Change, student involvement in university activities and improving the quality of student life at MTSU were a few of the issues discussed at the Student Government Association's executive candidate debate Monday night.
Current election commissioner Ben Hall said the debates were important for students to get more information on candidates and to get people out to vote.
Candidates were introduced to the students by the position of office they were running for and were then given one minute and 30 seconds to answer questions asked by the moderator.
Ashley DeSabetino is the only candidate who is running unopposed in the upcoming SGA election for the position of Vice President of Administration and Public Affairs.
DeSabetino has been involved in SGA for the past two years and wants to make a connection between MTSU and the community.
"I would like to work with student organizations as well as SGA," DeSabetino said. "I want to generate more support for SGA and have everyone work together on events such as the 'Black.White.' event and other community service events."
A need for change
All candidates spoke of a need for change within SGA and offered suggestions on how they would change the current image of SGA if elected to their position.
The two candidates running for the office of election commissioner spoke on how to improve SGA voter turnout.
Candidate Danny Bounds said all student organizations need to be included in working with SGA.
"[There are] over 300 student organizations, and we need to hit all of them," Bounds said. "These organizations have a diversity of people, and if you [visit] every single one of them, the students will feel like they have a voice instead of just seeing yard signs."
Candidate Brandon Reedy spoke on how to improve voter turnout and offered a possible solution to the problem.
"We need to contact college deans and department chairs to [have them] alert students on how to vote, where to vote, et cetera. We also need to form a student leadership council to let students' voices be heard on issues they think are important," Reedy said.
Vice President and Speaker of the Senate
Candidates running for the position of Vice President and Speaker of the Senate were asked questions in regards to how they would improve the quality of legislation being passed in the Senate, what new ideas they had to improve the SGA's image
Candidate Gretchen Jenkins said, after serving serve two consecutive semesters with SGA, she is disappointed in the lack of effective leadership and feels as if senators do not "represent their constituents or colleges and push legislation that they want pushed through."
"It's the student's opinion that matters. Every facet of campus should be represented in SGA, not just Greeks," Jenkins said.
Josh McKenzie, current SGA Executive Vice President and Speaker of the Senate, said he believes that six semesters of SGA experience allows him to understand what it takes to get things done.
"I know what it takes to get the right pieces of legislation passed," McKenzie said. "I like my job and what I do."
Jenkins believes "there should never be a quota of legislation to fill." She also offered suggestions on how to improve the quality of legislation passed in the senate.
"I want to implement committees from colleges and as well as the dean from that college, so it's easy to get ideas from [students] instead of going to senators," Jenkins said. "[Students] should not go directly to senators, because the goals of senators and goals of colleges might not be the same."
Student body presidential hopefuls
The four candidates running for student body president were very vocal in expressing their platforms and ideas on how to improve student life at MTSU.
Presidential candidate Jonathan Taylor said there is a need for change, and it is time to take SGA back to the students.
"Students don't know what SGA does accept to plan road-rally [trips] and homecoming. Some students don't even know how to log onto the computer system to vote," Taylor said. "We [need to] bridge the gap between the students and SGA."
All student body presidential candidates spoke on the unimportance of having prior SGA experience in being able to hold the position of student body president.
Candidate Lora Hortert said prior experience should not be required "because SGA needs diversity. SGA represents all students and not just a few. If prior experience were needed, then that would be limiting the majority of the student body that needs to have their voice heard."
Candidates were asked to express a question that they would ask MTSU President Sidney McPhee.
Candidate Chassen Haynes wants to know why [MTSU is] the last lobbyist of the Tennessee Board of Regents.
"MTSU receives [the] lowest funding even though we are the largest undergraduate college in the state," Chassen said.
Taylor is prepared to combat the problem of student retention at MTSU.
"There are [large] numbers of students who enroll here and don't graduate for whatever reason. They don't make grades, meet financial requirements [they] or have children," Taylor said. "What can we do to raise [the] retention rate and see them through till the end?"
Budget cuts and appointing Senators
Candidates were also asked, if elected, what programs they would cut from the SGA budget.
Haynes said, if elected, he would cut the executive stipends.
"People get into executive positions just for the scholarships and free textbooks, and [we should] start here before cutting vital programs," Haynes said.
Taylor spoke of trimming "fat" from programs that are being run inefficiently. He also said he would keep those programs around but lower their budgets.
Wilder stated he would like to see more advertising for sporting events on campus and try to involve the Murfreesboro community and possibly corporate sponsors.
"There are lots of organizations who deserve representation that aren't getting the advertising they need," Wilder said. "We need to take pride in our university."
Hortert said she would like to increase the visibility of MTSU in the community, and work with community businesses to get donations, in the hopes of decreasing funds taken from the state.
Student reaction
After the debate students stayed and spoke with candidates more in-depth about their platforms and ideas to change SGA and the university for the benefit of students.
Chris "Alfie" Rowan, a junior advertising major, said the most important thing he took away from the debate was being able to discern which candidate had a plan for change and which ones were just saying they had a plan but didn't know how to deliver that plan to students.
Rowan also said the student body needs to become more unified and not focus so much on being apart of different groups but instead focus on being the Blue Raiders.
"There are spots where we are unified, such as when we go to football games, but after the season is over, that unity is lost. We go back to our groups. We need to be the Blue Raiders, and if one of those candidates can do that, I will vote for them," Rowan said.
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