‘Outsider perspective’: Students with no prior SGA experience file as write-in candidates

Maggie Mirrione and Lucas Bugbee, junior film production majors, filed as write-in candidates March 6 in student government’s uncontested presidential election.

Mirrione, who is running for president, and Bugbee, who is running for vice president, have not had any previous experience in student government.

Maggie Mirrione, a junior film production major, filed to run as a write-in presidential candidate for the March 13-15 student government elections. Photo courtesy of student government

Mirrione and Bugbee’s opponents are Speaker of Senate Mitchell Rosenberg and Junior Class Senator Sarah Tabsh, who were the only candidates to file by the Feb. 27 deadline, making this the first uncontested presidential election since 2009, and the first uncontested vice presidential election since 2013.

The election will take place March 13-15, and students can vote online at chapmanvotes.com.

Q: Why did you decide to run for student government?

A: Maggie Mirrione – I’ve gone to Chapman for three years, it really feels like a home to me. I love Chapman, I love its student body and I’ve kind of seen, throughout the years, the ups and downs of student government. I really want to make it a priority for student government to reach out to all types of students – not just students in organizations or clubs – but really expand its outreach so that all students’ voices can be amplified and heard.

Lucas Bugbee – I decided to run because I totally support what Maggie is thinking about and the topics she’s stressing. I’d be really excited to serve as that go-between between her and the senate and the rest of student government. And (I’m) excited to bring that outsider perspective, because neither of us have been involved with student government whatsoever.

Q: What changes do you want to make to student government?

Lucas Bugbee, a junior film production major, filed to run as a write-in vice presidential candidate for the March 13-15 student government elections.

A: Mirrione – We have three main points in our platform. Our first point is diversity and inclusion. We want to propose new senator positions for specific student organizations, so maybe Chapman Feminists or different organizations with specific goals can elect a senator just from within their group, so that organization’s voice can be amplified and heard better. We want to push for gender-neutral bathrooms.

Our next point is community relations. We’re going to be around during the summer to attend all city council meetings. We’ve also noticed that the Chapman student body is really active and vocal. Going along with that, we want to create one more new committee and that committee is just going to be about student outreach. (The committee) would generate surveys, upkeep social media stuff so that students know what’s going on with student government.

Bugbee – We really think it’s important to attend these city council meetings and not only attend them, but be an active voice for the student population in Orange, and hopefully inspire students to come and engage with their community as well, because this extends way beyond just our four years or however long you’re here at Chapman.

Q: What is your perspective on recent events in student government, such as the restructure proposals and surveys?

A: Mirrione – We’ve noticed that a lot of people have stepped down, and there seems to be some clashes going on within student government. If elected, we’re going to try really hard to listen to our senators and work with our senators, because things can’t get done and passed and changed if senators aren’t willing to work with the president, and the president and vice president aren’t willing to listen to the senators.

Bugbee – I think having the same people involved in (student government) positions perpetuates this kind of conflict within student government. I think that realizing that this really can’t go on like this (means that) there needs to be some other people involved here.

Q: Why are you running as write-in candidates?

A: Mirrione – We actually hadn’t even considered running until one of our friends approached us and told us what the student government deal was. We pay some attention to student government, but we know that a lot of students are guilty of what we have done in the past, which is lending an ear here and there, hearing the most important stuff, but not really getting involved.

When the whole thing happened with Austin Kernan (the 2016 student government president-elect, who left student government after embezzling money from his fraternity), we had this long discussion about how politics on a local scale doesn’t work unless we’re willing to get involved. It really struck a chord with us when we learned that Mitchell (Rosenberg) and Sarah (Tabsh) were running unopposed, because that’s not the spirit of democracy. I think that it’s just going to enhance the election and even make Mitchell and Sarah better candidates themselves, because they’ll have us in a conversation versus just being a vacuum.

When you look at politics and you are frustrated by the lack of what’s being done, you have to look to yourself and say, ‘What am I doing? How am I helping the situation?’ You can’t rely on other people to make change and stand up for you. You have to stand up for yourself.

Bugbee – We started researching these topics and realizing that they meant a lot more to us and it really lit a fire in us. Over this past week, (we’ve been) trying to study up as much as we can and really get our campaign going. We think that we really need to hold ourselves more accountable for what’s going on by actively engaging and standing up, because change isn’t going to happen through silence.