Now is the perfect time to learn about what our student body presidential and vice presidential candidates have in store for the upcoming year. March 14 marks the beginning of the voting period for 2016-17 Oakland University Student Congress officer elections.

Each year, Student Congress elects a new set of officers to act as a liaison and voice that will effectively communicate the needs and concerns of the student body to the administration. It is important for students to be informed about each candidate’s ideals before they become the chief representative of our opinions.

Just two tickets will be on the ballot this year — presidential candidates are Tim Brown and Zachary Thomas, with vice presidential candidates Griffin DiMaggio and Anders Engnell. Each of these pairs has worked to create a thorough platform for their plans if elected.

A look at Brown and 

DiMaggio:

Brown and DiMaggio have worked to develop a four-pillar plan based on hashtags that encompasses various initiatives that they are looking to complete if elected as next year’s leaders of the student body.

These include #WTBW (Wear The Bear Wednesday), #RenewOU, #GrizzlySafety and #PassTheTorch.

Each of these hashtags will work to accomplish a set of goals related to increasing attendance at OU home sporting events and support renovations for on-campus facilities including Varner Hall, Kresge Library and the Oakland Center.

Additionally, Brown and DiMaggio are working to implement better lighting and accessibility for disabled students on campus through their #GrizzSafety campaign.  They promise to move forward with their initiatives through #PassTheTorch.

A look at Thomas and 

Engnell:

Thomas and Engnell have organized their campaign into five main goals. These include finding a realistic solution to parking at Oakland University and supporting the effort to promote administrative transparency and accountability on campus.

With this, they are dedicated to fighting for social justice for OU’s underrepresented communities and will work to amplify student voices through reinventing OUSC operations.

Additionally, Thomas and Engnell are looking to partner with organizations such as SOPE and LEAP to increase environmental friendliness on-campus as well as the promotion of mental health in relations with GHC and provide widespread opportunities for SAFE trainings.

From here they are also looking to advocate for a stronger Greek living-learning community in the on-campus apartments as well.

Keep an eye out for upcoming election events before casting your vote. The presidential debates are scheduled to take place Thursday, March 10 from 12 p.m.-1 p.m. in Banquet Room A.  Online voting runs from Monday, March 14 to 18 online at oakland.edu/voting.

For a closer look at each team’s campaign, visit their websites:

Brown and DiMagglio: allinforou2016.com/index.html

Thomas and Engnell: servingstudentsfirst.com/

For more information about how to become involved with OUSC, their initiatives, elections and events, visit wwwp.oakland.edu/ousc/ or stop into the office  at 62 Oakland Center for any questions.