Student Body President candidate Christy Lambden platforms for affordability and accessibility

The all-rounder player on a cricket team must be skilled at all aspects of the game.

The player holds a unique position as both batter and bowler, and teammates depend on him or her to play the best until the very end.

Junior Christy Lambden, who hails from England, plays that position on the UNC cricket club team — and that’s the role he hopes to fulfill as student body president.

Fellow player Rahul Lakhwani, who is a junior, said Lambden has taken that aspect from the field to his platform.

“Christy was the type of guy that didn’t care about playing the best players, but bringing together a lot of guys,” he said.

Lambden said his main platform themes — affordability and accessibility — can only be achieved if the campus comes together like a team.

“We can’t reach those goals unless we as a student body are unified together,” he said.

Lambden said he will advocate for all student factions, from graduate students ­— some of whom he said are close to qualifying for food stamps because of their scant stipends ­— to the Greek community.

He added that he will also reach out to student organizations such as the LGBTQ Center by making it a priority to move the center closer to campus and also by proposing gender-neutral bathrooms.

“It is unacceptable for anyone on this campus to feel unsafe at any time,” he said.

But his vision of unity extends beyond students, he said — it includes stronger ties with administrators and state legislators, whom Lambden said he will lobby four times if elected, to better advocate for students’ interests.

“He’s not just a niche candidate,” said sophomore Austin Root, Lambden’s platform manager.

“He understands Carolina and has a platform that reflects that.”

Root said while helping draft Lambden’s platform, campaign staff included deadlines for each issue to keep Lambden accountable.

“He’s going to be involved in those budget talks on day one, and he won’t stop until there is a solution that is satisfactory to administrators and students,” Root said.

Lambden grew up in Shepton Mallet in southwest England, a town he described as a rural part of the country where there are more sheep than people.

Lambden, a Morehead-Cain Scholar who is majoring in philosophy and political science, said the lack of things to do in the small town gave him a lot of time to think about his future.

He said he wanted to become a lawyer for a long time and decided UNC was the best place to be because of what it offered.

“The whole package of what university is in America is so much more meaningful than just coming to university to get a degree,” he said.

During the campaign season, Lambden has already picked up several endorsements — including from the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, the UNC College Republicans and Young Democrats.

He said he has a mantra that the campus will be hearing a lot over the next few weeks as he campaigns for votes.

“I’m not Carolina born, I’m not Carolina bred, but I’m sure as hell going to be Carolina dead.”

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.