The Empower party won across the board in the spring 2017 CUSG election on Thursday, preliminary results show.
The party’s tri-executive candidates, Troy Fossett, Betsy Sabala and Carter Gruba, won with 68 percent of the vote. The remaining 32 percent went to the New Wave party.
The Empower party also won all four available positions for Representative-at-Large. Following the election code implemented last fall, these results are not final until election complaints are reviewed and decided upon. These complaints will be considered in infraction tribunal hearings on Wednesday, April 19.
Current CUSG President of Student Affairs Colton Lyons offered some comments on behalf of himself and the current tri-executive administration.
“We would like to applaud both tickets for their passion, and we believe that both Empower and New Wave were highly qualified tickets,” Lyons said. “We also would like to applaud both tickets for running positive campaigns, which is crucial to increasing the legitimacy of student government on campus. We believe that Empower has a lot of new, innovative ideas on how to keep student fees as low as possible. We also think that their plan to create a student organization committee and a Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Committee will bring more voices to the table in student government and ensure that the students are steering the direction of student government.”
The Empower party’s mission statement, found on their website, reads, “Empower for CU student government’s goal is to improve and expand CU Boulder initiatives to create a more inclusive, diverse and affordable college experience. We will do this through elevating the voices of all students, ensuring campus safety, creating a more efficient budget and enhancing the overall college experience.”
In a recent debate between candidates of New Wave and Empower, representatives for Empower spoke on the need for efficient budgeting and avoiding surplus, and embraced joint spending with the campus administration. These fiscal plans contrasted those of New Wave, which advocated for a surplus as a safety net and stressed autonomy from campus administration.
In addition to budget efficiency, Empower campaign videos have also addressed campus safety, sexual misconduct, textbook affordability and library availability as issues of interest. Some specific plans are to promote open-source textbooks, implement a Student Organization Advisory Committee, and organize and participate in the Student Fights Back Against Sexual Assault Summit. For a full list of the party’s platform and plans, visit their website at http://www.empowerforcu.com/platforms.html.
Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Devlin Thieke at devlin.thieke@colorado.edu.
