Despite inexperience, passion, dedication shines through
Haley Guyton isn’t the typical, number-crunching accountant. Peppy and enthusiastic about the work she does, Guyton threatens to break out of the traditional treasurer’s role — expanding it to be people-oriented rather than just numbers-oriented. After deliberating the backgrounds and platforms of three candidates, we have decided she could take USC in a new direction doing just that, which is why we’ve chosen to endorse Haley Guyton as student body treasurer.
Guyton hasn’t followed the usual path of working her way up through Student Government to run for an executive position. A public relations student with a passion for bringing people together, Guyton was recently named one of the top seven student leaders at USC. But she also shows a knowledge of technical skills to back her passions up. Guyton got involved with the comptroller’s office five months ago and has spent her time there assisting student organizations with budgeting and getting familiarized with the inner workings of the SG funding codes.
As treasurer, Guyton has clear goals of helping increase communication between the treasurer’s office and student organizations to clarify the funding and budget allocation process. Guyton also plans to raise more off-campus funding for USC, citing her hopes of targeting larger companies such as Coca-Cola.
In terms of previous leadership experience, Guyton’s resume isn’t the most stacked. Unlike her opponent Caroline Hendricks, she has been significantly less involved with SG in the past. But Guyton shows focus and dedication specifically to the treasurer’s office, a trait we find crucial to being an SG leader. Hendricks, on the other hand, told the Daily Gamecock that one of her main motivations for running for treasurer was because there was less competition than for other SG positions.
While Brandon White also showed extensive experience with finances from his previous leadership role at Carolina Productions, as well as knowledge of SG’s budget allocation process, experience alone is often not enough. We’re afraid he wouldn’t be the most effective leader for the organization and that his experience with off-campus fundraising — which centered around talking to local businesses to get discounts and free tickets to events — are too small-scale for SG.
Guyton, if elected treasurer, would have room to grow in terms of learning the ropes of SG. But she has a practical financial foundation to build on, a desire to learn new things and a passion for people, which is what our new student body treasurer needs.