NDSU will be voting to elect a Student Body President for the 2025-2026 school year starting on April 8th and ending April 9th at 5 p.m. There are two candidates running for president, each with their own running mate. This week the Spectrum spoke with both candidates about their presidential plans and their motivations for running.
Garrett Kuhn and Christopher Dick
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Garrett: Hello everyone, my name is Garrett Kuhn and I am running for Student Body President. I’m originally from Glen Ullin, ND which is about an hour west of Bismarck. I’m a senior here triple majoring in Agricultural Economics, Economics and Political Science. I’m also going into my final year in my accelerated master’s program in Agribusiness and Applied Economics. I am currently involved with Student Government, Ag Ambassadors, and Pi Kappa Alpha. I work in the Greenhouse here at the USDA. Needless to say I’m a very busy person, who prides themselves on their work.
Who are you running with?
Chris: I’m a sophomore majoring in Data Science from Hayfield, MN. Currently I’m a part of a bunch of different clubs, including Theta Chi, Engineering Ambassadors, Student Government, Order of Omega, Bison Bowling Club and Bison Information Network. I really enjoy doing everything that I do since it adds some excitement on top of my academic work.
What made you want to run for president?
Garrett: Something a bit unique about our situation is that we’re actually running for re-election. The reason I feel compelled to run again is because, although we had an incredibly productive year, there’s still so much more we want to accomplish. Both Chris and I are driven by a strong desire to serve others, and that’s where we believe our true purpose lies. Students deserve a balanced, moderate voice that truly represents their interests and works to bring about meaningful change on campus. Since we already know these roles inside and out, there won’t be a learning curve; just a smooth continuation of the work we’ve already started.
Chris: This past year after already being in the role we’ve accomplished what we wanted. We were so busy with the legislative year that we really couldn’t do more, which is what makes us want to run again—because we still feel like there’s more for us to do and we like being in our roles serving the students as we are.
What are your campaign promises? What do you want to see changed on campus?
Garrett: Last year, we promised two major things. First, we wanted a new email policy that split up the existing email list into four new ones, each based around a different topic. These new email lists could then be unsubscribed from, so students could remove emails they didn’t want to see in their inbox. We were happy to work with the IT department over the summer to bring this policy to students the day they got back for fall classes. The second idea from last year was to have a large-scale spring event to bring the entire campus community together. We’re happy to announce that later this spring, Student Government and other campus partners will be putting on a Spring Concert for students. The final new event we brought to campus this last year was the student tailgate. For years, students wanted an area in the tailgate just for them, and this year we delivered on that idea. We worked with Residence Life to bring free food and entertainment for students to enjoy before football games, something many students came and enjoyed.
New this year, we would like to renegotiate the contract for student tickets at football games, so that the increased number of tickets we get for certain games like UND also includes our rivals SDSU. A major complaint we heard in the fall was about the decrease in student tickets for the SDSU game. The second item on our list is working with the Homecoming Committee to bring back Homecoming Royalty. The court and its royalty are a decades-old tradition, and we heard many students’ displeasure with the decision to discontinue it. Bison Pride is on full display during Homecoming week, and we want to ensure it stays the way many alumni remember it as they return to campus. The third idea involves a Track and Field Day in the spring. Intramurals are the most participated-in extracurricular on campus, with roughly a third of students taking part. This competitive nature is a driving factor, and we would love to host a large-scale event where students get to compete, and different groups of people can come together. We believe these ideas will preserve traditions and maybe even create new ones and will elevate what it means to be a Bison.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Garrett: We’ll be tabling from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every Tuesday through Thursday over the next few weeks. Feel free to stop by with any questions. Make sure to check out our Instagram and give us a follow to stay up to date.
Nic Frello and Caleb Jarvis
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Nic: I am a junior from Maple Grove, MN, and I am majoring in Management Information Systems and Pre-Law. I currently serve as the Executive Commissioner of Technology in student government, as well as the student body representative on seven different committees dedicated to improving the student experience on campus.
Who are you running with?
Nic: I am running with Caleb Jarvis, he is a sophomore from the Twin Cities majoring in political science, and currently serves as an at-large student senator, as well as member of the Tech Commission, Access and Opportunity Commission, and Congress of Student Organizations Committee.
What made you want to run for president?
Nic: Caleb and I were discussing some issues within student government, and after recognizing our passions and how much we care about this campus, we decided to run for student body president and vice president. Our whole platform is based on our excitement to be involved and implement new ideas into student government. We have both had incredible experiences here at NDSU, and these experiences have motivated us to work toward making this campus one you can be proud of.
What are your campaign promises? What do you want to see changed on campus?
Nic: We would like to renegotiate the football student ticket deal with athletics. Coming off a national championship win, prospective attendance for football games is expected to increase. We would like to raise the number of tickets from 1,400 to 1,900 for all games to accommodate the increase in student interest. Additionally, we would like to do this to show more support to the other organizations performing on game days like the Gold Star Marching Band, the dance team, and the cheer team.
We would also like to explore all possible options with IT regarding emails, and then present the options to the student body and do polling to determine the students’ most desired solution to this problem. In the meantime, we would like to upload instructions to the IT Knowledge Base showing students how to create an outlook rule that would send emails from specific senders to an alternate folder. This would prevent overcrowding your main inbox, while also allowing students to refer back to all communications on their own accord.
We want to bring back the spring involvement expo. This would be done to support our clubs and student organizations on campus, as well as provide more opportunities for students to get involved. It is not uncommon for incoming students to feel uncertain about their involvement, which is why we want to make sure they feel supported and are aware of their options. Because most opportunities are published in the fall, the spring involvement expo would be a great opportunity for freshman after they have settled in for a semester, or even transfer students stepping onto our campus for the first time.
We also want to increase the potential impact of programs like Goods for the Herd and the Herd Pantry. We plan on reaching out to grocery stores in the area and discussing the idea of them donating food that may not be considered suitable to sell, but is still good nonetheless. Somebody may not want this food, but somebody needs it, which is why we want to expand on what’s available through this program and ensure no student goes hungry.
We have noticed an informational gap between student government and the general student body. We want to create a committee made up of a student senator from each academic college and an appointed committee chair. Caleb will be removing $1,000 from his stipend to give to the senator fulfilling the Senate Outreach Committee chair position. The purpose of this committee is to increase student government’s presence on campus by visiting with students and organizations to gauge feedback and perception on student government and our projects. Our overall goal with this committee is to more accurately advocate for student issues and concerns, while allowing for them to become more informed about events, organizations, and involvement opportunities on campus.