In an interview with The Eagle, President-elect Kyle Taylor discussed some of his top policy priorities as well as his quirky side as he prepares to take office in April.
For Taylor, who can perform the "Napoleon Dynamite" dance, he also has some serious ideas for his presidency.
The Eagle: Let's start at the top: What is your number-one priority and what are you going to tackle first?
Kyle Taylor: The first thing to really focus on is getting these bylaws set up for the new constitution, because there's a lot of confusion and a lot of information going around, so we need to finalize those before we can really attack anything.
The Eagle: I've got a flier from your campaign here with me, which lays out specific goals you hope to accomplish, including student rates on the Metro, Metro tickets in the bookstore, online book exchange and first-run movies on campus. Are these things feasible, and how are you planning to achieve them?
Taylor: As for student Metro rates, I've already spoken with the new student president at Georgetown, and we're going to use the summer as sort of the battleground to get that going before the school year starts. What I want to do is something where we buy ticket stubs from Metro that are valued at $6, but we buy them for $5 and we sell them to students for $5. So for every $5 you buy, you get $1 free. So you're getting 20 percent off on your Metro fares, essentially, because you're getting free money. As far as online book exchange, I've already contacted half.com about adding a regional search criteria so you can search by D.C. region and only buy books from people in D.C. Then you won't have to pay for shipping costs and so forth; you can just send them back and forth, or meet the person for coffee and get to know someone new. As far as our own online book exchange, I know the other universities are working on that, and I haven't had time to talk to them about that yet, but as soon as I can, I will.
And first-run movies, it's just something that [the Student Union Board] will be doing next year. It's feasible; you can do it. We purchase late-run right now, but you can purchase first-run. They're just a little bit more expensive, but I think they're a good idea for students.
The Eagle: Let's talk for just a moment about transitioning. What are you and other executives-elect doing now to prepare for when you're handed the reins in April?
Taylor: Well we're all meeting with our predecessors in the upcoming weeks to talk about what they do, where they come from, what they're working on now that we can hopefully carry over for them. I was already in an executive position so I'm a little more familiar with how it goes, and from what I can already see, the current executives are ready to do a thorough transition. We have about a month so it should be enough time to put everything together and follow through.
The Eagle: Speaking of Polson, what have you learned from his presidency?
Taylor: Well, the one thing he's done that previous presidents haven't done is
to get his face out there. He's a Screaming Eagle, he's very extroverted and he's always talking to people. I'm definitely going to continue that. That's just in my nature anyway. And I'm also going to be looking at some groups of students that aren't normally involved in student government to find out what is it that they're looking for that would get them involved.
I think that's something that Polson's done a great deal this year, and it's something that has to be a continuous fight to get more and more people involved. That's probably the main thing from him that I really want to carry over.
The Eagle: Let's talk about you a little so the student body can get to know their president-elect. Give us a little background on yourself.
Taylor: I am from Orange County, California. Anaheim: home of the Angels, the Mighty Ducks and Disneyland. I'm going home in June for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland, which is very exciting.
I'm the oldest of three. I have a younger sister who's 17 and a younger brother who's 12. My dad was born in Canada to British parents and my mom is a California native. I was a competitive swimmer for 13 years before I blew out my shoulders. I swam state level, national level and international level. I've also always been really involved in school activities and planning events and doing policy stuff. I love the movies. That's my favorite thing on the Earth, the movies. I've always been into the Hollywood thing.
The Eagle: Favorite movie?
Taylor: "The American President" and "Love Actually."
I used to do the acting thing and tried to be in movies, but it's a little bit harder than it looks. So, I came across country to go to school; I wanted to get away and this is about as far as I could get, unless I went to Florida or Maine. What else? Well, I drive a Jetta at home. It's a cool, fun little car. And I love the beach. And my dad has a baseball card shop so I used to help him out.
The Eagle: Anything else you do to relax or for fun?
Taylor: I like to travel. I studied abroad in Brussels, Belgium, in the fall, and
I just went back there for spring break. It is such a great place. To be honest, my favorite thing to do is sit in the dark with a glass of ice water and watch a movie with the air conditioning on. I'm obsessed with air conditioning. The day in the semester when the air conditioning comes back on, I usually have a very ceremonial day in my room with my air conditioner.
I just sit there on it, maybe watching some TV. I just love air conditioners. I guess it was because we didn't have an air conditioner for the first 14 years of my life. I just love cold, especially artificial cold. It makes no sense, I know.
The Eagle: Steering us back on topic here, while you were a swimmer at AU you witnessed firsthand when the scholarships were cut. Although golf and tennis were saved for a year, what are your thoughts on the school's actions toward the athletic programs?
Taylor: [AU President] Ben Ladner has a vision for the school as a whole, and part of that vision is decreasing the number of sports programs to increase the quality of the ones that we have. I don't agree with that theory because he's decreasing sports that are quality. He's decreasing our Patriot League champions and so forth.
The extension of the tennis and golf teams until spring of 2006 gives us one more year to put this all together and find out what's going on. Watching the swim team have its scholarships cut with six hours' notice given to the coach six days before the signing deadline was just outrageous and pathetic. At least this time they recognized their lack of timing and lack of tact in what they've done. I think with a year we can really find out what needs to be done to rectify the situation.
I don't support the decision; I don't think any student would. They're our community members, they're our classmates; just as student government is really important to me, tennis and golf is their student government. That's what they do. We all have our niche, and to cut that out from underneath someone is just something that I don't think is in AU's best interest or in our tradition at all.
And I realize there are financial concerns, but that's the type of thing we can deal with in a year. We can't deal with that in a month but we can in a year. That's definitely something we'll be dealing with this summer, and it's a primary policy concern for next year.
The Eagle: Now out on the campaign trail, you revealed a secret talent of yours: the "Napoleon Dynamite" dance. First of all, where did that come from, and are there any other hidden Kyle Taylor talents you'd care to share?
Taylor: Ah, good question. Well, seeing someone so socially awkward - that was me my first year of high school. I had braces, and everyone goes through an awkward phase, but mine was extended for like six years. It was awful. The plan is that I'm going to hopefully bust out the "Napoleon Dynamite" dance again at the McDowell Culture Night in April in the amphitheater.
As for other hidden talents, I love to dance. ... I line dance, I swing dance, waltz, rhumba and cha-cha. My grandparents are the United States Senior Olympics Ballroom Dancing champions. They came home with five gold medals two weeks ago for the second year in a row. I grew up with them and they taught me how to ballroom dance. I learned how to hip-hop dance in the mean streets of Orange County.
And swimming, of course; I love to ocean-swim. I guess those aren't hidden talents, though. I'm really clean, is that a talent? I can moonwalk too.
The Eagle: What's your dream job, down the road?
Taylor: Something in advocacy such as international education policy; definitely in the political realm. Who knows? I am also interested in children's and education advocacy. I started a nonprofit last year here, Operation
Outreach. I started that and I want to keep it going and expand it. So I'm working on a national network to help impoverished schools and underprivileged children. I think everyone deserves the same chance until you're 18, because you don't choose your childhood. Nobody has a choice in where they're born or who their parents are. So I guess that's where my major passion lies.
The Eagle: Final question and an important one: What cartoon character do you most identify with?
Taylor: I'm a Transformer; that was my favorite cartoon. And GI Joe ... he had cool adventures. But I'm definitely a Transformer. I can mutate into something different when it's needed and I can be all that I need to be.
The Eagle: We'll wrap it up there, with transforming GI Joe guys. Thanks for your time, Kyle.
