Interviews
Franz Zenteno
UOSA Chief of Staff
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Cory Lloyd
High School Leadership Conference counselor
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Sarah Bramlett
Freshman Five Team
(580) 748-0534
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Laney Ellisor
JMC 2033-011
Meeting Story
University of Oklahoma Student Association president and vice president hopefuls, Franz Zenteno and Cory Lloyd, held a Freshman Five meeting Wednesday, February 24 at 10 p.m.
The Freshman Five Team is an idea implemented by Zenteno and Lloyd where five freshmen who support their campaign each get five more freshman to support the campaign and so on.
The meeting began 15 minutes late at the bottom of Johnson Tower in Adams Center. Zenteno wanted to explain to the team his platform, his vision for UOSA, and his ideas on how the Freshman Five could help network on campus.
Zenteno said he wanted to make UOSA better known and connect with more students. He said the campaign website, franzandcory.com, isn’t just about campaigning. Its purpose is to educate students about UOSA.
Zenteno informed the Freshman Five that it had gotten him thousands more signatures than the 500 he needed, making him more than eligible to run for presidency. Campaigning officially began Thursday, February 25, and there was a kickoff party at New York Pizza for the helpers. A portion of the proceeds went to Haiti.
Lloyd was late to the meeting, so Zenteno put the Freshman Five to work networking on Facebook while it waited. Soon, all 15 attendees were administrators on the Facebook campaign page and had invited all their friends to join, too.
Lloyd then arrived and discussed the importance of the Freshman Five Team. He said he thinks the freshman demographic on campus is most important to the campaign because he can get these students on board now and they will stay for three more years. Lloyd said he and Zenteno are already known by upperclassmen, so it’s the freshmen they need.
After taking questions from the floor, Zenteno and Lloyd took pictures with their team and dismissed the meeting.
Zenteno is an international studies junior and UOSA chief of staff. He said he wants to see green initiatives at OU and to improve parking. As a former exchange student from Peru, Zenteno said he wants a UOSA team to greet international students at the airport to welcome them.
Lloyd, an advertising junior, said he would help lead meetings and work with other UOSA branches as vice president. He hopes to create new roles out of old UOSA offices. “(The meeting was) an opportunity to see Franz and me in a casual setting,” Lloyd said.
Zenteno met Lloyd at Camp Crimson and got to know him later while working on a video project. “Our ideas were on the same course,” Lloyd said. Their campaign slogan—“Building the Future. Bridging the Gap.”—reflects their hopes to combine Zenteno’s UOSA experience with Lloyd’s Campus Activities Council background and help unify these organizations.
Sarah Bramlett, early childhood education major and Freshman Five Team member, said Lloyd was her High School Leadership Conference counselor as a junior. She is happy to help the campaign and hopes to get the word out and recruit friends. Bramlett said she thought the meeting was very informative and laid back.
UOSA elections are March 30-31.
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