Isaac Carreno, a third-year studying political science and social work and current student body vice president, is running for student body president in the 105th session of NC State’s Student Government. His running mate is Anil Gordon, a graduate student in public administration and current executive chief of staff. 

In the student body president election debate, the two established themselves as a pair seeking tangible change within the current student body government and promoting advocacy through their years of experience in governmental offices. 

Carreno said his platform is based on tangible change as he seeks to improve the student experience. He plans to seek out student organizations to ensure they understand their importance to student government while fostering a mutually beneficial relationship through advocacy. 

“Anil and I, during this campaign, we go out to student organizations and we ask them, ‘What do you know about student government?’” Carreno said. “And a lot of the time, the answer is, ‘I don’t know much.’ It’s not because the organization isn’t doing good work, but it’s just because some of the work isn’t always the most forward-facing, the work that they can see and feel in their campus experience. So what I’m calling on is to bring about some of this change.”

If elected, Carreno will continue to lead the pack forward by setting the tone from day one starting with the new chancellor. Aside from establishing strong relationships, Carreno said his experience in and outside of student government has given him insight into how to strategically use advocacy to be a voice for all students.  

“Anil and I have a wealth of experience in government to understand that challenges emerge when there’s disagreements over legislation with their disagreements over policy,” Carreno said. “The solution is collective advocacy and strategic advocacy. The solution is building relationships. The solution is drawing upon our experiences, our knowledge of how to accomplish change and working on that. As student body president, I will never stop being your tireless advocate in the most external-facing role in this organization.”

Amid the ongoing uncertainty surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education, Carreno emphasized his comfortability in standing in opposition to anti-DEI policies during the student body president and vice president debate.

“I am not ashamed to make sure that I say proudly: I stand for diversity, equity and inclusion,” Carreno said. “It matters for academic freedom. It matters for opportunity and it matters for students here. And through my professional experience in legislative and government office, and through my personal experience here in student government, I will use those opportunities to advocate to those that have the influence to make the decision.”

Gordon said to be a stern advocate for DEI, there is a difference between advocating and doing. 

“Let’s come up with solutions and get them done,” Gordon said. “Things like Respect The Pack — let’s expand that, make it a bigger event, things that promote and support the inclusivity and equity of this campus. Let’s get it done, and let’s do it right through solution-based initiatives.”

Carreno said legislation is a tool for advocacy, but real change requires real action. He said the student body president and vice president must take an external-facing role, building relationships with administrators to ensure resolutions lead to meaningful results rather than being overlooked.

“But resolutions aren’t enough,” Carreno said. “Putting forth legislation and saying that you did it at the Association of Student Governments and all the other UNC systems didn’t — wonderful, amazing. I’m glad we have a unified approach. Get it done. Get it done. Advocate, strategically. Advocate, that’s what I’ll do.”

Student Government has faced several controversial pieces of legislation during the 104th session. Resolution 29 called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war but failed to fast-track in early April of last year after Taquan Dewberry, a second-year studying education and the other candidate for student body president, held an undisclosed meeting with other senators to discuss the legislation.  

Carreno said an erosion of trust occurred not only within the Student Government but also within the student body. He said his past experience as student body vice president will lead him to navigate with transparency. 

“We’re leading with integrity,” Carreno said. “We’re leading with ethics at the front of everything we do. We’re ensuring that if anything like this ever comes again … I have the experience, and I know how to navigate it. If anything like this comes up again, it’s being transparent, utilizing the office of the student body president to connect with Student Media, connect with these stakeholders.”

As one of his campaign’s first actions, Carreno said he plans to connect with local congressmen, leveraging his years of experience and connection through working at the White House and other governmental offices outside of NC State. He stressed the importance of acknowledging Pack Essentials’ efforts to end the 30% food insecurity rate on campus and implementing safety percussions to halt sexual assault cases.  

Gordon said on day one of their administration, they will sign an executive order to establish the Commission on Student Support. He said through constituent casework advocacy students will be empowered to bring issues on campus directly to this commission to develop solutions. The commission will also leverage the Student Government Leadership Enhancement Fund to support leadership programs.

Gordon also emphasized the need for better student feedback channels to improve accessibility and highlighted graduate student concerns, such as tuition, fees and housing insecurity, stressing the need for policy solutions. 

Carreno and Gordon said if their opponent Dewberry were to win, they would be worried about how much achievable change would come from their platform. 

“I think that’s the real differentiation, right?” Gordon said. “Achievable, real change, or these big, lofty goals that you throw out there because you think it sounds good for students or like they might be true initiatives for you. But you’re not being realistic in the deadline that you’re given, which is the time you step in the door a student body president and a year later.” 

Carreno also raised concerns about Dewberry’s campaign team. During the debate, he said several members of Dewberry’s campaign voted against legislation in favor of protecting DEI and argued that having diverse voices is important but crucial to take a stand and prioritize values surrounding DEI. 

Conclusively, Carreno displayed the election as a choice between the treatment of serving students.

“My vision calls for reforming Student Government to ensure that it is serving students effectively,” Carreno said. “My vision calls to empower students to succeed. My vision calls for Student Government to be a hub of opportunity and resources. Student Government should no longer have this public perception on campus that it’s an ivory tower of political science nerds. What we should be doing is working to advocate for students day-in and day-out at the high levels, and providing those resources personally to students, when it comes to casework, when it comes to scholarships, when it comes to direct feedback channels and all the other elements upon which my platform calls upon to create real, tangible change that you can see and feel in your campus experience.”

Voting for the election is open March 3 and 4. To vote, head to getinvolved.ncsu.edu.