Lister, Penner exhibit ‘unique leadership skills’

Garrett Lister, junior in agricultural economics, and Allison Penner, junior in microbiology, have filed to run for Student Governing Association president and vice president.

Lister, who is a two-year student senator in SGA, said that he is ready to serve K-State at the next level as student body president.

"I've been a part of SGA for two years and I'm ready to take the next step," Lister said. "Allison and I believe we have a good chance in being elected and we both feel like we have strong leadership skills that will help us represent K-State students."

Lister currently serves as the chairperson of the Governmental Relations committee, and said that he is proud of the results that he and his committee members were able to achieve.

"I think we definitely saw improvement in the committee and we were able to achieve a lot of what we set out to do," Lister said. "We have a dedicated group of students that have been able to make an impact on a local and state level, and I can definitely say I'm proud of the committee's hard work."

Lister is currently working under Nate Spriggs, senior in agricultural economics and food science and industry and president of SGA. Spriggs is running for reelection with running mate Grant Hill, junior in accounting. Lister said that he thinks that Spriggs has done a good job in his first term, but also went on to say that he believes he can bring more to the table than Spriggs.

"They've gotten a lot of things done and have done a good job," Lister said. "I think Allison and I bring a fresh perspective though. We can bring a more open way to doing things and new ways to look at and solve problems."

Although Lister has been active in SGA, Penner has no previous experience working with SGA. She said, however, that her lack of SGA experience was a positive aspect of her candidacy.

"When you look at us as candidates, we're kind of a hybrid pair because Garrett brings the SGA experience and I bring the fresh outside perspective," Penner said. "We balance each other well."

Penner said that she feels she and Lister are a good team because their leadership styles complement each other.

"It's a good combination of ideation and focus," she said. "We've worked together so well in the past that we've already built mutual trust that others that are campaigning may not have yet."

Penner and Lister served on the Kansas Future Farmers of America state officer team together in the past, an experience which Lister said was instrumental in him choosing Penner as a running mate.

"Allison and I bring a set of unique leadership skills that balance each other," Lister said. "We have had different experiences but we have the same direction."

Taylor Veh, senior in microbiology and campaign manager for Lister and Penner, said that the duo's wide variety of campus experiences makes them strong contenders to represent K-Staters.

"Garrett and Allison have had such unique experiences," Veh said. "If you look at what they've been involved in on campus and the groups that they have been involved in, you can see the breadth of knowledge they have to see the big picture at K-State."

Lister and Penner said they have a variety of platform issues that they want to tackle including parking on campus and at the Peters Recreation Complex, funding for educational equipment and academic advising.

"These are platform issues that we formed by actually talking to various students," Lister said. "There were several common issues that everybody talked about and those are the issues on the top of things to address."

Lister also said that he believes that every student has a right to openly voice their concerns with the administration. He said he believes that SGA has a responsibility to try and address the issues that K-Staters bring forth in an cost-effective and timely manner.

"We want to look into all options in order to try and meet everyone's needs," Lister said. "We have a responsibility to keep our university affordable and we plan on working with the Deans of the colleges in order to address these issues."

Penner agreed, saying that the costs of college are too steep for students and their tuition dollars to be misrepresented.

"If we have to use student dollars, we want students to have a say on what the money is spent on," Penner said.

Lister and Penner both said that they are confident that they would lead SGA effectively and said that their variety of experiences and open-mindedness will help them lead fairly and efficiently.

"Allison and I have had a great working relationship in the past and we feel like we could bring a lot of experience and fresh perspective to the positions," Lister said. "Our leadership styles complement each other well and we want to take that next step to be a voice for K-State students."