Candidates for president, vice president of student affairs and vice president of academic affairs participated in a town hall-style debate at the Union Fireside Lounge on Thursday night, in anticipation of next week’s election.
Senior Dakota Crowell and first-year Mykelle Richards, both of whom are running for Vice President of Student Affairs, were the first batch of candidates to debate in the two-hour-long event, which was hosted by the Student Association at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Sophomore Alyssa Molinksi, who is running unopposed for the position of vice president of academic affairs, told the audience that she wants, at least, one student representative to head each of the academic programs on campus.
Benjamin Gerard, Emily Kuester and Adrian Palau-Tejeda are all juniors, running for Student Association president.
The presidential candidates talked about the number of sexual assaults around campus; the need for more recognition the university’s minorities; and the impending influence of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget bill, which could cut segmented fee programs to UW Universities.
From 11 p.m. to 2 p.m., on Monday, April 3, there will be an Election Kickoff Event. Voting, which will be administered via UWM email, begins on April 4 and ends on April 6.
The debate was only made up of students running for the positions of president, vice president of student affairs, as well as the vice president of academic affairs.
Questions were offered to the candidates courtesy of fellow UWM students, of whom wrote questions prior to the opening debate, and the Independent Election Commission. Each candidate was given a one-minute opening statement, two minutes to respond to each question and a thirty-second rebuttal at the conclusion of each question.
Issues that were advocated for, by all candidates, included more efficient campus parking, bathroom rights for transgender students, and school spirit.
John McCune, a sophomore at UWM, says student government is lacking in publicity, though he believes the onus is partially on those running for the position to reach out to students.
“The voting process is super easy,” said McCune. “All you have to do is go online, read the bios — those bios can tell you a lot about their effort, how much they want to be in Student Association.”
The Student Association supports student services — including the funding of various resources centers — the Student Union and parking services.
Eli Walker, a UWM sophomore majoring in state management, thinks students see the Student Association as a government entity, which deters them from voting.
“Student Association, as a whole, is very dedicated to advocacy and improving student life,” said Walker, who is re-running as senator for LGBT+ Advocacy. “I feel like people don’t understand that.”
“We allow regular, at-large students to come in and talk,” said Walker. “If they have issues, there is a point of contact on Student Association for everybody.”