The Northwestern University Progressive Alliance, a network of more than a dozen NU student activist groups, announced its endorsements Thursday for the Associated Student Government executive board races.
In an e-mail to The Daily, Jessica Joslin, president of alliance member College Feminists wrote that the groups endorsed Weinberg junior Ketica Guter for ASG president because of Guter’s diverse background and her familiarity with student groups.
“We believe that (Guter’s) affiliations with different student groups, most notably FMO (black student alliance For Members Only), will enable her to forge connections among the Northwestern population,” wrote Joslin, an Education junior.
Rachelle Faroul, co-president of the Rainbow Alliance, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy group, added that Guter’s personality helped seal the endorsement.
“There was one thing that distinguished Ketica,” said Faroul, an Communication sophomore, “and that is that she is a very humble person. She’s very approachable.”
Although the alliance endorsed Weinberg junior Howard W. Buffett for Executive Vice President last year, the members decided not to repeat their recommendation.
Instead, they picked Communication sophomore Jay Schumacher in hopes that he would bring change to the EVP position.
Buffett withdrew from the race during the debates Thursday evening.
“A lot of us were not happy with the way things were running, so we wanted to see a change, and hoped things would get better,” said Sarah Levy, a Medill freshman who represented The Protest magazine at the debates. “Jay also sounded really enthusiastic about a lot of his plans.”
The Progressive Alliance pledged their commitment to Weinberg sophomore Whitney Gretz, who is running unopposed for student services vice president.
The group was most impressed with Gretz’s efforts to include a “transgender” provision within NU’s anti-discrimination policy, Joslin wrote.
The organization also endorsed Weinberg junior Jason Downs for academic vice president because members thought he was open-minded and willing to look to other schools for ideas for change at NU.
“We feel that (Downs’) open-minded approach to academic issues, like his commitment to work toward creating a Peace Studies program, and prior academic track record work (to) make him a superior candidate,” wrote Joslin.
Although Faroul she liked a few of the candidates, she added that she was turned off by the professional politician attitude of some of the candidates.
“A lot of the people who were running were politicians-in-the-making, and that’s definitely something we talked about when we decided who to endorse,” she said.
Reach Julia Neyman at [email protected]
