Fuel connection, lead intentionally. That is the idea Grace Carpenter and Reed Scott are running on in hopes of a vote for ASWSU president and vice president.
The three pillars Carpenter and Scott are running on are student engagement, Cougar identity and resource visibility.
Student connection has been a big part of what ASWSU has done over the last year. Carpenter, the current vice president, wants to continue this connection into actionable engagement within the student body.
“There are so many ways to be involved with the school and as a student,” Carpenter said. “All students will go through something and they want to show that you can fall back on people when things get hard.”
The second pillar they are running on is Cougar identity. Cougar Nation and alumni have shown passion and pride for the school that seems to be lost by students.
“’Cougs help Cougs,’ has always been the slogan,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter and Scott hope to bring that idea back as a central core value of the campus. There are alumni scholarships, such as the “Retention Scholarship Fund,” that they are working on expanding for students to ease financial aid.
The final pillar of the Carpenter-Scott campaign is resource visibility. Students pay for resources on campus, often without the knowledge of what they all are. The campaign has the goal of reaching out to students to inform them of the resources they are paying for.
One of Carpenter’s roles is on the General Education Steering Committee. She is the only student on the committee and has spent time working with the committee to rework the core classes to benefit students in ways that apply to their lives. This plan will take effect in 2030.
Scott has served as the fraternity chapter president for his Greek life house, and this year has served as the ASWSU deputy director of legislative affairs. In that role, he was a major part of putting on one of the most attended “Coug Day” in current history.
“We are spending our spring break in D.C. lobbying for Coug’s access to financial aid and parent plus programs, along with the Pell grant,” Scott said.
The Carpenter-Scott campaign holds those three pillars close as they are supported by their faith. Carpenter and Scott said they see the needs of students and spend time in prayer and reflection to work for students and their experience here at WSU.
“We came up with ‘fuel connection, lead intentionally’ by looking at some scripture verses,” Carpenter said.
She personally has a strong connection to her faith and it guides her decisions in thinking about everyone. It gives her peace when debating and the ability to have great conversations and debates.
“That is why we had a great debate and peaceful debate,” Carpenter said. “I think we were nervous leading up to it and really praying and allowing God to be in that space and lead us through those conversations and put his words on our tongue when answering those debate questions.”
Carpenter believes through connection, advocacy and actionable promises, they can continue to improve the school culture, programs and realistic financial help for students.
“The three pillars we have are going to set any student up for success, not for the rest of your college life but further into your adult life,” Carpenter said. “Our experience combined, plus all the things that we are involved in, even though yes, this is 100% a friendly campaign, we are the better candidates, we care and we are so transparent and honest. We won’t sit here and lie to you. We are going to be looking at things we can actually do and we are not going to have empty promises.”
