Emily Case, a progressive mind for the future of MSU’s campus life, was appointed as the Student Association’s new vice president, with 76.68 percent of the votes. The numbers show many consider her the best candidate for this position, whether because of her personality, hard work ethic or her plan of action.
When running for a position in the student government, it is important to spread the word efficiently. Social media was vital to Case’s campaign because of her connections.
“I’m lucky enough to be involved in a sorority, so I have 260 people who can post my graphic on their Instagram stories,” Case said.
Social media helped her in more ways than just various Instagram stories, she said. Case’s campaign was furthered by her campaign videos produced, which were made by Hugo Garcia. They created three videos, and all three were more comedic and personal than the clean-cut campaign videos Case avoided.
“We made one about change that incorporated the off-campus dining options I’m hoping to implement,” Case said. “We made a funny one about parking, and then just one based off of the kid president video. I thought those were really helpful, because a lot of people thought they were funny, so they’d send them to their friends, and then people who don’t even follow me on social media were commenting on them and viewing them.”
The most important aspect of getting votes for a position in the SA, however, was reaching out to people and asking for support. Much of campaigning circulated around being sociable and willing to speak with students about what they want and what she is hoping to do.
“She’s super approachable, which is huge,” SA Senator Juan Benavites said. ”When you’re on an executive council, you want to be approachable and willing to talk to anyone about their issues on campus and what they’re going through with those problems they have with the university.”
Several senators who have worked alongside Case feel similarly about her.
“She was and still is the most encouraging person I have ever met in my life,” Madelyn Winstead said. “She made me feel welcomed and important.”
Because this is a position that can change campus life in effective ways and potentially make it better, being sociable is an important aspect.
Some things Case is looking forward to improving are the crosswalks and off-campus meal plan, among other things.
“My freshman year at MSU I was hit by a drunk driver on Blackjack Road,” SA’s new Vice President shared. “One of the first pieces of legislation I did was to get a crosswalk on Blackjack Road because there’s no crosswalk there and people are walking back and forth to Helix all the time.”
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During her second term as a senator for SA, she successfully had a crosswalk installed at that location. The reason this particular issue resonates with her strongly is because adding crosswalks will improve safety on campus. Case expressed interest with adding crosswalks between sorority and fraternity row, and also between sorority row and the landscape architecture building to improve this aspect of campus.
“I’d love to start meeting with people to figure out a game plan for that,” Case said.
Another important part of her platform was to create an off-campus dining possibility.
“I’ve been working for probably about a year and a half on getting us a program like what they have at (the University of) Alabama. Essentially, it would be being able to use your ID off campus to buy food or even groceries,” Case said. “Because a ton of other schools in the SEC have a program like that, I would love to see us compete with that.”
Layton Little, one of SA’s former vice presidents, said Case is a great fit for the position.
“She’ll benefit not only one group on campus, but the entire campus as a whole,” Little said.
Due to being a senator for two terms, Case felt familiar with the position of vice president, who runs the Senate.
“I felt like I could do more than be a senator for another year, and VP just seemed to be the best fit for me,” Case said.