Bridget Lapp, economics junior, and Andy Wang, accounting and finance junior, are running for OU Student Government Association president and vice president this Thursday and Friday.
Lapp and Wang are one of three tickets running in this week’s SGA presidential election, the largest number of tickets since fall 2020.
Lapp said her motivation to be involved in SGA goes back to her first day on campus.
“I knew that I wanted to run for student body president the moment I stepped foot onto OU,” Lapp said.
Inspired by a speech from former SGA President Caden Glasscock during her freshman year, Lapp developed the motivation to campaign for president.
“At the end of his speech, Glasscock said, ‘One day, one of you will be in my seat, standing here, speaking to everyone.’ I just took it personally,” Lapp said.
One day, as the two walked past the softball field, Wang said Lapp ironically encouraged him to “step up to the plate” and be her running mate.
“At the time, I did not have any ambition myself to be president or anything like that,” Wang said. “Bridget (Lapp) is a very driven person, and I really appreciate people who know their goal (and) they’re willing to work hard for their goal. That really inspired me.”
Lapp said Wang was the perfect running mate.
“You have to be a little bit crazy to run, and you have to be comfortable with embarrassment. This is something we both are,” Lapp said. “We love people. We love talking.”
Campaign mission
The foundation of Lapp and Wang’s campaign is “SERVE,” an acronym for supportive, energized, resourceful, visionary and empowering, according to Lapp.
“The president and vice president positions are not just seats of power,” Wang said. “It’s a way for us to look out for the community and really listen to what they have to say. That helps us all improve OU as a whole.”
Lapp and Wang said that their mission is to prioritize ensuring accessibility for OU students. Their goals include advocating for a lower acceptance rate for freshmen, improving parking conditions and creating a better environment for food service workers on campus.
Lapp said they developed these goals during their campaign and received 500 student signatures. They said they advocated for every signature in person.
“I asked every single person, ‘What can I do to make this university a better place for you?’ One thing that a lot of people mentioned is that they wanted a lower acceptance rate,” Lapp said. “Who’s to say how much control we have over this? But I think that the president and vice president are certainly not people who should give up on making change on campus.”
The desire to reach underrepresented members of the student body led Lapp and Wang to campaign face to face with students, Lapp said.
“In a lot of student governments, there’s one specific voting population. They consistently will be the same people voting over and over again,” Lapp said. “The students who are less prone to being involved in that way, I wanted to reach them.”
Wang said in-person campaigning helps students put a face to the names and gives students a well-rounded perspective on every candidate.
“Not only is that going to be helpful, it also shows that we’re being personally engaged,” Wang said. “It makes it (so) they are coming into this with a much more educated view of what each campaign is offering them.”
Wang said he and Lapp stand out from the other tickets because of their dedication to connecting with students.
“Certainly, the other two campaigns have their merits and strengths, but our campaign, with the work we’ve put in already, with committing to the students — really getting out there and seeing what’s going on,” Wang said. “We have a very good understanding of what the student body is thinking and feeling.”
University involvement
Lapp said she decided to attend OU because she respected the number of opportunities the university provides.
“They have a really great honors program with a lot of nationally competitive scholarships,” Lapp said. “It has one of the best study abroad programs that I’ve ever seen in a university. It seemed like a really cool place to have a launching pad for my dreams.”
Wang, born and raised in Norman, said he liked the idea of challenging himself in a setting that is familiar to him.
“The OU campus has always been a part of my childhood and my memories growing up,” Wang said. “It’s perfect to have that safety net of being close to home and not feeling too overwhelmed while still getting to grow independently.”
Lapp and Wang have both served as business representatives for SGA’s Undergraduate Student Congress.
Wang is part of the Ways and Means committee, which allocates money to student registered organizations. He previously served as the treasurer for the Informed Citizens Discussion Group.
Lapp served as a student office assistant at the Honors College, a tutor for the college’s writing center and a resident adviser for Dunham College.
Lapp said her experiences allow her to connect with students and hear their input on college issues.
“I try to keep a diverse group of people around me … and be involved in various things,” Lapp said. “Just having experienced these different communities, especially as a resident advisor where you get to interact with food service workers, I get to see issues with OU from their side. I love the university so much and really want to create a good environment for everybody to learn and grow here.”
Competing tickets
Election Commissioner Baylor Savage wrote in an email to OU Daily Oct. 20 that this is his first time seeing a three-way race for presidency during his time at the university.
“I want to say how excited I am for the increase in candidates this year,” Savage wrote. “I am hoping that this increase will also result in increased participation from our student body through higher voting numbers this year.”
Both Lapp and Wang said they are excited about the increased number of tickets.
“Whatever the results of this election are, I’m really confident that we’re gonna get a fresh perspective in the office. I’m excited to see (that),” Lapp said.
Lapp and Wang said they want their campaign to inspire others to consider running for SGA president in the future.
Last year, Carter Strickland became president following an uncontested election. Strickland was impeached on March 25, becoming the first SGA president in university history to be impeached.
Strickland resigned on April 4 after serving as president for three months. Former Vice President Avery Dunlap became SGA president following Strickland’s resignation.
Wang said a big motivator for campaigning was disappointment with the one administration that ran previous to them.
“There was only one (ticket),” Wang said. “This is very unfortunate because if the whole idea is that the body elects someone who will represent them best, it makes zero sense if they only have one option.”
Wang said he wants to go in and create personal relationships with students and listen to what they have to say.
“It’s not like we are superhuman or anything,” Wang said. “We are just OU students, like you, who saw something they wish the university could do better. Now (we’re) going out and (we’re) trying to advocate for it.”
Students can cast their votes for SGA president and vice president through their ENGAGE account Thursday and Friday.
This story was edited by Ana Barboza and Thomas Pablo. Avery Avery copy edited this story.
