2021 SGA election candidates debate action and implementation
Katelyn King, candidate for president, addresses a debate question during a virtual SGA debate via Webex on Monday, March 22.
The Central Michigan University Student Government Association held its virtual debate for the 2021 candidates March 22.
The debate questioned each ticket with questions such as their experience, what they would do in office and ended with a student body Q&A.
The two tickets running were:
- Kyle Walker, candidate for president
- Nolan Kamoo, candidate for vice president
- Olivia Schwartz, candidate for treasurer
The other ticket:
- Katelyn King, candidate for president
- Dylan Baker, candidate for vice president
- Kevin Bautista-Mancilla, candidate for treasurer
When asked a question, each ticket had two minutes to respond. If they mentioned the other ticket by name, that ticket would be allowed a one minute rebuttal.
The hour and thirty minute debate only had two rebuttals. One significant rebuttal was over the Walker-Kamoo-Schwartz ticket's plan of adding more liaison positions to the cabinet. The positions mentioned in the debate would include people from the Center for Inclusion and Diversity, University Recreation and Parking Services, Kamoo said.
King said that it was a move that would make the position of director of equity and inclusion "less meaningful."
"We believe adding positions for places on campus that aren't as important as others is going to take away that voice from people of color," King said.
Instead of multiple liaisons, King's running mate, Dylan Baker, supported uplifting the voices of students through "working alongside" them.
Kamoo said that wasn't enough.
"It's very easy to say that we all want students to feel included," Kamoo said. "But frankly, that doesn't really represent a specific concrete idea... An idea is only as good as the action process behind it."
Later in the debate, Bautista-Mancilla said he felt like it was a "bit too much" when he was the director of equity and inclusion.
"That position overall was a bit too much for a single individual to represent the community as a whole," Bautista-Mancilla said.
Yet, King said that the positions SGA has now are not "fully representative of the student body we have before us."
While equity, transparency, and inclusion have been key points throughout both campaigns, engaging students during and after COVID-19 restrictions was often brought up.
King turned to student complaint forms from Michigan State University. She said those forms provided a direct avenue for student complaints to go straight to the administration.
"This is something we can help build and monitor with the administration to help bring those concerns directly to the source," she said.
Kamoo said creating a new SGA website would be beneficial to fostering engagement. But Brett John Houle, the previous vice president, said in the chat of the livestream that SGA has tried before.
"(Central Michigan University) views SGA as a department, so the website is ran through (CMU's website)," he said.
The website has to undergo specific policies of website management from University Communications, he said.
Overall, the debate had very few rebuttals and no rule-breaking. A manager of the debate, Maggie Somerville, said it was one of the "best debates I've seen in my time in SGA."
Students will be able to vote for their preferred ticket, president and vice president, and treasurer in the 2021 SGA election from March 29 to April 2.
