This the Reveille’s profile on Empower’s 2024 campaign. For the Reveille’s profile on Energize’s 2024 campaign, click here.
Competing for the positions of LSU student body president and vice president, John Micheal Sweat and Sydney Smith of the Empower campaign focus on amplifying student voices, increasing transparency within Student Government and advocating for student needs.
The Reveille sat down with Sweat and Smith to delve into their backgrounds, motivations and plans for the university.
Getting to know the candidates
Originally from Broussard, Louisiana, Sweat brings a unique perspective to the race. A junior majoring in political science, sociology and psychology, he currently serves as the executive branch director of academic affairs within SG. 
Sweat said his journey to LSU wasn’t easy. As a first-generation college student, he faced difficulties in his application process.
“LSU was one of the only places that was really accommodating to that,” Sweat said in an interview. “I was able to get more help from people here than I was at other schools.”
To pay it forward, Sweat hopes to improve LSU’s potential student outreach and “put out more information to high schools locally in Louisiana” and “make a lot of those students aware of scholarships that they might not already be aware of.”
Sydney Smith, a native of Dallas, Texas, shares a similar sentiment, considering LSU her second home. As a political communication junior in the Manship School, Smith appreciates the sense of community and the opportunities for personal and academic growth at LSU. She currently serves as the director for programming of SG.
Smith was sure she wanted to go to LSU after attending a football game in 2019. 
“I ended up really loving the energy here,” Smith said. As part of Empower, Smith wants to make “each student feel comfortable to be here and feel like this is their home.”
Empower has 90 candidates on its ticket supported by 228 staff members.
Purpose
With their goal of empowering students in mind, Sweat and Smith came to create their campaign to “Empower LSU.” 
Their plans started small. Sweat, being involved in previous SG campaigns, got the idea to run after his experience with the campaign of Student Body President Anna Cate Strong.
After working in her campaign, Sweat wondered if he “could do the same thing that she had.” With time passing by and after giving the question much thought, he decided, “I’d rather try and possibly not succeed than I would never try it all.”
In SG since her freshman year, Smith knew she wanted to give more back to the university she loves.
“I feel like I really do have something else to give to this campus,” Smith said. “We want to help every student have that opportunity to be leaders on campus and to find a place.” 
Sweat and Smith believe their involvement in SG has equipped them with the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful leaders, something they hope to share with other students.
“I think that we do a disservice to the student body at large when we don’t get them connected to the SG network,” Sweat said.
Goals
Empower has outlined several key initiatives they aim to implement if elected. Their primary focus is what they call their “four directions.” According to Smith, these directions are advocacy, community, transparency and inclusivity.
Advocacy
To enhance advocacy, Empower’s first goal will be a reconstruction and expansion of the Freshman Leadership Council. The expansion, Sweat claims, will raise awareness of freshman involvement and engagement with the university.
“My hope is eventually that someone who would never think about running for student body president four years ago, that it would become an aspiration of their’s going into the future as it was for me,” Sweat said.
Transparency
Empower will also aim to take a step toward transparency in SG with plans for a comprehensive email newsletter. This newsletter will serve as a vital communication tool, providing regular updates on SG activities, initiatives and events. 
“There is such a massive communication gap between the average student and the power structures on campus,” Sweat said. “Our organization is one of the only ones that has the hope to bridge that”
The newsletter will go out monthly and will cover each branch of the SG’s initiatives and policies.
Community
A signature policy proposed by Empower will give students the opportunity to work off a parking ticket fine by participating in community service. The “Work it Off” program as they are calling it, will give the students an alternative to paying a ticket fine.
To implement the initiative, the pair plans to collaborate with LSU’s Parking and Transportation Services and Office of Engagement and Impact.
Inclusivity
To make for a more inclusive campus, Empower has proposed The Women’s Resource Caucus. Inspired by The University of Texas at Austin’s Women’s Resource Agency, the caucus will work to expand knowledge and resources for students at LSU.
Once established, the caucus could provide registered safe places for feminine-presenting students and students who use women’s health products. Set to operate as an inaugural executive branch department, it hopes to promote healthy inclusion, interdisciplinarity and discussion.
Student Outreach
When making Empower’s policies and goals, Sweat reached out and talked to student organizations, including Greek life.
“I’ve texted hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people just to get their ideas and concepts,” Sweat said.  “Even if they don’t want to contribute. I just go hear what they have to say. I’ve tried my best to go to each of those groups, every single demographic on campus that I could think of.”
Empower’s message to students
The hope of Empower is to create a more involved and informed student body. 
“Students should vote for Empower because we understand LSU and have the experience to implement the changes that students want to see,” Sweat said. “We have seen firsthand the shortcomings of the student government and have clear goals and ideas of how to fix those shortcomings. Not only do we seek to change the university ourselves, but we also seek to give students and student organizations a voice and platform to speak to administration and government officials in order to implement their own changes and build bridges and connections that persist for students at LSU years beyond our time here.” 
Empower’s campaign policies and updates can be viewed on its campaign Instagram, @sweatsmith2024.
The LSU Spring 2024 Elections will be held March 21-22.