Alli Webster and Evan Winter, candidates for student body president, debated alongside their respective student body vice president candidates, Gabriel Salazar and Cooper Messina, over topics like outreach to underclassmen, creating a welcoming environment on campus and improving NISG engagement on campus.
“I think there’s a big rift right now between the student government and the student body,” said Messina, in response to a question regarding the biggest issues facing the student body. “There’s some sort of disconnect happening on campus. A lot of students don’t even know that NISG exists until their third or fourth year on campus when they’re in executive positions in clubs.” Winter added to Messina’s statement that the cost of attendance is also a larger issue for the student body.
In response to the same question, Salazar noted that state legislation is largely affecting student groups on campus. “We have student organizations that are being attacked every day, and it’s important for us to make sure that every panther is welcome,” said Salazar. “It’s not just about communication between student government and students, it’s about protecting our student organizations and making it known that we’re here for them.” Webster, Salazar’s corresponding presidential candidate, built off of that response, adding that her administration would focus on implementing initiatives that better connect students to student organizations, and those student organizations to NISG. “We feel like this is something that can be capitalized on,” said Webster.
Messina, Winter, Salazar and Webster were also given an opportunity to explain how they’ve involved themselves in the student body to the extent that they understand student body needs. “As a younger student, I was highly involved in student organizations. I also had a plethora of nights with diverse friends and diverse people,” noted Winter. “As the Director of Finance, I get numerous emails every single day from student organizations, from their treasures, from executives. I have meetings with these individuals every single week to talk about issues they face as student organizations.” Messina noted that his position as NISG’s Speaker of the Senate has allowed him to meet a wide range of people from the student body, and that it’s been a “pleasure and an honor” to allow students to share their voice with the Student Senate.
“As a journalist and as a person, I do a lot of listening around campus, and it’s important to sympathize and understand with the students around campus,” said Salazar. “That’s one of the things I love about being a senator, is being able to listen to the concerns of students and give back.” Webster also discussed her involvement with NISG and how that’s impacted her time with the student body. Webster was tasked with drafting appropriations allocations requests, where she worked with the student health center and gathered insight on aid the health center receives, in an effort to ensure students receive quality healthcare on campus.
Candidates were also given the opportunity to discuss an initiative they would implement if elected. Winter and Messina discussed how they would like to make NISG more transparent to the student body, and how they feel as though students may view NISG as an “adversary.” Winter and Messina said they would work to ensure that NISG remains transparent, and that students know what’s happening within NISG. Salazar and Webster discussed how they would like to utilize the Green Fund to assist student organizations in being more sustainable. Salazar says currently, the Green Fund isn’t as accessible to students as it’s behind a lot of red tape. Through working with the Director of Sustainability, Webster and Salazar want to make the fund more accessible.
Voting for the student body presidential election will begin on March 4 and run through March 5, with the winning candidates announced that evening in Maucker Union. To learn more about each campaign, you can visit their respective Instagram campaign accounts, @evanandcooper4uni and @alliandgabriel4panthers.
