Dy’Oni Charlton is a junior marketing major from Dayton, Ohio. She is running for the position of Secretary and aided by her campaign manager Taylor Young. Coming from Stivers High School, she received honors as a Principal Violinist, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honors Society, and earned a 4.0 GPA. She has a true love for Alabama State University as she grew up traveling 10 hours from home with her family to the Turkey Day Classic for Thanksgiving. ASU felt like home long before she attended the school as a student.

So why Student Government and why secretary? Other than the fact that Charlton served in Student Government in both her junior and senior years of high school, she explains why she feels it is her calling to run for office at ASU.

Q.   Why are you running for this office?

A.  “As students, we all recognize that there are a lot of problems at Alabama State University. I believe that each of these problems is deeply rooted in communication. As your next SGA Secretary, it would be my goal to alleviate a lot of the miscommunication that occurs between the administration and the student body so that we can all be as unified as possible.”

Communication is a big part of Charlton’s campaign and she goes into further detail about how she plans to incorporate that in her first 30 days of her term.

Q.   What issues do you plan to address in the first 30 days of your term, if elected and why?

A.   “In the first 30 days of my term, I plan to reopen and re-purpose the ASU New Student orientation app, develop a webpage with all things SGA, and implement a newsletter called “SGA Student Spotlight” that highlights students’ accomplishments at ASU and beyond.”

After discussing her plans to improve communication campus-wide through various forms, Charlton went on to discuss the SGA budget and a few things that she would like to implement when it comes to the budget.

Q.   Do you know the number of students who are enrolled at ASU, the SGA’s budget, and the university’s budget?

A.   “There are approximately 3800 students enrolled at Alabama State University. The budget of the student government is $29,401 for this current school year. The university’s budget is $154 million.”

With a proposed increase of the SGA budget, Charlton details how she envisions that extra money being used if she is elected as Secretary.

Q.   Do you believe the SGA’s budget should be increased and if so, why? 

A.   I definitely believe SGA’s budget should be increased. With a larger SGA budget, there will be more room for different programs at ASU. I had the opportunity to look at previous bills and resolutions. I came to the conclusion that a larger SGA budget could help ensure that these bills and resolutions are implemented. In our society, more money increases the ability to make a change. This is why I strongly believe that more money will allow the student government administration to make changes that will last for generations to come. 

Charlton’s strong beliefs in pursuit for more money for students may prove to be very helpful in her term if elected. She seems to have a solid plan and her goals mapped out for the change that she wants to make in office. She sums up her overall goals for her campaign and term in office.

Q.   What are some concrete things that you want to see accomplished before leaving office next year?

A.   Before leaving office, I plan to reopen and repurposing ASU’s New Student Orientation app, develop a website with all things SGA, and implement a newsletter to highlight an ASU student each month. 

Charlton looks to use her slogan of “Healthy Communication” and drive for improvements to secure the Secretary position for the 2021-2022 academic year. Voting will take place soon on April 12th and 13th.