On March 24, the Niner Times hosted the 2016 Student Body Presidential debate in which candidates discussed their platform and their stance on current issues involving campus in front of fellow students and the student council, which took place in the Student Union.
Student Body Presidential candidate Fahn Darkor speaks during the debate. Photo by Chris Crews.
The debate started off with Niner Times News Editor Nick Cropper instructing how the debate would be conducted. Chosen at random, each candidate was asked to introduce themselves. The introductions started off with presidential candidate Faun Darkor and his running mate Carrie Nowell, followed by candidate Jessie Puffer and her running mate Amber Creft and Andre Jefferies with his running mate Anthony Rizol.
The candidates for vice president were first to answer questions on their platform and how they will go about implementing it.
Dakor and Nowell stated that they want to build a stronger platform of transparency and inclusion. They also want to create relationships and encourage students to be involved more with diverse groups.
One of their examples would be a “Why” Fair for the upcoming school year. The fair is about the idea of getting students to come out and ask why things are the way they are on campus. They would also push for more transparency between the student government and the student body.
Puffer and Creft talked about transparency as well by creating a new website solely for students to voice their questions and concerns.
They also want to have a drop box for student inclusion.
Puffer stated that though UNC Charlotte has a diverse campus, it can be separated at times. Puffer and Creft wish to bridge that gap.
Jefferies and Rizol talked about how they wanted to foster tradition, by reaching out to the community to keep traditions going. Their platform focuses on student empowerment, on how students should come to Senate meetings to listen, to be involved and knowledgable of campus affairs.
The second question was on how the candidates plan on using their experience to perform their duties as leader of the Senate.
Creft stated that they would work on making sure that the legislation will be produced.
They want to be more than just a president and vice president that tells students what sounds good and actually go through with their plans.
Nowell touched on how she and Darkor want to help people succeed.
“I made a commitment to bring awareness with other organizations that I have been involved in,” said Nowell. “I learned how to develop a sense of pride and a sense of community.”
Nowell also states how her and Darkor want to bring a fresh perspective for students and improve student life on campus.
Rizol answered after Nowell and went on to talk about how he and Jefferies feel that it is important for senators to be more available than on just Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Rizol wants students to be connected by coming to Senate meetings and feeling like they have a voice.
Creft stated that she wants to livestream Senate meetings for students to watch if they cannot attend the meetings in person.
“It all starts with us to be stronger within SGA,” said Creft.
Creft wants to collaborate more with student organizations and have more face-to-face with the student body.
After the vice president candidates stated their questions, the debate shifted to discussion questions for the presidential candidates.
Their first question was what they admired about the current student body president and what they would do differently.
Puffer was first to answer and stated that she admired his drive and passion on getting things done, but she would want students to have a clearer understanding of just how hard the student president works to help UNC Charlotte.
“I would change on being more vocal on how hard I try.”
Jefferies talked about how he enjoys the enthusiasm of the new president with building a stronger community on campus. However, he would want to show his face around campus more so that more students could recognize their president.
Andre Jefferies, Student Body Presidential candidate. Photo by Chris Crews.
“I would strive to get out there by going to different student programs, so that students can feel a sense or connection to come talk to me personally,” said Jefferies.
Darkor stated that the current president is very relatable and likes how willing he is to learn about students, but Darkor, who knows the current president personally, said that he would want to improve his time management as president. Darkor said that he try not to let that happen to him.
The debate then would lead into the topic of how the Belk Tower demolition was handled and how the candidates felt about the administrative actions.
Jefferies stated that he is an advocate for students having a say in campus matters, especially ones as high-profile as this.
He felt that students should have been more involved in the decision.
For future issues involved telling the administration what students don’t agree on and what they want to be in place of the Belk Tower, for example.
Darkor felt that the Belk Tower situation happened too quickly, but it was understandable because of the potential safety hazard. He believes that the administration should have communicated better about the issues with the tower.
“If students don’t know they have a voice, they won’t be able to do so,” said Darkor.
Puffer talked about how she thinks a forum would be helpful, much like the current community forums for the Belk to redesign, along with tabling events and involving students more about issues like the Belk Tower coming down.
The debate then moved to the question of fostering more credibility towards the university.
Darkor stated that UNC Charlotte is closed off from the greater part of the strong Charlotte community.
He feels that through athletics on our campus we can build that strong community and get more involvement.
Puffer said that she wants a Franklin Street here on campus like UNC Chapel Hill. As a part of her platform she wants more community support like other schools by building pride from making events on campus more exciting. Puffer wants that pride to be in not just sporting events but all events, to create a real sense of student life.
Jefferies wants to reach out to the community to build credibility. He wants to reach out to banking institutions and hold forums to get the banking community involved.
He states that because Charlotte is one of the largest banking cities in America, he wants to bring that into our campus community.
The debate shifted to the council and audience Q&A for the candidates and each of their final statements about their platform.
SGA spring election will take place March 29 at 8 a.m. through March 30 at 5 p.m. Voting will be online at vote.uncc.edu.