This March 3 and 4, there is only one slate running for president and vice president of our university that has the knowledge, work ethic and platform to best represent Iowa State University. Morgan Fritz and Jacob Schrader are true Cyclones who have the breadth of knowledge needed to lead our Student Government in the 2020-21 school year. 

Heavily involved in campus activities, Fritz has met thousands of students throughout her time serving as a Cyclone Aide, representing the sorority and fraternity communities through her role as the Collegiate Panhellenic Council Senator and serving as a sophomore adviser to President Wintersteen’s Leadership Class. Driven and charismatic, I knew from the minute she joined Student Government that she would do great things.

As a member of the Student Initiatives Committee, Fritz is currently working on getting sorority chapters to go green and buy into the new Ames Solar Complex. Committed to her goals and the betterment of the Iowa State Community, Fritz is a leader that will make all Cyclones proud and will work tirelessly to serve the community. 

Schrader is one of the most experienced people seated on Student Government. He has served as an Inter-Residence Hall Senator, an off-campus senator and now as the vice speaker of the Senate. Schrader has time and time again worked to make our campus a better place. As a member of the Cy-Ride Board of Trustees, Schrader has worked to maintain and improve the service that Cy-Ride provides for all students. After a discriminatory housing code was proposed in 2017 that would hurt students, Schrader received 3,000 signatures against the proposal within three days to fight against this new policy. Schrader is a person that sets a goal and gets it done — there is no better person to be your future vice president. 

Fritz and Schrader have worked for months on their platform and have done the work to ensure that it can be implemented at Iowa State. They’ve met with the administration to see how to implement their ideas and have thought through how to better the experience of every student at Iowa State. Their platform has three main points: affordability, campus climate and sustainability.

When it comes to affordability on campus, there is no bigger issue than the student debt crisis, and that is why Fritz and Schrader are determined to ensure that students who want to go to college can afford it. Fritz and Schrader have several points to address this issue, but none are more impressive than the introduction of income share agreements, which can protect students from underemployment and unemployment after graduation.

This has been implemented in Purdue and Utah successfully; Fritz and Schrader’s campaign is keeping Iowa State ahead of the game in terms of affordability. In terms of campus climate, Fritz and Schrader see that discrimination and bigotry occur on our campus. They believe that action and training must take place in order to continue the conversation of Students Against Racism. Finally, Fritz and Schrader recognize that our generation must take steps to become better stewards of our planet and that we can start here at Iowa State University. They hope to expand composting across campus and to support a proposition that will cut carbon emissions by 50 percent over 10 years at no long-term cost to students. Their platform is more researched, applicable and impactful to Iowa State than actions proposed by other slates. 

On March 3 and 4, I hope that you go to vote.iastate.edu and vote for the best candidates for Iowa State, Fritz and Schrader, who will tirelessly work to represent you, starting on day one.