Town Hall Meeting- Social VP Candidates

I was dissatisfied with the town hall meeting for one reason. As the candidates answered the question posed to the group it would lose its meaning. It was like playing telephone and each candidate styled their answer after the previous answer. The question usually became: “what are your qualifications for the job?” This was especially evident in the answers of the social vice candidates because they were usually the last to answer the questions.

Brandee’s qualifications are that she is reliable and will do whatever it is in her power to get the job done. As an event planner/ recruiter for the business division she has learned a lot about planning and the importance of being detailed oriented.

A question posed that wasn’t as mangled in the telephone wires was “what mistake have you made in past positions and what did you learn from that?” She then told a story of one of her first events for the business division. She emailed people to bring certain things, but when they came they brought nothing. After much scurrying around, though, they were able to buy what they needed and the event went on.

One question that she didn’t answer well was “How many ASB events have you been to?” She said “As many as I possibly could.” I’ll give her props because she worded it wisely, however most people caught that and were not satisfied with her vague answer.

Christi did fall into playing the game of telephone too; her answers were about her qualifications. What we learned last night is she is well organized, super organized because she repeated it a lot. She also gives her all in everything that she does, and is a well prepared person. She has been year book editor of her high school which made her great at meeting deadlines, and she is a hard working student. Through her organization and her all, she will make the social scene great.

Her answer to, “what mistake have you made in past positions and what did you learn from that?” was that she was a perfectionist. The answer got mangled in the telephone wire, but that is how most responses came (I don’t fault the social vice candidates entirely for this though, the ASB officers presiding should have clarified and repeated the question more often).

In the exiting polls Christi got high scores from the freshmen, Brandee from the juniors. I think the biggest campaign that both these girls need to do is make sure people vote. Only about 400 students and faculty vote, the highest percentage of voters are freshmen. Ladies campaign wisely.

Town Hall Meeting-Presidential Candidates

Topher said "I'm a guy who gets things done and still has time to have fun with friends." He believes that communication is the key to good teamwork. He has two years of experience working on ASB, he also has been an R.A. and done several years on U-crew. Topher thinks that ASB is about getting the students involved so they can impact the world in great ways. His parting words to the audience were “ASB represents Union and they have a duty to be involved and show the passion of Union College students, their passion for school, their passion for life, and their passion for God—the essence of Union College.”

Dan is a very enthusiastic person, so enthusiastic that he repeated that quality several times at the town hall meeting. Why will he make a good president?  Dan said that he is enthusiastic and assertive, and good at getting other people to get things done and be excited. A trend I noticed in all the candidates. His parting words to the audience were to choose wisely and to reflect on the past deeds of each candidate, whether or not those individuals had kept their promises in the past.

A third candidate, Ruth, focused on her ability to manage people and her astounding age—25. Ruth gets very passionate about getting things done the right way. She also believes strongly in giving her subordinates the tools they need to get the job done. Her whole campaign idea is to be a piece of U, she wants to take every ones ideas and spirit and make it part of herself so she can be a piece of U. Ruth’s parting words to the audience carried her sincere wish for people to vote based on the best qualifications not on popularity.

Sadie is a candidate who just recently transferred back to Union after spending a semester at our sister college Walla Walla. She professes to have a new understanding of the spirit of Union, which she explains as our loving attitude towards strangers—who would have thought that Union makes better lovers (1 Corinthians 13). Sadie missed the spirit of Union and now wants to work with it. She wants people to be able to embrace the spirit of Union, both on and off us.

Town Hall Meeting-Executive VP

At Union’s first Town Hall Meeting, the candidates for ASB all answered questions presented by the students. Lauren Keller and Owen Hansen are both running for executive vice and both poised a hard bargain for those of you voters.


Lauren is a business major, emphasis in marketing. When asked how her friends would describe her, she said: considerate, empathetic, and able to good give advice. In working with teams, she thinks it is important to bring out the strong qualities of people. One quality that makes her more qualified than her competitors is her leadership ability and her ability to get things finished. One mistake she has made in the past is to emotionally take her work home with her. She is learning to share the burden with others. Her closing remarks that she wanted everyone to go home with are, “I want these to be the best years of our lives together.”

Owen is a Theology major with a minor in Biblical languages. When asked how his friends would describe him, he said: busy works well under stress, and efficient. In working with teams, he would assign tasks that people are passionate about—he said it helps them accomplish tasks faster. One quality that makes him a better candidate for the position is all of his administrative assignments. As head of Union security and head of counselors at camp, he has learned how to bring teams together. One mistake he has made in past leadership experiences is stopping a problem too late. Two of his counselors got into a fight and if he had stepped in early, it could have been prevented. He has learned to take care of problems when they first arise. He left the town hall meeting saying, “I’m here fore you and without you, I’m nothing.”

-Michelle R.