On April 15, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students will have the opportunity to vote for the next Student Association (SA) president and vice president positions for the 2025-2026 academic year. The Racquet Press spoke with current President Emma Latus and Vice President Avery Ladd-Winders about their time as university leaders.
President Latus is serving her second year in the role after serving as secretary and state affairs director in her first and second years, respectively. She said she wanted to get involved at UWL and make new friends, so she applied. The SA president oversees the cabinet and the student court and assists in senate meetings as needed.
Vice President Ladd-Winders began as a College of Science and Health (CSH) senator because he wanted to be involved in campus governance and policy. He said it can be difficult to understand how everything works for new members and wanted to be of assistance, so he joined Latus in her campaign.
The SA vice president is the president of the student senate, which involves running the meetings and distributing meeting materials. Ladd-Winders said other duties include finding ways to increase event attendance, holding meetings with administrators, hearing student input and keeping students aware of what is going on on campus.
Being a part of the SA has been a rewarding experience for both Latus and Ladd-Winders who feel their positions have sharpened their leadership skills. For Ladd-Winders, the most valuable takeaway from the experience has been a deeper understanding of what happens between politics and administrative issues. For Latus, it has been learning the importance of communication.
“Have the conversations, because that’s how things happen. Communicating, whether it’s with students or with campus leadership, is crucial in not only students being successful in advocating for various things, but also it’s so important to get students involved in the conversations that are happening at an administrative level,” she said.
SA provides a way for students to get connected to campus, to their area of study or to what’s important to them. In the wake of recent dissent over the interim chalking policy, Ladd-Winders said he chairs the ad hoc committee for policy creation advisory to ensure students are engaged and heard and to compare what actions other universities have taken.
“Whatever center the students can have at the university, we are in … It’s good to be in the know and there are a lot of departments on campus and a lot of offices on campus that keep us informed on everything,” he said.
While SA covers many areas of campus and is constantly working to improve the student experience at the university, much of that work is not necessarily always seen, said SA President Latus.
Administrators and other leadership rely on senators for input on what their constituents need and things that could be made better. In fact, the renewal of the partnership between the Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee (SUFAC) and the Green Fund to fund the sustainability program manager position on campus was brought to the senate body and approved because students believed it was important.
Latus said, “That’s something really big that student association has had a big part in and something that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the advocacy of students and student association.”
The smaller-scale initiatives are just as impactful to Latus, who said recognizing the efforts of those on campus who make a difference can be quite motivating. For example, a resolution was recently passed by the student senate to thank Dr. Turov for her work in the Tutoring and Learning Center.
Latus said, “I would like more students to know that we actually do things, that we do make an impact and that we’re always open to having conversations, hearing ideas. We want to hear from other students; That’s what makes what we do meaningful and that’s how we’re most successful.”
While their time leading SA will soon be coming to a close, Ladd-Winders is hopeful for the future of UWL and student governance.
He said, “I think that shared governance on our campus is really going to strengthen under our new administration and I’m really confident in the decisions that they’re going to make.”
Nomination forms for the vice president and president positions can be found in UWL student emails and must be submitted to Dean of Students and SA Adviser Kara Ostlund at [email protected] by 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 25th. Students will receive voting information and a link to vote via their university email.
SA Vice President Avery Ladd-Winders can be reached at [email protected] and SA President Emma Latus at [email protected].
