Candidates for student government president and vice president will face questions from the University of Memphis student body Monday at 7 p.m. in the UC River Room. The senate and independent candidates will also present their cases for why they should be elected.
Students are encouraged to come and listen to candidates opening statement, followed by an open question portion.
If students are unable to attend the meeting, they can submit any questions or comments to the U of M student government twitter page and will be read at the meeting. Nicolas D’Alto and Jarad Jirari are representing the People’s party.
Jared Moses and Natalie Moore will represent the Refresh party. This year’s forum is aimed to be more of an informative and less about “character attacks,” Jacob Wheeler, a senior at the U of M and the student government election commissioner, said.
Last year’s campaign was rife with accusations of phone hacking and racist comments between the two parties at the time, MAD and SHIFT. The party usually names change after almost every election.
Ultimately, the executive office was split, SHIFT’s David Knowles taking the presidency and MAD’s Raven Douglas taking the vice president position.
“Last year some of the rhetoric from candidates went a little awry,” Wheeler said. “It was a very intense election cycle.”
“That election became quickly about character attacks.” Wheeler said the election committee is making a priority to keep the meeting with “as little drama as possible.”
The commission may not have the power to completely control what is said between parties, but Wheeler has the final say on what can be published on a banner or flyer. Each candidate gets a personal budget approved by the commission.
Materials, like stickers handed out to students or banners hung in the University Center must get approved by Wheeler first.
“We are highly encouraging civility in this election,” said Wheeler.
Campaigning started Sunday, March 20 and will carry on for two weeks. Polls will open for voting on Tuesday, March 29 at 8 a.m. and will close Thursday, March 31 at noon. In previous years, student body voting took place on the SGA website.
“Last year the website crashed during the polls, so we had to get an extension on voting,” Wheeler said.
However, only 11 percent, or 2226 students, voted in the 2015 student government election. In hopes of avoiding any complications during the voting, students will go to Tiger Zone this year to vote.
Students will use their ID number and will follow notifications along the page that will guide the user to each ballot.
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are social media sites that candidates use for campaigning.
“Social media is the best way to reach out to the students who are ultimately voting for you,” said Wheeler.
He added that it’s useful everywhere and we see it “even in the current presidential campaign.” Wheeler believes it is important for students to attend. It will allow students to come and inquire about issues and questions they want answered.
“It’s their biggest time to get their campaign out to multiple students at once,” Wheeler said.
The two parties will propose their main focuses in the meeting and will be able to directly answer concerned students and faculty to learn more about the future SGA leaders at the U of M.
Since campaigning has just started the dividing line between the parties has yet to be identified, but Wheeler is confident in both.
“I think any one of them will do a fantastic job,” Wheeler said.
Because this is the only meeting scheduled and campaigning only lasts two weeks, it is important that students attend the meeting to hear what is impending for the university.
“The success of this forum largely depends on the students and how involved they are,” Wheeler said.
