President Hopefuls Debate

PUBLISHED by The Daily Free Press

Two Student Union veterans and a student government newcomer offered different views on how to lead as the Union president and what matters to undergraduates, in a debate Monday night.


About 30 students, including supporters for current Union Vice President John Dallas Grant, Union Academic Affairs Committee Chairman Matt Seidel and College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Jeanne Mansfield, turned out for the debate hosted by The Daily Free Press in the School of Management Auditorium.

Candidates agreed that poor communication has been an impediment to Union plans in the past.

Seidel, running with plans to restructure the Union through his New Deal, said he wants to create "tangible" change on campus, and emphasized poor student academic advising as the biggest issue students face.

"The current e-board is not living up to its good intentions," Seidel, a member of the Union cabinet, said. "Advocacy needs to be first. People are tired of business as usual . . . They don't trust us, and we need to earn that trust."

Grant said internal conflicts have weakened the Union, and bringing back an annual retreat for Union members would make the entire organization more effective because members would get along better.

Mansfield cited the small crowd at the debate and said most students did not know the debate was going on, and those who did may not have known its location. She questioned last year's meager voter turnout, less than 30 percent, as an indication of the Union's problems.

Grant said the next Union cannot be effective unless its leaders have a have thorough knowledge of the Union as an organization.

"It's great Jeanne's here, but the Student Union president and vice president need to have knowledge of the Student Union," Grant said.

Mansfield noted meeting procedures are "not that complicated a machine," and said she could quickly pick up on Union routines.

"The process is not complicated enough to impede a fresh voice and insight," she said.

Every student the Union represents should "feel connected," because the students who attend meetings are not the only ones who care, she said.

"There's a self-assurance that, because I get to this position in the Student Union I can congratulate myself," Mansfield said. "You have to do something, not just be something."

When given the opportunity to question Grant, Seidel asked the vice president why the changes he proposes for next year have not already been implemented.

"Things you work on don't always go the way you hope," Grant said. "I have the experience and the personality to learn from this year and make things better for next year."

During an audience question session, those involved in the Union told of dissatisfaction with past Union actions and administrations.

Union Campus Safety Committee Chairman Leo Gameng told the candidates he is a "disgruntled member" of student government, and challenged the candidates to curb apathy and prevent members from feeling "micromanaged" next year.

Former Union Public Relations Director Brandon Epstein said the candidates' ideas and platforms sounded unoriginal. Epstein, a Free Press columnist, asked what the candidates could do to "wow" him.

In response, Grant said his platform includes issues students have brought to his attention personally, and "that's what will wow."

Seidel said during the debate that he has been campaigning on an individual level to find out what matters to students.

Current Union President Adil Yunis asked how the next administration would work on initiatives begun this year, without losing ground next year. Grant responded that committees, rather than the e-board, have done most of the work and have made accomplishments possible.

In an interview before the debate, Yunis said candidates need to think about the Union from president down to General Assembly member.

"I came into this thinking there had to be change, and it had to be at the executive level," he said.

Yunis said he would have liked to see the elections run later in April so more non-Union members would have jumped into the race.

"I feel like that adds much more to the plate," he said. "I was an outside candidate, and I think a lot of people are running on a platform of change. I think it's difficult for a candidate if they've already been in the Union and haven't been able to effect change."

Staff reporter Stephanie Perry contributed reporting to this article.