Election fliers key to reach students

Student shuffle past a bulletin board covered with fliers for the upcoming student elections in Lincoln Hall, Monday. ME Online

Student shuffle past a bulletin board covered with fliers for the upcoming student elections in Lincoln Hall, Monday. ME Online

By Erika Strebel

Dustin Schrader, junior in LAS and Illinois Student Senate (ISS) candidate, knows Victoria’s Secret: The leggy, winged lingerie model featured in his black-and-white campaign flier is voting for him.

“I’m serious about my campaign,” Schrader said, “but I also wanted to make something that would not only stand out but also show a little bit of my personality and show a little flavor as well.”

Schrader’s flier is only one of the many crammed onto various bulletin boards in Lincoln Hall and other buildings.

Fliers that are black-and-white, printed in color, or photocopied onto colored paper are squeezed into every possible space.

Student candidates for ISS have been using this method, as well as other strategies, to promote themselves for the upcoming election.

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For many candidates, fliers are the main method of getting their names out to voters. Some candidates have more than one flier design. Schrader has 12.

Lhea Randle, sophomore in LAS and ISS candidate, has five designs that appealed to different audiences, including one that shows her watching “Grey’s Anatomy.” She also said she translated her some of her fliers into Spanish and French and posted those in the Foreign Language Building.

Zenobia Ravji, junior in LAS and ISS candidate, chose to print her campaign fliers in color on white paper. Ravji said that this year, unlike the previous two years she ran, she decided to make her fliers stand out among other simple fliers.

“If you put it on a bulletin board, it stands out not just among things that are simple, but among the colored paper also,” she said. “It makes it really bold.”

Candidates usually post fliers where students have classes.

Schrader, Randle and Ravji said they targeted buildings like Lincoln Hall, the Foreign Language Building and the English Building.

Other than making fliers, candidates also promote themselves by creating Facebook groups, attending events, distributing handbills and chalking campus sidewalks.

Randle hosted events to gather supporters and entice voters to get to know her and her platform.

She arranged events like “Skate For Your Candidate” at the Ice Arena.

“It was something laid back, just so that people could have fun,” Randle said.

On March 3, she also held an event called “Knock Out the Vote” at the Illini Union, where she invited students to meet and bowl with her. She also attended dorm dinners.

In general, Crystal Olsen, sophomore in LAS and ISS candidate, said that campaigning is a full-time commitment.

“It takes up so much time,” she said. “It kind of hurts the academic portion of my life. And my boyfriend complains that I’m not around enough.”