Hues of blue, gray and white covered a panel of six students promoting their parties and vying for student government leader positions. The forum took place in the University Center Theater Monday.
Three parties are in the running for student government: Elevate, More and the United Party of the People (UP).
Ashton Toone, a junior communications major with a minor in broadcast journalism, is running for president with the Elevate party, who plan to push for campus revitalization, to emphasize engagement to include all university students and to hold administrators and student leaders accountable to elevate the student experience.
“I’m running as SGA president because I believe that I am capable of leading SGA to reaching its maximum potential as a governing body that truly serves the students,” Toone said. “I want to empower students to know that they can make a change on campus and that we will fight for them.”
Drew Gilmore, a junior finance and accounting major is running for president with the More party, which focuses on tuition costs, more school spirit, more inclusion and more civic responsibility.
“We want to put together a committee that works with the Office of Multicultural Affairs to get students to feel included on campus, creating more traditions that get students excited to be a student and partnering with SAC and Blue Crew to have events that engage students,” Gilmore said.
Blake Stayton, a junior double-majoring in political science and African American studies, is running for president with the UP party, whose platform is designed to help first generation and low income students excel during the first time at the university and plans to contain costs and tuition, improve health services and promote sexual assault awareness.
“With health services, I want to bring five-day STD testing to the university because it will ensure that the student body is staying safe,” Stayton said. “I also want to advocate for low-income women to receive birth control, and I want to make a safer environment for students by lighting up the campus at night.”
For opening statements, presidential candidates introduced themselves and informed the audience about their plans and party platform.
Next, the candidates were given two minutes to answer the election commissioner’s questions, which focused on the candidates’ integrity, plans for campus and the student issues they will present to the new Board of Trustees.
For the last segment, candidates answered the audience’s questions, which focused on the candidate’s previous responses to certain questions and their opinions on certain topics.
Each candidate was asked about their experience with diverse initiatives, opinions on the current bill that will dismantle freshman senate and the qualities they looked for during the selection of their party’s senators.
The vice president candidates were presented during the second half of the event.
Mitchell King, a junior accounting major, is running for vice president with the Elevate party, Kevyanna Rawls, an English and African American studies sophomore major, is running with the More party and Allison Nguyen, a sophomore biology major, is running with the UP party.
The vice president candidates were asked about the qualities and experiences that qualify them to be vice president, their personal and leadership values and their plans to improve the most important student priorities.
Next, each candidate received questions on how they effectively led other people, their ideas for single mothers and first generation students and the quality they admire about their running mates.
All U of M students are eligible to vote for candidates on Tiger Zone. Voting will open on Tuesday at 8 a.m. and will close at noon on Thursday.
Student government candidates answer audience questions at the 2017 SGA Candidate Forum. The candidates described their reasons for running for office and what they would like to change at the University of Memphis.
