James Sadie, junior in finance, is centering his campaign around three pillars: safety and transportation, community and the word “elevate.”
Sadie wants to introduce housing ambassadors who would cooperate with resident assistants to provide a smoother transition for students moving on campus.
“[They would be] able to relay your concerns and needs to the administration and faculty in a more precise and simplified manner,” Sadie said. “[We could] get quantitative feedback directly from the residents living in those halls to really help make a big difference in your experience in the residence hall.”
Sadie said he would like to extend the University’s partnership with Lyft beyond fall 2020.
“We believe that this is the ideal form of transportation for our students, whether you’re studying late at night on campus, trying to go off campus or if you’re in the downtown area late at night and you need a ride to your door,” he said.
He’s also interested in bringing electric bikes and scooters to campus. Sadie hopes to work with the City of Auburn and the University to get this done.
“We believe that there’s true value in those electric bikes and scooters,” Sadie said. “For example, going from the RO parking lot to the RX parking lot.”
Sadie’s role as budget and finance chair for SGA this year helped shape his third pillar — to “elevate” the student experience. The position familiarized Sadie with the University’s $45 student activity fee supporting SGA and student organizations.
He said University-approved excuses covering job or internship interviews would elevate Auburn.
“All classes at Auburn are important for what we’re doing,” Sadie said, “but we never want to have class interfere with our ability to get to where we’re trying to go.”
Another way to elevate Auburn involves wait times for men’s basketball games, which can see 2,000 people in line, Sadie said. He envisions SGA and UPC working together to provide music, trivia and other entertainment to students before games.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from, basketball is something we care about deeply at Auburn,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re encouraging our students to be there. We don’t want [them] to say, ‘We’re not going to go to the game, the line’s too long.’”
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