“One person cannot accurately reflect the needs of every single person on campus,” Thomas Knudsen, upcoming Undergraduate Student Government, or USG, president said, welcoming criticism from his peers and students with open arms.
Knudsen will serve his term as a fourth-year political science student from West Des Moines, while previously serving as the director of finance.
After managing and helping distribute a budget of approximately $2 million, Knudsen has seen all the good USG can do in the community with not only campus partners but all student organizations at the University of Iowa.
Knudsen describes his leadership style as intentional, driven, and direct.
“Being direct and communicative with both members of the student government and also the general student body is very important to make sure that one clear message is being outsourced,” he said.
Knudsen believes one of the biggest areas of concentration for his term will be transparency between student government and the student body. He understands many students don’t know what the student government does, what funds they carry, or events they host.
“Trying to engage more students through our initiatives will be one of the areas we focus on, and trying to collect and gather student feedback will be another,” Knudsen said.
Upcoming USG Vice President Emily Cross will serve her term as a third-year student and pre-business major from Wisconsin, previously having worked as the director of outreach.
“I knew that there was a step up for me and that there was more area for me to grow, to have a larger impact on the students as a whole,” Cross said.
In her term, Cross wants to make sure students feel heard and that their needs are at the forefront of her mind.
“I want to be the backbone of our cabinet. I want to make sure that everybody in our org knows that I’m here as a resource for them,” Cross said. “I want to be sure that I’m a trustworthy person that they can turn into, that I can help them in a positive way.”
Cross hopes the biggest impact she makes as vice president will be on mental health resources.
Over the summer, Cross said she would like to sit down with each of the Big Ten universities and see what their approach to mental health is and, with that, hopes to make a plan of action to raise awareness.
“I think my heart and my passion for what I do sets me apart from others,” Cross said. “The two vice presidents that I have seen in office have both done phenomenal jobs.”
Together, Knudsen and Cross said they will work toward providing students with the resources they need to thrive on campus.
“We’ve seen the rising costs of college, both in-state and out-of-state tuition, and we have not seen employment wages reflect the changes that are happening. So, making sure that we are wisely using student dollars will be important,” Knudsen said.
Cross said if students don’t know what resources student government has to offer, they won’t be able to utilize them. She hopes that student government members attending student organization and club meetings will increase engagement and community between USG and the student body.
Throughout her term, Cross is anticipating watching members of student government grow and seeing them evolve in their different roles.
Knudsen said the involvement in the initiatives they make during their term will represent effectiveness.
“Success, to me, would look like stronger engagement within student government elections,” Knudsen said, “I feel like if we have strong engagement within elections, that means that more students are engaged within student government altogether.”