Newly elected Davis campus student leadership McKell Costley, VP of Davis campus, and Jefferson Cairo, Davis Senator, look forward to the 2017–18 academic year with hopes of improving Davis and Ogden campus relationships.
Student government relationships between Davis and Ogden campus have been described as strained over the last year, as was made evident by the passing of the Davis meeting bill, which decreased official senate meetings held at Davis to one per semester. Cairo hopes to bridge the gap between the two campuses.
“I’ve been talking with a lot of the new senators and the new VP of Davis, and they are willing to work with me to achieve that goal,” Cairo said. “We really want to set up more events at Davis campus and make it more inclusive for everyone. Even though we are Davis campus, it’s all Weber State all around.”
Costley would also like to focus on Davis and Ogden campus relationships and hopes to increase student involvement at Davis campus.
“We’re blessed on the Davis campus to have these great NUAMES students who come to a lot of our events,” Costley said. “But I want to see more WSU traditional and non-traditional students coming out.”
Student Involvement & Leadership (SIL) Adviser Erik Ashby, who has previously championed Davis campus, commented on the challenges these two individuals will likely face in their elected positions. “As a university, we are striving for a two-campus, one-university model,” Ashby said.
Ashby acknowledged that Cairo will be facing some challenges from within the senate. “I think from the senate’s point of view we will be building — building representation within the student government for the Davis campus. That’s a challenge we face almost every year,” Ashby said.
“They are both great students with a track record of success. They will get training to build the skill sets they need,” Ashby said.
Costley and Cairo both served on the Davis Programming Board this year, the main function of which is to plan and organize events on Davis campus. Both Cairo and Costley are working closely with their predecessors to make the transition as smooth as possible. In Cairo’s case, that means working with his sister, Sen. Jessica Cairo.
“Everyone does things a different way,” Jessica Cairo said. “Just because he’s my sibling doesn’t mean he’s going to do it the same way I did. He has his own style.”
Costley has been working closely with Hayley Tomney, current VP of Davis campus.
“Recently, we’ve been having a lot of talks and just working on things that maybe she wanted to improve on that I could work on next year, or any tips and advice she could give me,” Costley said. “I am a little apprehensive because I sometimes doubt myself in my ability to lead. But I am excited to work with our programming board.”
Despite those doubts, Ashby expressed great confidence in both newly elected officials to perform their duties. “I am 100 percent confident in the both of them,” Ashby said. “I’m excited to work with them. This year is going to be fun.”
