At the Central Michigan University Student Government Association meeting on Nov. 11, five candidates running for the Sustainability Fee Committee, also called the "green fee committee" by students, debated on why they should be elected next week.

The debate was moderated by SGA's election director Praise Oyimi, and was part of the ongoing elections for the sustainability fee committee. Along with unveiling the candidates, he made public how much money the $5 semesterly fee has already accumulated: Over $60,000.

The candidates made their way up to the stage with their own walkout music accompanying them. The current candidates are as follows:

Christian Dunn, junior
Campbell Geary, senior
Kathryn House, sophomore
Bindu Bhusal, junior
Jessica Reinhart, sophomore

Oyimi had a list of predetermined questions for the candidates that he and his elections committee asked. Topics included their plans if elected, leadership skills each candidate possesses and how they would incorporate diversity and student voices into their decisions.

Dunn said he wanted to be on the committee to help ensure student funds are going towards sustainability projects that will benefit the campus and students at large. He said if elected, he'd prioritize transparency of spending through a committee website and want to incorporate student voices through surveys, open meetings or a semesterly town hall event.

"This money is student money," Dunn said. "So having student input on what they need or what they want is important. ... Having an open line of communication is important."

Geary is the only candidate running who is not affiliated with SGA. He said he's running for the position in hopes to help the funds be distributed to projects that will make "an actual, genuine impact" on campus.

"Feasibility is important," he said. "It just comes down to making sure that the process (we) put in place ensures that research is being done before. ... We shouldn't approve anything that we don't believe is feasible in the first place."

House is the chairperson of the Sustainability Committee. She said she is running for the position because she wants to create a comprehensive plan for the committee to follow that's "accessible, sustainable and realistic," as well as student-led and student-driven.

Some of her plans include increasing waste reduction efforts on campus and creating more "green spaces," such as fish ponds and pollinator sites, House said.

"We have so much real estate on campus that can be turned into green spaces instead of sidewalks (and) increase our biodiversity here in our little microcosm of CMU," she said.

Bhusal said she's running for the committee in hopes of making the university more sustainable for on- and off-campus students. She said some of her goals include creating more sustainable transportation, especially for international students, and fostering strong communication with other committee members to make projects successful.

"It's not easy and it will take a lot of time," she said. "But it will give the team the perfect result and (help us) know how to manage everything."

Reinhart is a member of Central Sustainability, and said she wants to support a variety of projects, such as building green roofs or plants on the dorm buildings, installing more water bottle fillers around campus and getting official carbon emission reports from the university. She said her experience working on projects for Central Sustainability could help build a solid foundation for the committee.

"There's different sustainability-related things and resources (on campus) to help us with our research and help us confirm our research," Reinhart said. "We will have to dedicate a lot of time to research because, like all of us have said, that's a lot of money. We don't want to make an ill-informed decision with that much money."

All of the candidates agreed on topics brought up by the Election Committee, such as:

The importance of building a structure for the committee through bylaws and proposal submission guidelines;
Working with experts across the university and outside the committee, like facilities management and sustainability groups on campus;
Engaging student voices and being transparent with students about what's being spent.

"The first spot that sustainability fails is always going to be not thinking something out for the future," House said. "Sixty thousand dollars is a lot of money, so we want to make sure that it's being spent wisely."

Oyimi said elections for these candidates would open on Engage on Nov. 18.

In Other Events

SGA Vice President Aashka Barot said that the cabinet is working on a collaborative event with the Residence Housing Association and Program Board. She said the event, called "Fire Up All Night," would be an alcohol alternative event at the Student Activity Center on Nov. 23. She said more details would be shared in the near future.
The Academic Affairs Committee has started planning the final details for their Academic Wellness Event at 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 25 in the Bovee University Center Auditorium. Committee Chair Grace Jenkins said the committee wanted to have a de-stressing event before Thanksgiving break and final exam season, and that SGA would be hosting the event for part of their meeting that day.
Senate Leader Drea Hammond tasked the senators to reach other to their constituents, or students of their select colleges, to find out what the student body wants changed by the SGA.