Students on their way to class might notice less red on campus in the coming weeks, instead turning to the colors green, orange and yellow to show their allegiances.
On Saturday morning, candidates for the Associated Students of the University of Utah elections spread these colors across campus on Posting Day, which also kicked off Dialogue Week during which candidates can approach students about campaign issues leading up to the elections.
Parties unveiled their logos and colors with signs and banners across campus to recruit potential students for their campaigns.
“We want our picture to be everywhere, as well as our platform,” said Katie Kormanik, vice-presidential candidate for the Synergy Party. “We want people to know what we are all about, and talk about what they see.”
In order to try and stir conversation and get students involved, each party is using a different color and slogan to draw student interest. Synergy’s color is orange, the Revolution Party’s color is green and the GO Party’s colors are yellow and black.
Revolution’s shirts carry the slogan “Are you ready?” Tayler Clough, the party’s presidential candidate, explained that the slogan is intended to get students to ask questions about the campaign.
“We want students to come and ask us about what we mean,” Clough said. “Are we ready for what? In the process of answering that, we can engage students to talk about the issues—we can find out about them individually. Then we can figure out how we can best help them.”
Synergy is using orange to symbolize their inclusion of people across a wide variety of backgrounds. Their shirts and posters reference their party Web site and feature the slogan “Come Together.” Kormanik said that unity is one of the party’s core philosophies.
“We want students to feel a part of ASUU. We want them to be a part of government, and have a say in their future, regardless of their background,” she said. “If we can all come together behind a single cause, imagine the impact we could have.”
GO is using yellow and black, and their materials carry the slogan “Taking you where you need to GO.” Jeff Sbaih, vice-presidential candidate for the GO Party, explained that their philosophy is like a riding in a taxi.
“We want the students to be sitting in the back seat, telling us where to go as their leaders,” Sbaih said. “Then we make it happen. We want their feedback. After all, we are here to serve and help them.”
Parties began gathering in the Union Building as early as 6:30 a.m., helping candidates understand how and where they could post banners in each building across campus. For the next three hours, small groups from each party then left the Union to prepare to hang the posters and begin talking to students.
Each of the three parties have more than 60 candidates, resulting in thousands of posters displayed across campus.
“Dialogue week is very important because it allows students to see what we are all about,” Sbaih said. “It is exciting to finally be able to talk to students about how we want help them.”
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