Christian Peña, junior in agricultural education and Caden Bastian, junior in political science and history, were both elected Kansas State’s next student body president and vice president, respectively, on Feb. 26.
Peña decided to run with Bastian after a mutual connection suggested Bastian would be a good running mate.
“We had a meeting the next day, and by the end of the day, we said, ‘We’re doing this thing,’” Peña said. “Since then, we didn’t look back. We got right to work, and it’s been fun ever since.”
The pair had only one month to campaign. Despite the time constraint, it only pushed them to work harder.
“I think that gave us a good opportunity, though,” Bastian said. “Whenever you’re kind of strapped for time, it makes you really work hard.”
Peña and Bastian cemented their campaign’s focus on being there for the student body.
“Making sure that students always know that we’re right beside them through everything that we do is our number one priority,” Peña said. “We have a lot of ideas that are going forward that we’re hoping we can maybe get some momentum on. But everything we have planned is going to benefit students.”
Their campaign was based on their slogan, “RISE: represent students, improve campus, serve needs and empower voices,” which they developed over many hours at Bluestem Bistro in Aggieville.
Bastian believes that each part of “RISE” can’t exist without the others.
“If you take off one of those aspects, if you take off the S, ‘Serve needs,’ then the whole thing fails,” he said.
The pair believe in their mission so much that they find themselves saying “RISE” casually in conversation. But Peña said that he and Bastian wanted the entirety of their team to approve of the slogan before they officially implemented it.
“They should be proud of what they’re gonna be helping us make,” he said.
Peña and Bastian’s motivation for their roles doesn’t only come from advocating for the student body; they also share a great pride in being Wildcats.
“I really appreciate the values that K-State represents,” Peña said. “Getting to be here, be a part of this family is truly a blessing in a lot of ways. One thing that I’ve noticed is that when I travel, if I’ve got a Powercat on my hat or I’m wearing something on my shirt, someone’s gonna say, ‘Hey, Go ‘Cats.’ That is probably the coolest thing that encompasses what we do here at K-State.”
Student body vice president is not Bastian’s first leadership role. He was previously president of the fraternity Delta Sigma Phi. He said leadership roles allow you to grow in a lot of ways you would never expect.
“If you want to get involved in leadership, outside of Greek life, there are more than 400 clubs here on campus for you to do so — there’s always a spot for you,” Bastian said.
Peña and Bastian’s campaign focused on students and the direct impact they hope to make for them.
“We’re all students here at K-State, and we get to do it right beside them,” Peña said. “We’re always going to be right in the midst of everything. We go to class and sit alongside everyone.”
Peña and Bastian will continue with these values as they embark on their journey and begin their transition meetings next week.
“We are going to hit the ground running, and we’re really excited for what that’s going to look like,” Peña said. “I think one of the coolest aspects of being able to reflect on the last couple days is that our inboxes have been filled with people saying, ‘Congratulations.’ But it’s not just about that, it’s about the willingness of people to reach out and help us and guide us into this process of how we’re going to be able to make our impact here at K-State.”
