Kingsolver ready to start

While most students will leave IU behind this May for the delights of summer, Justin Kingsolver, IU Student Association president, and the newly inaugurated members of the Big Ten administration will be keeping close ties with campus, working to accomplish campaign initiatives.

Since he was elected early last month, Kingsolver has spent his time delegating responsibilities and appointing staff to work on various platforms. These platforms will have three tiers of support, with an overseeing executive member liaison, a chief of the specific platform and five platform directors.

He has also been meeting with key IU administrators to begin building bridges between student government and University officials.

“It’s just a lot of coordination that needs to go on right now, and a lot of laying the groundwork. I would say we’ve hit the ground running,” Kingsolver said.

Before winning the IUSA elections, Kingsolver considered applying for an internship with a congressman in Washington, D.C. However, after realizing the time commitment, he instead applied for a closer internship in Indianapolis.

Assuming he is accepted, Kingsolver will split his time this summer between the state capitol and Bloomington. He plans on coming down to Bloomington about 20 to 25 times during the summer, as it is one-third of his administration, he said.

“Every day is a gift, and we’re blessed. There’s a lot of pressure on us. I have a responsibility to not waste a single day. I don’t want to look back in a year and wish we had done more,” Kingsolver said.

Megan Lillie, junior and chief of staff, will oversee executives and make sure IUSA is acting as a cohesive whole, she said. She intends to take full advantage of the summer months.

“We’re looking at the summer as a key time for our initiatives. Hopefully, we’ll get a lot of the grunt work done,” Lillie said.

Lillie also has made it a personal goal to work on uniting the student groups on campus and finding out what their needs are.

In line with this goal, Kingsolver’s administration will focus on being open to all students, he said.

“We’re going to be very responsible to student needs. It’s going to be accountable. I’ll have an open door policy. I want that office to be open at all times,” he said.

Kingsolver emphasized that IUSA is about more than just him or his executives.

“Any person on this campus can be in IUSA. That’s what makes us great. Every single student opinion should be valued as much as mine is,” he said. “Hard work won’t get done by itself. I can’t do it by myself. It’s going to be a team effort.”

R.J. Woodring, associate director of student activities and IUSA adviser, said he fully supports both the new administration’s platforms and desire to incorporate more student input.

“That has been a recent trend to include more and more people in the administration and getting them involved with initiatives they care about,” Woodring said.

He said he looks forward to the new group of student leaders, while noting the record of their predecessors.

“I’m very impressed with each of the executives. Their hearts and minds are in the right place. If they continue to have that as their compass, they’ll get a lot done. I hope that they continue the spirit of work the iUnity administration had. That administration was very focused on goals and accomplishing platforms,” he said.

Specifically regarding platforms, Woodring is fully supportive yet acknowledges the potential difficulties.

Woodring said he totally supports the new administration but he thinks its goals are a tall order.

“What’s difficult about medical amnesty and tax-free textbooks is that to make these happen they need a lot of cooperation with entities that they don’t control,” Woodring said.

Though the medical amnesty and tax-free textbook platforms will require state lobbying, Kingsolver is confident his administration can deliver on his promises.

“I think we have the interest and the team put together to finish all six. As of right now, I think we can finish all six next year,” Kingsolver said.