Steve Rinehart did not intend to run for student body president, but after he filed a lawsuit against parking services, many students asked him to.
“I’ve received countless emails from students,” he said. “It’s not something I had ever planned on.”
However, the second-year law student suing the U announced he will run with Annie Deprey, who is also a law student.
“I think I’m capable of doing it and I plan on doing it,” Rinehart said. “I plan on getting things done. I’ll be the first administration in ASUU that does anything dramatic.”
Although Rinehart has no experience with the Associated Students of the University of Utah, he has been a student at the U since 1994. He studied in the computer science and English departments, which he believes gives him good cross campus experience.
Deprey also got her undergraduate degree from the U.
“Getting my undergraduate degree from the U is a benefit for me,” she said. “I’ve seen the whole four years. I think I’m better prepared in handling the job.”
If elected, Rinehart will first work with Transportation and Parking Services to address parking issues. Although Rinehart is still organizing his platform and positions, he mentioned teachers in the science department who struggle with English as one of his concerns.
Rinehart hopes his administration would be able to make a difference, and he plans to draw on his law experience to bring those changes about.
“I know legally how the university is run,” he said. “They need somebody in there that can actually do things.”
Rinehart would like to see ASUU become a stronger organization that defends the interests of the student body more.
“I feel like ASUU has become more of a social club than anything,” Rinehart said. “I don’t think they really have the guts to stick up for the issues. If they had any guts, they would be running the parking lawsuit.”
According to Rinehart, the interests of the student body and the interests of the faculty are sometimes in conflict.
“When somebody won’t cooperate, when they act so corrupt as parking services does, there comes a point when cooperation doesn’t work anymore,” Rinehart said. “I’m not in this to get a good letter of recommendation when I leave.”
The lawsuit Rinehart recently filed is still in progress. Two firms plan to participate in the suit, and it may become a class action suit, which would include the entire student body as plaintiffs in the case. Any settlement would then be divided between the students.
Although Rinehart did not intend to run for office until three months ago, he plans to win.
“I plan on winning by the biggest landslide in U history,” Rinehart said. “I think that the students feel the way I feel. I think they’re going to want to get in there and vote for me.”