Nick Sterner is Kansas University's student body president. He'd like to bolster campus safety and recycling, among other goals.

Before Nick Sterner won the popular vote of the Kansas University student body to be its president, he dedicated years promoting voter registration to students.

“Everything that has gotten me involved has been voter registration,” said Sterner, a Shawnee senior in political science and business.

And he wasn’t registering student voters to vote for him – KU students don’t register for student elections. He has worked since his senior year in high school to register voters for local and national elections.

“Students are here for four years. They should take the responsibility to know what’s going on and be involved in their communities,” he said. “It’s more than getting people to vote, it’s getting them prepared to vote for the rest of their life.”

Marynell Jones, student body vice president, says Sterner works for the good of the student body, not himself or Student Senate.

“Nick is somebody who came to KU and immediately started working to improve the student experience,” she said. “We both came from KU families, so KU has always meant something to us. We both have a lot invested in KU already, and we want to see it do well.”

Jones, a Wichita senior in English, said the different outlooks of the two complement each other.

“I’m better at details and what it takes to get things done, while Nick has his eyes on the future,” she said.

In leading Student Senate, the two plan to continue the work of past KUnited coalition Senate leaders. The coalition has led and dominated Student Senate since the 2002-03 school year.

Sterner and Jones will continue to push for fixed tuition, which past Senate administrations started.

“The proposal is done,” Sterner said. “We just need a thumbs-up.”

This year’s priorities include increased safety on campus, including self-defense training; enhancing school and career advising centers; increasing campus recycling and alternative power sources; an enhanced, citywide university transportation system; and continued lobbying of state officials for higher education funding.

Sterner has worked since his freshman year in Senate to increase recycling on campus, and as part of the new recycling program, he is working toward opening a permanent recycling location on campus.

After three years of making a difference at the university and on Student Senate, Sterner has a greater perspective on the advancements students can make.

“If more students got together and spoke their opinion, we’d have a great university community as a whole,” he said. “Students have a lot of opportunity and power in Lawrence and in the state.”

– Janette Crawford is a Kansas University student.