President and VP candidates
Bios
Ian Aiken (President)
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Hey Guys! 😸 I’m Ian Aiken, your current Director of Student Relations and a fourth year Computer Engineering Major in the BS/MS program. This has been my first term serving on Student Government, but I have been involved on campus in other things like being the Head of Philanthropy in my Fraternity, or the Vice President of Programming in the IFC. Outside of those roles I’m involved in clean energy research with Professor Bing Yan utilizing the solar farms just outside of campus. When I’m not in class or doing work at the Student Government office you can catch me reading, or at the gym. (Come say hi!) Student Government has been super rewarding to be a part of, and I hope to continue being able to give back to the community and serve the student body.
Lily Chau (VP)
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Hi! I’m Lily Chau, the current Chair of the Facilities, Parking, Transportation, and Sustainability Committee within SG. I’m a third-year student studying Human-Centered Computing and Web & Mobile Computing. Beyond academics and SG, I’m actively involved on campus—I serve as an ambassador for the iSchool and the GCCIS firstByte program. I’m also the President of UX Club and the Vice President of my Sorority. Currently, I’m on co-op with a local company, focusing on web design. If you see me around campus come say hi!
Platform
Outreach & Transparency Through overseeing the Pawprint Process from assignment to committee to working with upper administration, we’ve learned that Student Government is most effective at creating change when more people are actively involved. Sadly, Transparency alone isn’t effective at keeping people well informed and active participants in Student Government. Our administration will focus on bridging the gap of information by providing updates in places where students already frequent, like the RIT subreddit. We will set up both mailing lists for every committee, and an official discord where minutes for every meeting will be posted, as well as frequent updates from committee chairs, senators, and RSO’s.
Club and Student Organization Collaboration and Representation Another way we will increase the amount of students that actively participate in the work of Student Government is increasing the collaboration with student organizations and clubs. Many groups on campus closely align with the work done by Student Government, and their expertise and opinion can prove invaluable to our committees. One great example of this is the collaboration between the FPaTS committee and Urbanism at RIT. Urbanism at RIT frequently comes to the FPaTS committee and closely collaborates with Lily on ensuring information regarding the current and future bus and parking situation is readily available for club members and the student body in her role as a committee chair. This partnership will be used to model representation from clubs and organizations in all committees, as well as larger representation in Student Government for the larger organizations.
Advocacy for Students in Upper Administration We promise as an administration to advocate for the current student body at all times when working with RIT’s administration. 30 year plans are nice and all, but there’s no use looking so far ahead if you ignore current students and their needs to achieve those plans.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Another major focus will be on creating an inclusive environment for all students when they interact with Student Government. This will be done through more open events that encourage networking with all members of Student Government, such as a soiree on campus, and cross programming with RIT offices and other student organizations. With DEI we also want to ensure that Student Government is a space where students of all backgrounds, identity, and interests feel welcome and feel that they have the ability to be vocal about their ideas and interests.