewed on their Instagram.
The LSU Spring 2024 Elections will be held March 21-22.