Meet your student representatives

IU Student Association is your voice in the IU administration. The Big Ten ticket was the winning ticket this year. Meet the candidates and read about what they want to do for you.

Justin Kingsolver, president
Back for round two, Justin Kingsolver finally brought his ticket, Big Ten, a victory.
The senior and Wells Scholar ran unsuccessfully last season.

“I don’t know if I was ready last year. I tried to convince myself that I was, but I didn’t know the ins and outs of IUSA at that point,” Kingsolver said.

“I didn’t know how to run a student campaign. I didn’t have the relationships built that I needed. I think I am ready now.”

Kingsolver said he views IUSA as a connector between student organizations rather than as the head of student governance.

“In the past, IUSA has been viewed as the supreme student organization, and I don’t see it as that,” he said. IUSA is supposed to embody the interest of every major student group on campus.”

Kingsolver said he doesn’t believe individual executives should be the focus of IUSA.
“This is not about me. This is not about my legacy. This is about what we as a compilation of 150 or 200 students can do to better this campus. IUSA belongs to everyone,” he said.

Kingsolver said he defends his statewide initiatives, which he believes are equally worthwhile and feasible pursuits.

“There’s a mentality that IUSA stops at IU’s end, and I would agree, most of our programs should focus on IU,” he said. “But if we can show every other school in the Big Ten, legislators and business leaders that we are serious about solving these huge issues, then I think that that benefits our entire generation.”

Stephanie Kohls, vice-president for Congress
When campaigning in high school for student government, sophomore exercise science major Stephanie Kohls baked hundreds of cookies to help her earn votes.
This year, Kohls relied on the Big Ten ticket’s platforms.

“We know that we can get them done within our term. They are things that will not only change our campus, but things that we hope to change for the whole state,” she said.

One such statewide platform is Big Ten’s medical amnesty law proposal, which would grant safe passage to hospitals for students seeking medical attention for overconsumption of alcohol or drugs, according to the ticket’s website.

“It’s not just a state legislative issue,” she said. “It’s a really serious issue on campus. People are just

turning a blind eye to it. When we get this passed, it will change our campus and prevent tragedies on campus.”

As vice president of Congress, one change Kohls said she would like to implement is students’ connectivity with their representatives in the IU Student Association Congress. A revamped Congress website, would provide contact information and biographies of Congress representatives.

She said she would also like to have biweekly meetings with Congress committee chairpeople to keep an open dialogue between the two branches of IUSA.

Kevin Courtney, vice-president for administration
Kevin Courtney, senior and health administration major, is the Big Ten vice president of administration for the IU Student Association.

Courtney is a member of Sigma Chi, where he has served as chapter president, and is also the vice president of member development on the Interfraternity Council.

He said he believes these experiences will bring a fresh, personally connected approach to IUSA.

“The biggest thing is that we exemplify an actual student’s experience at IU,” he said.
Courtney worked on Justin Kingsolver’s Kirkwood ticket last year. From that experience, he said, he formed a working relationship with Kingsolver.

“One of the things that I want is to have tangible, quick benefits that students can see right away and focus on improving the culture for years to come, thinking forward to the next administrations,” Courtney said.

He cited “resounding” Big Ten platforms, such as enacting textbook reform and changing the culture at Assembly Hall through the basketball student section.

“Once our year is over, there will be a breadth of initiatives that will be around for a while,” he said. “Everyone loves the culture here at IU, but you can always improve.”