Two tickets are running for the positions of president and executive vice president of Marquette University Student Government for the 2018-’19 school year. The election is March 27 and both campaigns will be addressing campus-wide issues such as sexual assault, mental health and administration accountability.
Erin Murphy and Joshua Steinfels-Saenz
Murphy is a junior in the College of Engineering and is from Omaha, Nebraska. She is running for MUSG president. Murphy is a senator for the College of Engineering and is a former senator of Mashuda Hall. She’s the chair of the Student Life Committee and sits on the Budget Committee. Murphy is also a member of student organizations Empowerment and College Democrats.
Steinfels-Saenz is a junior in the College of Business Administration and is from Des Plaines, Illinois. He is running for MUSG vice president. He’s currently a senator for the Evans Scholars House, home to some of Marquette’s golf caddies. He sits on the University Assessment and Student Organization Funding Committees and is also a leader in the Evans Scholars executive board.
Murphy and Steinfels-Saenz’s platform focuses on three key points: “accessibility, accountability and assessment.” The pair said they want to make MUSG more accessible to better address student needs. Murphy said she believes some issues get swept under the rug and believes MUSG and university administration should be more transparent.
Steinfels-Saenz also mentioned that they want to make sure MUSG is being “fiscally responsible” with students’ money.
“We want to make sure that … all students can have their voice heard through MUSG,” Steinfels-Saenz said.
Steinfels-Saenz said one of the priorities of the campaign is to put a spotlight on the administration’s treatment of important student issues as a “passing concern.” He said he wants to see the university be more responsive to students. Murphy said one example of this is sexual assault, and she said there should be clearer communication on sexual assault issues on campus.
“I do not believe that the administration addresses many students’ problems completely,” Steinfels-Saenz said. “I think they give more of a passing concern and then move on, versus actually addressing a lot of the issues that students face … especially on sexual assault, that’s something that needs immediate attention.”
More information can be found on their website.
Meredith Gillespie and Valerie Del Campo
Gillespie is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences who previously worked for the Marquette Wire, and is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is running for MUSG president. Gillespie is currently the outreach vice president for MUSG. She was formerly the chair of the Student Organizations Committee and sat on the Student Organization Funding Committee. She currently sits on the Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice and Community Engagement Committees. She also works with the Near West Side Partners and Good Neighbor programs. Gillespie is on the planning and ad-hoc committee for the Title IX Forum.
Del Campo is a junior in the College of Communication and is from Waukegan, Illinois. She is running for MUSG vice president. Del Campo is currently the communications vice president for MUSG. She’s worked on sexual assault campaigns and helped create the Title IX town hall forum held in February. She is a member of Bayanihan Student Organization, Marquette’s Filipino student organization.
Gillespie and Del Campo’s platform has four cornerstones: academics, experience, resources and social justice/community engagement. The two candidates aim to diversify Marquette academics and create more 24-hour study spaces. Del Campo said they also want to provide multi-faith resources for non-Catholic students and create partnerships with local businesses. Gillespie also mentioned a need for library and Title IX training improvement. Gillespie and Del Campo said they want to address the “Marquette bubble” by expanding student resources, both on and off campus.
“There’s kind of like that inner Marquette bubble where I think students and the administration and the … student government don’t really have a clear line of communication,” Gillespie said. “(We’re also) just looking to diversify the experiences students can have in the Milwaukee area.”
Del Campo said an important issue they want to tackle is mental health awareness. Del Campo, who has experience working on mental health campaigns through MUSG, said she believes students aren’t aware of all the resources the university provides for mental health, especially freshmen.
“Student wellness and sexual assault prevention and counseling (are) a couple things that we want to work on and improve,” Del Campo said. “(We want to) create more awareness and start a conversation on campus.”
More information can be found on their website.
