With Student Government Association (SGA) elections approaching on March 26-27, The Northerner sat down with presidential/vice presidential slate Collin Jarrell and Kyah Smith to discuss their platform.

The duo is running on the platform of making NKU an “authentic, balanced community.”

Who are Jarrell and Smith?

Collin Jarrell, a junior general business major with a focus in marketing, is running for SGA president. Jarrell is from Brooksville, Ky and serves as the current vice president of Student Government under Lucy Burns. In addition to working in SGA, he is also a part of Haile College of Business Ambassadors, president for NKU’s chapter of Future Business Leaders of America and a member of the Student Wellness subcommittee.

Kyah Smith is running as vice president on the slate. Smith is an economics and accounting double major with a minor in political science. A sophomore and Cincinnati native, Smith serves as the president of the Residence Hall Association (RHA), secretary of administration for SGA, is on the university outreach committee for Presidential Ambassadors, secretary of Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and a member of the Haile Emerging Leaders Club.

Smith spoke about her role within RHA and the leadership experience it has given her. She meets biweekly with University Housing Director Scott Patton to relay any student concerns and discuss ideas for improving the housing experience. 

“I think all of those skills very much directly relate to this role because the Student Government Association is heavy in advocacy,” Smith said.

Jarrell has gotten experience working with the Kentucky General Assembly, serving as an intern for the past two years in the Kentucky State Senate and House of Representatives.

He has also gained expertise on the inner workings of Student Government throughout his time as vice president. 

“We have relationships with not only students but also staff, faculty and administrators,” Jarrell said. “I’ve been able to have bi-weekly meetings with President [Cady] Short-Thompson, monthly meetings with Provost [Diana] McGill and just be able to make sure that student concerns are conveyed to them in a way that they can take some action and at least they know what’s going on.”

Why are they running?

“We want to ensure that NKU is an authentic, well-balanced community,” Jarrell said about the group’s platform.

The slate wants to ensure students feel supported and that they have the resources to be themselves. “Whether that be through Student Engagement, CSI [Center for Student Inclusiveness], Student Wellness, housing, whatever that may be,” the presidential candidate said.

When it comes to the well-balanced part of their platform, the duo wants to focus on making sure people feel at home at NKU. This includes students having resources to take care of their mental health as well as balancing their class loads and work schedules.

“Our platform—as much as it is about policies and what we’re going to do—it’s more about creating an environment where people feel like they can speak out about issues that they’re having and that they can be themselves,” Smith said. “If they don’t feel like it’s a space where they can do that, then nothing else can matter.”

Jarrell said his experience as vice president and his working relationships with administrators will give them a head start if elected. 

“Anything that we want to work on, we can hit the ground running on day one,” he said.

The slate emphasized they believe they are the most qualified to serve the student body and want to continue building relationships and addressing concerns.

Their partnership

Jarrell and Smith’s partnership started far before the campaign process, the duo said. The two candidates joined SGA as senators at the same time.

“It was kind of always something we talked about like, ‘Oh, we’ll be the president someday,” Smith recalled.

After her freshman year ended, the economics and accounting major didn’t necessarily feel like she had found her NKU community. It wasn’t until she became president of RHA that she saw how she could have an impact on a grander scale. 

While having a “casual conversation” one day, the duo decided to officially plan a run for office.

Smith said the decision to run with Jarrell was less of a “political power move” and more of a natural friendship.

The duo said their skills balance each other out: Jarrell knows the operations of SGA and has strong network connections, while Smith excels at advocacy and listening to student concerns.

“Me being from a little country county, I guess you could say, and Kyah being from the city, as people would say, we bring different viewpoints to the table,” Jarrell said. “And NKU has all kinds of students.”

Key issues for Jarrell and Smith

When asked about the university’s biggest problems, the slate referenced student engagement and NKU’s culture. 

“Student engagement really needs a little bit of a revamp, I guess you could say, or just a reimagination to try to get more people involved and make it more of an upbeat Student Affairs experience,” Jarrell said.

The presidential candidate said he is hopeful when the new vice president for Student Affairs, Dr. Brandon Thompson, begins his job, more experiences and viewpoints will be expressed. Jarrell served on the interview committee that hired the new vice president, and the junior said he was excited by some of Thompson’s ideas.

Smith said she feels students involved in certain organizations stick to those groups instead of coming together as a larger community. She wants it to be commonplace to go to other organizations and events and show up for other communities.

“I think that would change a lot of things for a lot of students,” Smith said.