Chris Fettig is a first-year AUSA senator.
Ericca McCutcheon is a first-year AUSA senator who wants her fellow freshmen to jump right into life at DU.
“I tell people we’re not just first-year students; we’re first-year students at the University of Denver. From your first year all the way through your senior year you should make a difference on this campus,” McCutcheon says.
Her counterpart is freshman senator Chris Fettig, a political science and public policy major. Both are part of the Pioneer Leadership Program. Fettig’s campaign slogan, “forging a new path for 2011,” reflects his desire to unify the class toward common goals.
Both Fettig and McCutcheon were involved with student government in high school. And now, they’re eager to bring change to DU. Just a month into the job, they’re already working on initiatives designed to build community, foster school spirit, improve multicultural diversity and improve the recycling program.
“Our biggest initiative is to really make a bond on campus,” McCutcheon says. “You have diversity, Greek life, athletics — all these niches. The goal is to unite them.”
Ideas for creating a more unified campus include a new or improved student center, making Penrose Library more student-friendly and generating support for the men’s basketball team.
The new senators are forming a freshmen student committee to act “as our eyes and ears on campus,” Fettig says. By including members from different residence halls, he explains, “The unity would fall into that. We’ve got residence halls working together to create unity.”
And that’s just the beginning. After all, they’re both only in their first quarter. The senators’ terms expire in May 2008.