If elected president of Associated Students Inc., Corey Miracle wants to advance the campus in several areas, including mental health awareness, sexual assault prevention, campus parking and healthy food options.
His leadership experience stems from previously participating in a legislative committee and the activities committee from ASI.
He has also served as president of the Interfraternity Council at Fresno State, where he represented about 530 students, he told editors of The Collegian during a recent interview. He is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
Miracle said he started researching his campaign pledges about four months before presidential candidate applications were due. He asked students and organization leaders what they wanted to see changed on campus. They were mainly concerned about the previously mentioned areas.
“With mental health awareness, that’s a point I know a lot of close people around me have struggled with — it has a personal tie to me as well,” Miracle said. “I think a lot of the things I’ve noticed that campus has done have been good. The only thing that’s been lacking is the assurance that there’s discretion.”
On sexual assault, Miracle said prevention is important to him and his slate, “the Miracle Workers.” Though he stated that the percentage of sexual assaults has remained steady with the university’s effort to bring it down, he wants to make sure it remains an important topic.
Although students have voiced their opinion about wanting a parking structure, Miracle said it is may not be feasible.
“For each current spot that we have on campus, it costs about $2,000 to make,” he said. “The per spot price for [a parking garage] would it be about $20,000, which is 10 times more.”
Possible parking solutions, Miracle suggested as candidate for ASI president, include encouraging students to carpool, adding more shuttle stops to the campus shuttle — Bulldogs Express — and adding another shuttle bus.
A $700,000 reserve of student fees has been the topic of discussion at recent ASI meetings. The funds are separated into three categories: Working Capital or Current Operations reserve; Capital Replacement reserve; and Planned Future Operations reserve.
Miracle wants to use the funds to improve “faulty” buildings, classrooms and bathrooms, he said.
“It’s disappointing that we have all that going on and we have a nationally recognized library on our campus,” he said. “We have stairs that creak and bathrooms that are inadequate, so those are things I think should be fixed.”
On the topic of the New USU, which students will vote on in a referendum during the 2018 ASI elections, Miracle said he will respect the decision of students after a previous similar project failed.
“I know right now we have a lot funds being offered for it, and they will be lost if we don’t do it and that just sucks,” Miracle said. “That’s going to backtrack the project a lot, but right now I think I just respect what the students want. I do encourage students to learn more information about it because the more information I learned, the more I supported it.”
If the New USU referendum passes, Miracle said, adding restaurants with healthy food options, something he pledges to address, would be ideal. If it does not pass, he would like to collaborate with the University Dining Hall to provide more healthy food options.