Student government candidates defended their platforms but made a point not to criticize each other at their annual debate.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council held its annual candidate debate Thursday night. The 16 candidates running for the 2019-2020 council said they wanted to make USAC more transparent and increase outreach to the student body.
Of the 15 council positions, only three are contested. An additional three have no candidates running at all. The presidency is the most highly contested, with three candidates vying for the position. Last year, eight people ran for the seat.
Robert Watson, current internal vice president and independent candidate running for president, said he thinks the office can improve on its appointment process and its outreach to students.
Millen Srivastava, an independent candidate running for president, said her experience within the Office of the President for the past three years will help her guide the office while bringing a fresh perspective to the council.
Furkan Yalcin, an independent candidate running for president, said his experience in the comedy club Shenanigans has equipped him with outreach skills. He added he thinks he would bring a true outsider’s perspective to the role.
“There’s no one fresher than me,” Yalcin said.
This is the first year USAC will have an an international student representative. The position was created in 2018 as part of a referendum that passed with a vote of 81%.
Shahamah Tariq, an independent candidate running for international student representative, said she wants to address food and housing insecurity that international students face.
The candidates running for the Academic Affairs commissioner position both said they are in favor of removing standardized testing from the university admission process.
Naomi Riley, an AAC candidate who is running under the For the People slate, touted her two years of experience within the commission. She said she aims to stipend all student Academic Senate positions.
Riley was appointed to the Academic Senate by the current Academic Affairs commissioner, and is a member of the Committee on Teaching.
Oscar Macias, the independent candidate running for AAC, said his platforms center around accessibility and transparency. He added he would not criticize Riley directly because he believed it would play into a common institutional problem which pits people of color against one another.
The Student Wellness commissioner position is in contention for the first time in several years. Both Ty Pearson and Mihika Sridhar are seeking the position.
Of all the candidates running for contested positions, Pearson and Sridhar were the only ones to directly criticize one another or each other’s platforms.
Sridhar said she thought Pearson’s platform was visionary, but not feasible to accomplish in one year. Pearson said he thought his ideas were radical and could create positive change in USAC.
Sridhar is running with an endorsement from the SWC office after she was internally elected by her office last quarter. In response to Pearson’s comment that she “did not exist outside SWC,” Sridhar listed her positions in other campus organizations and efforts while highlighting her own long-standing experience within the commission.
Pearson said he is running to push SWC to better represent low-income students. He added he thinks the commission is not political enough, which he believes is required in addressing intersectional health problems.
Voting for the 2019-2020 council begins Monday and ends May 3.