Like an iron fist in a velvet glove, ASWSU presidential ticket Victoria-Pearl Young and Sam Horowitz have a strong, detailed plan of action derived from the heart.

Young and Horowitz are more than willing to delve into the intricacies of their presidential platform and plans. Both of them speak earnestly, moving their chairs closer to the interviewers, rolling up their long-sleeve tees and speaking with their hands. They are passionate about what they do and sincere in what they want to achieve.

“People don’t even know where we are,” Young said of the ASWSU offices. “And when they do show up it’s only when they have to. I want people to come up there when they want to.”

Like the other two political platforms in the race, Young and Horowitz have broken down their executive ticket goals into smaller, more digestible pieces. Their Cougar Change Project platform centers around the concepts of safety, unity and empowerment.

“We still do have safety issues on campus that apply to the individualistic safety needs of each student,” Young said, “whether it be wanting to walk home and actually get home safely, or if it involves alcohol use or drug use, or even if it involves having a decent meal or making sure people can afford where they live.”

Both possessing experience as Residence Advisers (RAs), Young and Horowitz draw on their experience with young undergraduates to explain their unity platform.

“I’ve heard, ‘I don’t like it here It’s too big, I don’t know where I fit in, I haven’t met anyone,’” Young said. Not everyone knows what kind of group they want to get involved with immediately, Young said.

This ticket wants to change that kind of freshman experience.

“We should be encouraging youth to apply more to WSU,” Horowitz said. “We need to be engaging and connecting with our community more.”

The idea of a unified community is as laser-focused as it is all-encompassing; Young and Horowitz’s ticket was designed specifically to represent a movement, Horowitz said.

“Me being a white male and coming from privilege, it’s not going to be as easy to do if I’m president,” Horowitz said, “what Tori represents is so much more than I would ever be if I was president. We need people like Tori to speak for underrepresented people and people that really need to have their voice heard. And someone like me, that understands they’re coming from a place of privilege, to support people like Tori and take the back seat, if you will, so she can have her voice heard.”

Their empowerment platform is derived from their experience with organizations and groups that helped them find their voice.

Young and Horowitz’s friendship is a cherished one; both parties said and came from their shared time as RAs. Although Horowitz initially came from an athletics background as a track team member and Young from a Greek one as a member of Sigma Kappa, they both have an extensive amount of experience both in ASWSU and outside of it.

Young, current ASWSU director of student life, is also public relations chair of the Black Student Union, a member of the Honors College and director and co-founder of Group Effort Dance Company.

Horowitz is a member of the ASWSU Communications Committee, a Murrow ambassador for the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication and serves on the president’s student advisory board.

Young said she applied for her current ASWSU position last year after WakeUpWSU, because she knew she had a unique perspective to offer.

“I feel like I have a very different perspective of student life as a woman of color and not only as a woman of color but as a queer woman of color.”

Howrowitz argues the heavy Greek backgrounds of other tickets could jeopardize funding distribution of about $500,000.

“They represent 25 percent of our community,” he said, “and that’s where the predominance of that money will go to. … We really want to advocate for all the different communities that don’t really get that much representation or funding and give them a true voice.”

He said they’re the only ticket with manageable, concrete plans they can do as opposed to conceptualized ideas.

“Everything we do, we speak from the heart,” Horowitz said.

“This isn’t just the next step for us,” Young said. “We’re not going to change who we are for this election.”