Dalton Houghton-Schaffer and Cassie Onate are running as one ticket for Student Government Association (SGA) president and vice president. The Scribe contacted the two candidates via email about their platform and experience.
What are your years and majors?
My name is Dalton Houghton-Schaffer, and I’m a junior standing electrical engineering student in the BI running for president.
My name is Cassie Onate, and I’m in my junior year majoring in Anthropology minoring in Linguistics and WEST. I’m running for vp.
What is your platform, including goals you have for the position, SGA and the student body?
Together, not only as candidates, but as a community we plan on incorporating new and diverse ideas at UCCS. As a multi representative team we have great insight for the student body; complimenting each other in areas such as identity, we welcome each other’s cultures and diversity, and we are able to have a strong representation of the student body as a whole.
Our plan is to build a strong community coming out of the hectic year we’ve had and we plan to speak with the school on their thoughts as a student body as well as a campus community. We plan on having a focus on diversity and equality not only through race but for disabilities, religion, class, and LGBTQ2+.
We plan to host town hall meetings for the UCCS community to strengthen our understanding of strengths that shall be continued and flaws that need improvement. As a team we will incorporate the student body for each major including for career fairs, advocating for a virtual side of all events, new areas to network, and community outreach. We also plan on boosting student morale including student life on campus as well as within the community.
To get started on this new endeavor together as a community vote for Dalton Houghton-Schaffer and Cassie Onate; another leap forward in the right direction.
What experience or perspectives will you bring to the position that qualifies you to represent the voice of the students?
We are new to the student government association to bring new ideas while integrating current traditions held from 1965 till now. For us, diversity is one of our main focuses on campus. We have diverse majors, lifestyles, and perceptions which is why we understand the importance of facing diversity together. We plan on celebrating diversity year round. We believe that we will best represent the student body because we have been in many situations that have brought us to where we are today.
Some of these experiences for Dalton include “losing my mother at a young age, being a father of a 3-month-old son, and I have lived on campus in the dorms, in a college apartment, and now in a house. I believe that these experiences, being a student in the BI, and living in various locations have given me a great understanding of student experiences in order to best represent our school.”
Cassie shares experiences including “understanding people of various backgrounds. Working in multiple settings and volunteering. I’ve met great people. Since attending college I’ve met very wealthy individuals and not so privileged students. I’ve discussed issues that need work at UCCS students who’ve struggled with drugs and alcohol due to lack of resources or access to clubs to gain belonging. I’ve also spoken to other students that desperately want to transfer to other schools. And why should they? We have the ability to be just as good as CSU and CU Boulder.”
With our open town hall meetings and office hours any student or faculty member is welcome to discuss any matter with us. We are your voice, and we plan on representing each student in the ways they need.
For more information on the UCCS SGA candidates, visit the SGA website. Voting information will be made available to students via email.