“A president who is always present”: An interview with Pelle Avemo

“A President who’s always present”. Thus reads the campaign poster of Pelle Avemo, who has thrown his hat in the ring in the upcoming SASSE elections. I asked him about this catchy slogan and much more in our fifteen-minute interview.

Pelle says his decision to join the race came down to a simple fact: He loves SASSE. He says a president that loves what they do is a key ingredient for a great SASSE since the president and the board are responsible not only for setting the agenda, but also “creating an atmosphere”. A president can thereby “set the tone” for a whole year at SSE.

Pelle’s idea on how the president should do this, alluded to by the aforementioned poster, is “being very present at all events”. Presence is very important to Pelle. He describes it as a core value of who he is and what he does at SASSE. However, it does not simply mean showing up, but rather an active presence where he and the board can make sure they “fully understand the needs and opportunities of the organization”.

But which needs and opportunities has Pelle found so far?

According to Pelle, a big need of the organization is ensuring that there is something for every member to engage with. Not offering enough opportunities can lead to members losing interest in SASSE and Pelle points to a low acceptance rate at popular committees in the fall recruitments (only 4 % of applicants get in) as a crucial moment where there is a risk of this happening. More projects before February, when the interviews for the boards start, is one of Pelle’s suggestions to minimize a potential fall off of members.

Another suggestion Pelle brings up is the reallocation of both financial resources and attention towards the smaller projects. “It’s important that we give everyone a fair amount of space” he says. Word of mouth is also important for a relatively small student association, Pelle explains, since awareness can make or break attendance at smaller projects. Focusing on the positions that have fallen behind would be Pelle’s plan as president. “We need a quantity of positions, but we should increase the quality of those we have already.”

Efficiency is also top of mind for Pelle. He says SASSE needs to be efficient for smaller projects to survive and for members to get their money’s worth at events. One solution according to Pelle could be reducing unnecessary spending, as he lists example after example of areas where SASSE could tighten its budget, but a streamlining of bureaucracy would also be looked into.

Speaking of events, I ask Pelle about the, often negative, comparisons between student life at SSE and at traditional university cities such as Uppsala or Lund. Pelle reasons that, while the variety might not be as high when compared to these cities (“We have one Rotunda, not thirteen Rotundas”), SASSE has a unique position with a lot of opportunities. He gives the basement as an example of a special asset of SASSE and says he would like to see some renovations to make it both “study friendly” and “quick to transform for parties”.

“Extraordinary” is Pelle’s affectionate vision for SASSE, and you’d be hard pressed to deny his love of the organization. We will have to wait and see if the members are convinced and give him a chance to live up to his ambitious campaign slogan.