While Mike Fowler and Ben Lindgren may have varying reasons for choosing Penn State, together, they share a collective fervor and passion for leading the student body.

Fowler, a third-year political science major from Sparta, New Jersey, decided to attend Penn State due to the overwhelming school spirit, the abundant resources afforded to students, and the wide-reaching alumni network.

Lindgren, a third-year community environment and development and international politics major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a descendant of a long line of Penn Staters. He has attended Penn State football games since the first grade, so for Lindgren, choosing Penn State was practically written in his DNA.

Despite their differing reasons for selecting Happy Valley to pursue their educational interests, the pair are acting as one, united front in their current campaign for UPUA president and vice president.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by For the Future of the Valley (@votefowlerlindgren)

Lindgren explained how he was the one who initially came to Fowler with the idea of running for the UPUA presidential ticket. Noticing a glaring gap in the resources available for students, Lindgren recognized that improvements could be made in how UPUA uses its resources and connections to accurately meet the pertinent needs of the student body. 

Lindgren knew that Folwer’s time leading the Penn State Lion Caucus and Student Fee Board would set him apart in the position of UPUA president, and together the two began their campaign for the ticket. 

“What Mike and I really care about is making sure that students’ basic needs are supported. Accessibility is what I have always been rooting for, and I think that the student government can do a better job of ensuring that students who maybe don’t have a voice get access to the resources that they need,” Lindgren said. “I came to Mike because he dedicates almost all his time to ensuring that Penn State gets the proper funding it needs to keep it affordable for students and ensure everyone has equal access to a quality education.” 

Lindgren and Fowler originally met during their time on the UPUA first-year council, where their passion for student government and knack for leadership at Penn State began. Since then, Fowler has served as an associate justice for the assembly, with Lindgren serving as an at-large representative and, now, executive director of sustainability. In his current role, Lindgren leads initiatives to work toward the university’s carbon neutrality, waste management, and recycling goals. 

Fowler said his and Lindgren’s diverse roles within the UPUA set them apart from the other presidential tickets. Having first-hand experience in each of the three branches of the assembly has provided the pair with a comprehensive understanding of the inner workings of the UPUA and has allowed them to form fruitful relationships across each distinct branch. 

“When working internally with the UPUA, it really is essential to have experience working in the three branches of the assembly. Ben has worked in the legislative and executive branches, and I have experience in the judicial and legislative branches. Being able to have that foundation of experience within the UPUA is so important in order to make the assembly more efficient and impactful,” Fowler explained. “We’ve been able to see firsthand how this organization can be changed to better advocate for the student body.”

Beyond their experience in UPUA, Fowler and Lindgren are each prominent leaders in their respective involvements on and off campus. Serving as the president of the Lion Caucus, Fowler collaborates with the Penn State Office of Government of Community Relations to advocate for funds for the university. This complements his work as the vice chair of the Student Fee Board, which appropriates university funds to a variety of student resources, such as Student Legal Services, CAPS, Campus Recreation, and University Health Services. 

Lindgren, on the other hand, is an advocate for sustainable food access through his involvement with the Lion’s Pantry and AmeriCorps, where he served a term of national service focused on improving Penn State students’ basic needs services. Lindgren is also an RA, which has expanded his perspective on the challenges facing younger students, as well as strengthened his problem-solving and communication skills.

Their multifaceted passions and involvement outside of UPUA allow Lindgren and Fowler not only to form lasting connections with other groups on campus but also to expand their viewpoints on what needs must be met in the Penn State community. It can be difficult to create a policy that addresses the requests of each student, but Lindgren explained how the pair’s diverse involvements will hold them accountable for ensuring that the UPUA resources reach every area of student life. 

“UPUA was in a budget surplus this year, which means that we didn’t use all the funds that we could have to help students out at Penn State. So, there’s more that can be done. Mike and I have built a really strong network with student leaders from diverse student groups,” Lindgren explained. “We can accomplish our goals because we’ve built these networks and partnerships across the university.” 

Lindgren and Fowler’s campaign consists of a three-pronged approach, rooted in improving three distinct areas across the university: accessibility, empowerment, and campus infrastructure. 

The pillar of accessibility will work to remove a wide range of barriers that are currently facing the student body, from increasing access to CAPS resources, improving transportation to grocery stores downtown, and even enhancing the searchability of available scholarships and grants. Due to Lindgren’s background in the food justice space, he has heard firsthand from students that the lack of transportation to grocery stores has hindered their access to affordable, fresh produce. He emphasized how improving and expanding the Red Link, Blue Loop, and White Loop lines will aid in increasing student food security at University Park. 

When it comes to the pair’s second pillar of fostering empowerment within the Penn State community, Fowler and Lindgren plan to strengthen and increase visibility for the number of diversity groups on campus. This includes working with the Multicultural Greek Council and the identity caucuses across campus to collaborate with the New Student Orientation program. This initiative will ensure that first-year students are aware of these organizations and their missions, which may help them establish a community on campus and ease their transition to Penn State.

Improving empowerment on campus cannot be achieved without enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Lindgren emphasized that in a time where DEI initiatives are being defunded and suppressed at the federal level, he and Fowler will work diligently to craft a campus culture that continues to uplift the voices, experiences, and cultures of all students. 

“The face of equity and inclusion and diversity is changing. We are extremely committed to ensuring that those programs are supported at Penn State and enact systemic change to make sure that all students are supported. For example, we want to build up the student Minority Advisory and Recruitment Team, which is a program that is offered through Penn State Student Affairs and the Paul Robeson Cultural Center to recruit diverse students and also act as a mentoring program,” Lindgren said. “We want to get a task force together to make sure that program and other DEI programs are properly funded because times are changing, and we need to continue to provide that support.”

Finally, Fowler described how the campus infrastructure pillar of his campaign will seek to promote environmental sustainability and resilience across the university, especially within Penn State Athletics. With planned partnerships with the Food Recovery Network, his campaign will guarantee that sustainability is an area that is prioritized in all of the university’s current and upcoming campus operations.

“Within our campus infrastructure pillar, the main priority I want to focus on is zero waste at Penn State. We plan to work with Penn State Athletics as well as Penn State Sustainability to really increase the sustainable recycling program that we see at Beaver Stadium, but also through all of the athletic facilities,” Fowler explained. “We have the endorsement from the president of the Food Recovery Network as well, and we hope to branch their endeavors into the newly constructed athletic commons that’s going to be next to Beaver Stadium within the next few years. We want to find ways to implement more sustainable practices in athletics, but also have that carry over to university-wide projects as well.” 

Fowler said the campaign does not generalize or promote empty promises, and each of the pair’s proposed policies, projects, or initiatives is achievable, with a clear path and structured plan for how it can be efficiently implemented in the Penn State community.

“What’s important and unique about our platform is that these aren’t just ideas or generalities, but very actionable items, where we can lay out exactly how we’re going to implement them into the university,” Fowler said. “Ben and I know how to start and implement these projects, and these are changes that we know we can succeed in.”

Fowler and Lindgren are running against Rasha Elwakil and Fletcher Port, and Joshua Meert and Samuel Conway. Elections will take place on Wednesday, April 2, and students can cast their vote at vote.psu.edu.