As current executive board members, former ASG committee members and a pair of graduating seniors that have worked extensively with both Julia and Erik in a variety of capacities, we would like to unequivocally throw our genuine support behind their candidacy for student body president and executive vice president.

We both met Julia in a tumultuous and hectic moment within our first weeks serving on the executive board of ASG. Despite the uncertainties and moments of challenge that encompassed this time, Julia was an expected gem. As public relations vice president of ASG this past year, her ability to critically listen and thoughtfully respond, as well as her clear capacity to serve as a resilient and reliable leader, collaborator and supporter, was instrumental in each of our successes. Julia approaches each scenario with a deep sense of sincerity that is a rare but invaluable trait not held by everyone who pursues leadership at Northwestern. But in each and every instance, she consistently examines each problem with a nuanced perspective that allows our community to take the most thoughtful steps forward. She understands where our community’s strengths lie and where we have yet to grow. Julia has long since internalized this deep commitment to building community at Northwestern through each of her involvements. And we have no doubt that she would advance our student experiences into a better reality through the role of ASG President.

As president of the Residential College Board, Erik developed the unique ability to thoughtfully engage with his constituencies in a way that both inspired confidence and resulted in RCB-wide success. Our experiences of collaborating with Erik have been nothing short of amazing. Erik’s experiences across campus both in RCB and within the ASG Academic Committee have displayed to us his sheer, unrelenting capacity to listen. He allows himself to be challenged through the voices of any in the Northwestern community in a manner that has been productive toward internalizing anyone’s concerns or priorities. Through the process of deciphering different narratives, there is, in some of us, the habit to overlook those experiences that are unfamiliar to our own. Erik’s leadership is built through an incorporation of every narrative and voice on this campus, no matter how different it is from his own. This skill is undoubtedly critical and invaluable to have in the role of Executive Vice President of ASG.

As soon-to-be outgoing VP for Student Life and VP for Academics, we look to Julia and Erik as a pair of individuals that represent a future for the student experience at Northwestern that will incorporate the diverse communities of experiences — be that through your student life experiences or academic. We would like to take an opportunity, as members of the Northwestern community, to earnestly endorse Julia and Erik as candidates for President and Executive Vice President of the Associated Student Government. As two students who will endlessly facilitate the priorities of your voices, they will always engage in creating more spaces for your empowerment and voices to be heard in a manner that will respect the irreplaceability of each perspective on this campus.  Julia and Erik will not simply speak for you, but rather they will speak with you.

 Anna Kottenstette, ASG student life vice president
Sofia Sami, ASG academic vice president