TEAM X PURPLE: Making (YOU!) Proud
Last week, The Stork sat down with President-hopeful Lou Ladoire of Team X Purple in this year’s Student Government race, and delved into the stories behind her team’s lineup, organization, and plans for IE’s future. X Purple’s goals can be summarized through their commitment to build sustainable, beneficial institutions that would transform Student Government into a true mediating body and concrete support mechanism for students and faculty, no matter what the issue is. “It’s not just about representing or involving the students in the administration, it’s about making the administration meet their expectations,” said Ladoire, describing the themes and principles behind her team.
These aspirations come from an admiration of the positive changes brought about by last year’s budding Student Government, to which Ladoire attributes the visibility, openness, and student participation of 2019’s campaign. X Purple aims to keep the ball rolling by augmenting Student Government’s transparency through a structured sharing of information on various social media platforms, ultimately with the goal foster a reputation within both campuses as an entity for and by the people.
Team X Purple has combined six diverse students, ranging in experience, age, and time at IE, to attempt to continue and expand upon improvements for our university and all those who take part in its community. This team is one which propagates the objectives of efficiency, inclusivity, and flexibility, which representatives demonstrate through their ambitious, three-pronged approach to improving the university:
The first of these goals involves “Being an Effective Bridge,” described as being the whole reason for existence of the Student Government, and directly in line with the IE Code of Ethics. The initiative aims to create better channels of communication between all parts of the university (degrees, years, campuses, and roles) by combining the assets of the Student Government into a unified resource that can serve as the first point of contact for students, thus facilitating community needs.
This responds concretely to the feedback of students, who have claimed in various ways that the efficiency of the university departments is lacking in terms of addressing specific concerns, working cohesively and coherently amongst themselves, and considering individual extenuating circumstances. With this, X Purple aims to work with administration a flexible mediator, in order to make already stressful proceedings, such as changing degrees, a more facilitated, and less discouraged, procedure.
The second initiative surrounds “Exposure to the Outside World,” addressing the need of the university to break out of its various ‘bubbles’. Ladoire proposed that “Student Government should facilitate the communication between IE and other universities, in terms of sports, clubs, arts, etc.; this is a good way to have feedback of how our own university is working.” Additionally, X Purple aims to simplify the processes of internships and exchanges, so that there are more comprehensive methods of application and communication of opportunities to students. This is an attempt to deviate from the standard, massive communication model, and to provide exciting opportunities through IEU itself as promised in admissions, rather than simply through a collection of personal connections.
X Purple’s last initiative centers around “Diversity and Community Integration,” representing “the team’s core values and biggest expectations [as this is ]something we see we don’t have,” according to Ladoire. In X Purple’s opinion, integration should be focused on culture, rather than the campus divide, which is viewed as not so relevant. At a personal level, this addresses the separation that is often seen between the numerous cultures, religions, ideologies, and job roles represented on our campus by aiming to promote cultural events on both campuses, publicizing information about our essential cleaning and security staff (@JESUS!!), and positively reclaiming the incredible multiculturalism that IEU is proud to claim in its community. On a more socio-economic level, this would be done by lowering the costs of school events, such as the Spring Ball, and providing alternative options of accommodation, in order to diminish this very real facet of institutionalized exclusion. X Purple vouches that participation in such events is a part of the IE culture, and as such, everyone should be included regardless of economic capacity.
Though this is their first time running for Student Government, X Purple’s members have had various experiences leading different clubs at IE, and know that “the key is knowing who to talk to, and how.” Those chosen for the team have had a lot of interaction with the university, in both positive and negative ways, giving them insight into processes, contacts, and also issues regarding departmental responsibility and limitations. Ladoire stated that, “Student Government should be trustworthy because they are the people who have the contacts, the legitimacy, and the resources to implement change.” And, in the event that Student Government did not have an immediate solution to problems, Ladoire expressed that it was the duty and responsibility of Student Government to use its assets in search of one, as relayed in X Purple’s “Being an Effective Bridge” initiative.
Noteworthy of X Purple is its sincere commitment to holistic improvement and inclusion, perhaps demonstrated by the fact that no one person on their team sought to be a public figure: “I didn’t want to be an image, but rather to have an efficient team I could work with. That’s why I try to build up people, and bring those who are the most passionate, and have proven it, to work with,” stated Ladoire.
If elected, Team X Purple seeks to honestly represent the collective of the IE community, looking for feasible solutions to the problems our student body faces, with the hope to bring benefit to all through their plans. Through their ambitious projects and proposals, X Purple promises to bring about the sustainable and positive change that IEU has been asking for.
TEAM X PURPLE IG: @teamxpurple
TEAM X PURPLE WEBSITE: lladoireieu2016.wixsite.com/teamx
TEAM X PURPLE MEMBERS:
Lou Ladoire - President, 2º LLBBIR, Madrid. @lladoire
Abedallah Kuraydli - Academic Officer, 1º LLBBIR, Segovia. IG: @aakuraydli
Bubelo Mlilo - Academic Officer, 4º LLBBIR, Madrid. IG: @bubelomlilo
Sanae Kiunsi - Community Development, 2º BIR, Segovia. IG: @sanaekiusni
Elena Broglia - Community Development, 3º BIR, Madrid. IG: @elena_broglia
Numan Mousa - Communications, 1º LLB, Segovia.
Make sure to keep checking The Stork for all your updates on this year’s Student Government elections!