Q&A with Sandor Callahan
by Ben Gevercer

Sandor Callahan arrived a little late in the race for SUA chair. “It was the middle of April, after the nominations for the elections were due,” Callahan said. “I decided to run after reading the duties of the SUA chair — leader and spokesperson of the student body. I said ‘That’s what I want to do’.”

Callahan, a second-year history major from Stevenson College, is running for chair because he believes that he could do a better job of relaying to UC Santa Cruz students exactly what the SUA does.

“When I talk to people about SUA, half of them don’t care and half of them don’t know [what SUA is],” he said.

One idea Callahan proposed is for SUA to sponsor on-campus concerts, as student governments at some UCs have done.

Callahan spoke about expanding outreach and educating students on the progress SUA has made for students. “I want to get people actively involved,” he said, “[and] show them all the resources [on-campus] for students to use.”

Callahan himself is active in both school sports and student government. He is a member of the UCSC men’s club soccer team, the captain on the track and field team, a member of the Stevenson student council, and a resident advisor (RA) at Stevenson College.

As a newcomer to the race, Callahan will not have a 150-word candidate statement on the ballot next week like the two other candidates for chair, but he is still actively campaigning through word of mouth and Facebook.

“I want to be SUA chair because I want to give back to UCSC,” Callahan said. “It took a lot for me to be a candidate and I still haven’t quit.”