REMY AND ANNIKA 2018
Bulldogs United
Remy and Annika plan to unite campus in the coming year with a four-pronged plan, which includes improvements in mental health, transparency, community involvement, and the environment. Overall, Remy and Annika have a vision to make Student Government a more readily available resource for all students.
PLATFORM
Our platform includes 4 pillars, which explain the many steps we plan on taking to tackle the issues our university faces.
Mental Health
We aim to improve the mental health of the Truman community in the upcoming year by working with the administration. We would like to improve the aesthetics of the campus by adding more plants in academic buildings and more picnic tables to allow students to study outside, since being around nature is known to improve mental health. We will investigate the implementation of a freshman buddy program, in which freshman can sign up to be paired with upperclassmen volunteers, who could help them throughout this major transition in their lives and inform them of the resources Truman has. Finally, we will advocate for suicide prevention in providing more available reminders of the resources that are available to students to improve their mental health. We also support the increase to the student health fee, knowing it will go towards providing more counseling services for Truman students.
Transparency
We plan on improving relations and transparency between student government and the Truman community, by becoming a better resource for students. We will keep students updated on the university’s finances, especially in light of recent budget cuts. We also plan to improve relations with student governments of other Missouri universities, which will allow us to work together to lobby the state government for policies that will benefit Truman, and higher education as a whole. We plan on implementing a monthly cafe hour, in which we will each be available to hear questions, suggestions, and concerns from the student body. Finally, we would like to reach out to other student organizations to have their representatives be a part of student government, ensuring that the needs of a wider variety of students are met.
Community Involvement
We want to improve the relationship between the Truman community and the residents of Kirksville. Student government will be involved in implementing more projects that benefit Kirksville, and will connect with the leaders of the city to see what we can do to help them. We also would like to institute a weekly meal donation program through Sodexo, in which students can donate any extra meals they have at the end of the week to those at Truman and in Kirksville that are in need.
Environment
We aim to lessen Truman’s negative impact on the environment. We would like to improve the light pollution on campus, by working with the environmental sustainability fee to install caps on the lights around campus. We would like to see more trees and plants around campus, and provide more ways for students to spend time outside. Finally, we plan on working with the Department of Public Safety and the administration to restructure the amount of parking spots available to different decals, keep parking rates low, and continue improvements on campus parking.
ABOUT US
Remy McClain
Remy is a junior Business Administration major who has served on student government for three years in various positions, including Academic Affairs Chair, Speaker pro tempore, Parking Ad Hoc Committee Chair, the Student Representative to the Ungergraduate Council, and has served on many committees for the university. Remy is also involved in Beta Theta Pi, a social fraternity, currently as Brotherhood Chair and was Parental Relations Chair; Greek Week committee, as Lip Sync Coordinator and Events Coordinator; Delta Sigma Pi, a professional business fraternity, as chancellor; Student Ambassadors; was a Student Advisor for Residence Life, and served as an Orientation Leader.
Some fun facts about Remy include:
He used to own a llama named Carly
His favorite place in Kirksville is Take Root
His favorite quote is "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
His favorite TV show is Friends
ABOUT US
Annika Eckenrode
Annika Eckenrode is a junior English and Political Science major who has been involved in numerous organizations around campus, including Sigma Sigma Sigma, a social sorority, as Treasurer, Sisterhood Chair, and Service Chair; Alpha Sigma Gamma, a service sorority, as Social Chair; Pi Sigma Alpha, a pre-law fraternity, as founding Treasurer; the Serve Center, as the Alternative Spring Break Intern; along with many other organizations including Pi Sigma Alpha political science fraternity, the Mock Trial Team, and the Up ‘Til Dawn executive board. She has also studied abroad in Costa Rica. With Annika’s plethora of experience in her other organizations, she is well-suited to serve Student Government with an outside perspective of what needs to be accomplished, and aid with our vision of creating a more transparent Student Government.
Some fun facts about Annika include:
As a child, she did not believe in farmers
Her favorite place in Kirksville is McDonald's
Her favorite quote is "Sometimes you gotta work a little so you can ball a lot." - Tom Haverford (Parks and Rec)
Her favorite TV show is The Office