Incumbent Student Body President Matt Jarvis and Vice President Emily Kinner will face off against presidential candidate Alex Parlock and vice presidential candidate Daniel Parlock in the 2017 student government election.

Daniel Parlock is a history major who is competing for the office of student body vice president. He is a Huntington native and the brother of his running mate, Alex. He said he and his family have a long connection to Marshall and Huntington and he wants to see the area succeed. Daniel said he wants to see Huntington and Marshall become more connected and said he and his brother would make a great team to accomplish their goals.

What do you want the student body to know about you personally?

I think that our family has a big interest in Marshall just because we’ve lived here. We have lived in Huntington all our lives. All of our siblings, I’m number seven, he’s (Alex) number six, all of our siblings up until number nine have gone here. So we have a big investment in Marshall and we want to see Marshall succeed and we want the students of Marshall to succeed and want the students of Marshall to want to come to Huntington. I love Huntington, I love West Virginia, and so I see Marshall as the drawing point of outside areas. I want students to come to Marshall, to come to Huntington and believe in the city and the university.

Was there something specific that inspired you to run?

I like my voice being heard and it’s already been heard a little bit. I talked to President Gilbert about getting more representation of our mascot on campus and that’s why we have the new statue today. I went to President Gilbert and said, “Hey, we should have more of a scenic outlook on the campus.” I like trying to voice my opinion and them being heard. I think that this position will help both of our voices be heard a little bit more clearly.

What plans do you have if you are elected?

I think that Marshall is one of the gemstones of Huntington. One of the biggest complaints about students here at Marshall is that there’s nothing to do here in Huntington and when there’s nothing to do you get bored. A lot of international students who stay here over spring break because they can’t go home, they stay here and they said, I’ve talked to a lot of them, they say that they just stay in their room and they’re bored to death. So, what I want to do, and I think that’s going to be our platform, is getting Huntington and Marshall to work together to try to come up with more recreational activities for the students of Marshall to do and get more invested in Huntington as a city, so that they’re not as bored here and don’t see Huntington as a more dismal place, but more of a lively town.

What do you believe is the biggest issue that Marshall is facing and how do you plan to combat it?

One of the biggest things Marshall is facing right now is honestly our state legislature. The higher education has been cut already and it’s about to be cut again. We need to start looking at creative ways of combating those budget cuts. I know that the German program is getting, or at least I heard, it’s not permanent, that the German program is being cut and I am a part of the German program. I think that’s the biggest that Marshall has to combat right now.

Is there anything I haven’t asked that you believe the student body should know?

I think that we (he and Alex) are two different personalities. I believe that he has strengths and weaknesses and I have strengths and weaknesses and we both know our strengths and weaknesses. I hope my strengths help his weaknesses and his strengths help my weaknesses. I think that’s what makes us such a great team. Our personalities, even though we’re brothers, are a little different. He’s stronger in some areas, I’m stronger in other areas and we both compliment each other.

Kylee Hurley can be contacted at [email protected].