EVP candidate Hannah Todd plans to mentor senators, continue addressing meal plans

By Abigail Panitz and Claire Weddle     2/15/16 9:23am

Hannah Todd has a focus on catering to the wants and needs of students in regards to the meal plan in her platform. As a freshman, she served as a NSR and is currently a Wiess SA Senator. Her accomplishments this year, as a sophomore, include moving the start time of breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. at Baker and West Serveries for people with 8 a.m. classes. She also worked with H&D closely to create the survey sent out to gather students’ opinions about the current meal plan.

“As senator, I’ve been working all of last semester with H&D,” Todd said. “As EVP or even just as a Rice student, I’m going to stick it out with H&D to see this project through.”

As EVP, Todd hopes to serve as a useful mentor to the senators and the Executive Board and to connect Rice to Houston.

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“As EVP, part of your job is to be there for the president and be there for Rice and be receptive to what the need is,” Todd said. “I’m very open to projects and new ideas. The opportunity to mentor a whole new group of senators is something I couldn’t imagine being any better.”

Todd emphasized that change is very possible at Rice. She said she views the SA as a vehicle for this change.

“I think the SA has great potential to do great things and to be a great way to collect what students want and put it into something great,” Todd said. “At Rice, whatever you want to do you can do. You can send emails and meet with people. If there’s something you’re passionate about, you have the ability to cause change.”

Todd said her experience as a NSR has prepared her for the role of EVP.

“Just being a NSR in the first place made me realize there really is a Rice beyond Wiess,” Todd said. “I’d never seen a student government that worked so officially and so professionally. I think being a NSR teaches you how to collaborate and work with people. In order to make an event happen or proposal go through, you have to talk. You can’t just sit and brainstorm. Getting a conversation to take action is something I’ve been getting better and better at.”

Using her past experience as NSR and as Wiess SA Senator, Todd believes she could be a useful EVP.

“As an SA member, I could really define this role of EVP,” Tood said. “I hope I could recall how it was for me when I was figuring everything out, and I could use that perspective to help me be EVP to others.”

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