Although less than one year of student government experience sits under his belt, current senator Phill Lund is in the midst of running for student body president.
The current senator said he decided to make a run for president after what he said is his greatest accomplishment: SGA’s trip to Austin to visit with Texas state representatives.
Lund said he specifically spoke to representatives as an advocate for state funding of the Hazlewood Act in order to take the strain off of universities, thus providing a better experience for veterans and their families.
“[My partner and I] worked really well together and it was something that I was truly passionate about,” Lund said. “It was one of my greatest accomplishments expressing the concerns of the students to the Texas state representatives and senators.”
According to Lund, his campaign is built to bridge university organizations with the surrounding community, the end goal being university funding.
“Once the students start working together, we can work towards getting the funding we need,” Lund said. “If the university [is] better funded, that means it can better its students by offering them more things academically, which, in turn, the students would use for the future as they graduate and better their communities.”
Lund plans on achieving funding on a large scale by first starting small.
“I want to bring the organizations together,” Lund said. “We all have the same common goal. We want to better ourselves, we want to better the university and we want to better the community. One of my campaign promises is that I want to be a friend to any and all organizations [in order] to do my best to get them the funding they need to better themselves.”
Currently in the United States Marine Corps, Lund said he has integrated his leadership abilities into his campaign.
“We’re instilled with certain qualities that set us apart from others,” Lund said. “We have a high value of honor and commitment. The Marine Corps’ three mottos are honor, courage and commitment and we take that to heart every single day with everything that we do.”
If not elected, Lund says he plans to stay involved in SGA but is encouraging students to vote regardless.
“I believe in pure democracy,” Lund said. “I’m not going to have any hard feelings if I lose. I want all the students to vote and to vote for who they want. If they don’t vote for me, at least they voted.”