EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a four-part series profiling the Student Government candidates. The articles will be printed in order according to presidential candidate’s last name.
Taylor Cox and Carrie Hebert said they promise student voices will “Be Heard” if they are elected as Student Government president and vice president.
The two mass communication juniors met at S.T.R.I.P.E.S. before attending their first classes of the fall 2009 semester. “He was the first friend I met at LSU,” Hebert said.
Since then, Cox has been involved in multiple student organizations like LSU Ambassadors and is currently SG’s assistant director of student outreach.
Hebert has never been associated with SG. Her extracurricular involvement comes from the Greek system, where she is the LSU Panhellenic Council director of operations.
Hebert said despite her inexperience with SG, she is qualified for the vice presidential job.
“For two-and-a-half years here I’ve walked around campus. I’ve seen what I liked and I’ve seen what I didn’t like, and now it’s my turn to do something about it,” she said.
Cox said in order to influence the administration and faculty on University decisions, he will need the help of all students. “We will not be people’s microphone. We are going to make a stand. We hope that every student stands alongside of us to make a difference in the University,” Cox said.
Cox said he hopes the new provost will incorporate student opinions in budget discussions.
However, the University’s Budget Committee, which brainstorms scenarios for the University depending on the size of a cut, does not have a student member.
“They know they are stepping onto a battle ground,” Cox said. “Several have mentioned they are excited to work with students. … That’s exactly what I as a leader want to hear from a faculty or administration leader.”
If elected, Cox and Hebert hope to establish a Diversity Advisory Board to hear minority students’ opinions.
Part of Be Heard’s campaign includes the student seat for Cox on the LSU Board of Supervisors. Current SG President Cody Wells also said he would seek the position when running for president last year. Wells lost the position to Ryan Perkins, who represents the LSU Health Sciences Center at Shreveport.
“Taylor and I definitely feel we need to find a common ground [with administration and faculty],” Hebert said. “That’s the only way things will be done.”
Cox plans to institute a letter-writing program to fight budget cuts and a day for all students to protest at the Capitol to protect “the value of our degree.”
SG has hosted several letter-writing campaigns in the past. EducateLA, which was run by several SG members last year, organized a Capitol protest last spring that had dismal attendance.
“It’s going to take us banding together as a student body,” Cox said. “If that means all 20,000 of us going to the state Capitol to let Bobby Jindal know … that we are here for a purpose and that is to get an education.”
Some changes Cox and Hebert want to make at the University include rerouting the Tiger Trails buses, moving classroom booking online, placing microwaves in vending areas across campus and creating more study areas in Middleton Library.
Hebert said other SG presidents and vice presidents were not as successful because they did not speak with students regularly.
“I don’t think [J Hudson] rallied the students enough,” she said. “If he had taken the time to talk to students … I think he would have had much greater success. His heart was in the right place.”
If elected, Cox said he would incorporate other candidates’ approaches toward the budget.
“[Joshua and Joseph Hollins’] approach is definitely different and unique; Carrie and I have a totally different approach,” Cox said. “Regardless of what happens, I know that we can work together. … It’s not going to take just us working on the inside [of the Capitol], but it’s going to take activism.”
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Contact Danielle Kelley at [email protected]