David Knowles hates politics, he said.
During the last four Student Government Association meeting, he’s watched thunderous debate at the SGA senate, but saw little action, Knowles said.
“Recently, I have watched people say what they wanted to do, but never back it up with actions,” Knowles said.
Knowles, a 21-year-old exercise sports science junior and SGA senator, is now running as the presidential candidate for the SHIFT party.
“I hate politics,” Knowles said. “I love this school though, so I want to do whatever I can to help improve the lives of students.”
Knowles forged SHIFT from disenfranchised members of the currently ruling MAD (Make A Difference) party. 54 diverse and involved students who want to see a change make up the party’s ranks, explained Knowles.
“It is time to SHIFT. Transparency starts with integrity,” Knowles said the campaign slogan.
Without communication between the students and administration, the school will not be able progress the way they desire, Knowles said. Administration can’t help students rise to their full positional if they do not know what students want and need, he said.
If Knowles is not elected, he said he’d continue to write bills in the senate in order to help improve campus life. But, many of those who follow him are certain SHIFT will over come MAD at the polls. So much so that many were willing to leave their high ranking postions in the incumbent party to run with Knowles’s SHIFT.
“One reason I love David is because he really cares about the students,” said Prataj Ingram, former SGA vice president and now the campaign manager for the SHIFT party.
Abigail Marbibi, a 21-year-old early childhood education junior, defected to SHIFT from MAD when she realized that the SGA leadership had become stagnate, she said.
“The transparency is horrible and the changes that were promised to us were not kept,” Marbibi, who is running for senator, said.
One of the main points that SHIFT is promoting is to be transparent with the student body.
“It takes more than fancy flyers to win a campaign like this,” Marbibi said. “David has a lot of experience working with different kinds of people. That's why I believe in his platform and I believe in SHIFT. It’s not about adding another bullet point on your resume, but more about helping the student body that voted for you.”
If Knowles is elected, he’s promised to fix the lack of communication between the SGA and the students. Accountability for elected students and transparency for SGA meetings are major platforms for the SHIFT party. Their goal is to not only tell students about what their plans, but to show them how they will be done.
