‘Committed to Miami, committed to you’: The Miami Student’s endorsement for Student Body President and Vice President

The annual Student Body President (SBP) and Vice President (SBVP) election will take place Monday, March 17 through Wednesday, March 19, and typically, The Miami Student endorses the candidates it feels are best fit for the job.

The Student recognizes its important role in both covering the election and endorsing a candidate, and it does not make the decision lightly. In The Student all-staff meeting today, our staff met with Danny Martin (SBP) and Kirsten Osteboe (SBVP), as well as Gracie Grady (SBP) and Nya Hodge (SBVP).

To learn more about each candidate’s platform and vision for the position, you can visit The Student’s coverage of the debate.

After listening to presentations from both tickets, The Student Editorial Board has decided to give its endorsement to candidates Grady and Hodge.

Grady is a junior political science major with a minor in American studies. She currently serves as the Associated Student Government’s (ASG) secretary of communications and media relations and as the secretary for the Armstrong Student Center board. She is also involved with the Alpha Delta Pi social sorority.

Hodge is a junior creative writing and history double major. She currently serves as the chief of staff for ASG and as the treasurer of the National Black Law Students Association. Hodge is also a host for RedHawk Radio and a humanities research fellow. 

Their platform, organized under the slogan, “Committed to Miami, Committed to You,” involves three major pillars: accessibility and equity, safety, and public service and career development.

For accessibility and equity, the pair looks to focus their efforts on continuing and building on the accessibility map current SBP Will Brinley and SBVP Babs Dwyer campaigned on, as well as increasing the resources offered by residence hall advisors and King Library. This includes e-textbooks, construction tools, school supplies and more.

Under the safety pillar, Grady and Hodge said they will be conducting an “off-campus safety audit” as part of the off-campus safety initiative. This involves surveying different intersections, properties and streets to assure students feel safe in their off-campus housing.

This also includes updating campus safety websites and social media pages more frequently to reflect up-to-date information on weather hazards, safety postings and more. Also included in this pillar is increased accessibility to affordable parking during off-hours on campus.

The final pillar the pair is running on, public service and career development, includes fostering relationships with the City of Oxford through an event called Oxfordpalooza. This event would encourage student participation in the town through volunteer and networking opportunities with local businesses and representatives in the community.

By increasing interaction with the city, Grady and Hodge hope to foster a relationship with city council so that Miami University students can pull more weight with requests from the student body.

The Student staff felt that Grady and Hodge had thought-out plans with a clear course of action. Ahead of the election, the pair has begun researching the plausibility of their plans before their potential term. They presented both short and long-term goals that, if unable to achieve next year, can lay the foundation for future SBPs and SBVPs to build on.

The pair emphasized the importance of being the second all-Black, female ticket running for SBP and SBVP, and they said their experience is what makes them such viable candidates.

The Miami Student’s editorial board is made up of Editor-in-Chief Olivia Patel, Managing Editor Anna Reier and Opinion Editor Taylor Powers, and reflects their beliefs. The contents of this staff editorial do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the entire editorial staff.