Many Student Association members follow the same path to running for president. Take a position in the general assembly sophomore year, run for president junior year.

But Kyle Coleman took a different approach.

The junior accounting, finance, economics and information management and technology major became a member of the general assembly freshman year and then moved on to positions in University Senate and on the Finance Board.

“It’s like a vertical tunnel vision. You go up within SA. My experience has been a lot different,” Coleman said. “They went upwards, and I’ve gone wide. I’ve got a wider view of how all these pieces work together.”

Coleman also took a different route to deciding to run for president, deciding just days before the deadline to put his name on the ballot.

“It was the right time,” he said. “Things weren’t going the way that I wanted to see them go. I sort of hit a ceiling in my current position. It was time to act.”

Coleman’s plan for action involves what he calls “three main pillars.” The first pillar focuses on ending what he believes is segregation on campus.

“Whether it’s race, socioeconomic status, religion, freshman and transfer students, international or domestic students, there’s a lot of these divides that you see. It’s troubling that nobody’s putting it out there,” Coleman said.

His second pillar involves campus security. When students wake up Sunday morning, many now expect to see an email from the Department of Public Safety at the top of their inbox, Coleman said.

“You read the emails from DPS and it’s blaming the students for being out at night,” he said. “Why can’t we police Marshall Street? We can’t keep Marshall Street safe? You know really, there’s only one major street.”

The last of the three is about “cleaning up student government.” Coleman said assembly representatives should be rewarded and punished based on their achievements, not whether or not they “show up,” he said, referring to SA’s system of demerits for missing meetings.

Even with a solid platform, the campaigning process has been a new experience for Coleman. He said it was nerve-wracking presenting in front of a full classroom for the first time to ask for the 500 signatures needed to get his name on the ballot.

“The spotlight is on,” Coleman said. “I’ve never been much of a campaigner. I’m more of a get-things-done kind of person.”

As a result, Coleman relies heavily on his campaign team to help get out his message. One of the people heading his team is his close friend, Nick Dauch, a senior marketing, entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises and management major. Dauch said in an email that he has already seen Coleman overcome his shyness and become a good leader once before.

“In our group together, he was incredibly quiet. Not a peep,” he said. “After that first week together he finally started to speak out, and actually ended up somewhat leading the group.”

But for Coleman, life at SU isn’t all about politics and pillars. When he does get spare time, Coleman attends games at the Carrier Dome. Sometimes he enjoys going down to Archbold Gym late at night for some pickup basketball, or playing video games with the residents on the floor where he serves as a resident adviser.

He also plans many charity events at SU. During his freshman year, Coleman helped organize a large charity event with Orange Seeds, a freshman leadership program, and during his sophomore year he organized a 5K race on campus.

“No one told me to do these things,” Coleman said. “Leadership is doing something because you see it needs to be done. I went out and saw problems and I took them on and I got it done.”

Coleman said he does truly believe he will win this election. With that in mind, he was adamant about the fact that he still plans on being an active member of SA win or lose.

“These issues are going to exist on the first day of office for whoever is president,” Coleman said. “If I am president I can fix them, and if I’m not president, I can still try and fix them. These issues don’t go away if I don’t win.”

Published on November 8, 2012 at 1:46 am

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