Each of the candidates for the Baker University Student Senate executive board read their platforms Tuesday at the student senate meeting.

They also answered questions from students and senators.

Freshman Warren Swenson, Baker Orange staff writer, is running for president. Sophomores Erica Vest and Shavon Brown are running for vice president and treasurer, respectively, and freshman Kyle Baum is running for the public relations position.

“I feel this role will really make them develop into amazing leaders on Baker’s campus where they will have more experience by their junior and senior years than most students on this campus will have,” student senate president Patti Greenbaum said.

As Swenson read his platform, he talked about improving the communication between the student body, student senate and the administration.

“I think communication is extremely important in any organization,” Swenson said.

One of Swenson’s ideas for increasing communication between student senate and the student body was to post the weekly meeting minutes and updating the student senate Web site.

“Anything we can do to make (student) senate more visible, ” he said. “So students know what we do, especially freshmen coming in, and feel comfortable right off the bat.”

Although the next executive board could be comprised of sophomores and juniors, Swenson said he isn’t worried about a young executive board.

“I think student senate needs strong leadership, not that we haven’t had that in the past,” he said. “It’s interesting that culturally we’ve sort of reserved those (executive) positions for more of senior members, or if you think a senior or junior should do it just because of their age, I don’t think that qualifies. I think what qualifies you to do this is wanting to be involved and wanting to make a difference and wanting to see the changes you want to make happen. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what matters is how willing you are to serve.”

Baum served on the executive board of student senate this semester in the public relations position.

“I’ve gained knowledge about how it’s supposed to be run,” Baum said. “But now I know how things are running, and I can take that and make it even better so it’s more of a success.”

Greenbaum said one thing she is worried about is that the executive board could potentially be comprised of students who are all members of greek organizations.

“Student senate is for the entire student body,” Greenbaum said. “It doesn’t mean that the executive board is any less qualified because they are in these greek organizations … but I think it’ll be very important when it comes down to issues about the student body as a whole, to consider that 60 to 70 percent of the student body that is not greek.”

Greenbaum said she thought the candidates have what it takes to lead the student body.

“I think each member of the potential future (executive) board has great experience and drive for the future of senate,” she said.

Swenson said one of the reasons he decided to run for president was due to the leadership this year’s executive board displayed.

"I care about student senate," he said. "I care about the student body … I think student senate is a valuable organization to get involved in, it's something I want to see it grow."<br/>