MOORHEAD – Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. marked the commencement of Concordia’s annual Student Government Association presidential debate, featuring three pairs of student candidates. The debate gave the candidates the opportunity to articulate their visions for student governance for the 2024-25 academic year.
The debate was moderated by senior Lauren Melton and junior Seema Mustafa. The pair began with a co-introduction laying out the rules for the evening. The candidates would be allowed an opening statement and closing statement, with questions from the moderators and audience in between.
Among the contenders were Jayden Olmsted & Rachel Huynh, Sumaya Abukar & Vanesa Angau and Grace Halvorson & Daniel Davies.
In their opening statements, Olmsted and Huynh emphasized direct, open communication with students to gain information necessary for change on campus. Olmsted mentioned their “expanding the table” approach, which would center SGA’S resources around more inclusive opportunities for students and student engagement.
Abukar and Angau outlined building a stronger, more inclusive community where every student’s voice is heard and valued. “Together, let’s embark on a journey to enhance our campus experience, amplify student voices, and create positive change,” Abukar said.
Halvorson and Davies’ opening focused on getting things done, listing three key priorities: relationships, professional development and holistic wellbeing. “We’re ready to hit the ground running, and we’d be honored if you’d join us,” Halvorson said.
Following the opening statements, candidates were presented with a series of carefully chosen questions.
The first category was academic excellence and student life. The candidates were asked about their plans to advocate for current student needs and promote wellbeing for students on campus. All three presidential candidates agreed on expanding courses being offered to students and working with the Center for Holistic Health to promote wellness.
Abukar said that they hope to increase time for buildings to be open on campus, in hopes of allowing students more time to study and extended access to learning spaces. Regarding wellness, she said that they hope to implement more people of color on staff at the Center for Holistic Health to reduce the stigma for students of color using the resource.
Halvorson emphasized the differences in student needs across different areas of study and said that they hope to expand SGA leadership to a representative from each of Concordia’s three schools. Along with that, the pair plans to expand the workout balcony and its hours, as well as expand the dining hall’s hours and work to provide more healthy options for students.
Olmsted agreed with both of his opponents, adding that moving forward in the core curriculum, they’re looking for attributes that would be beneficial to all students. He added that they’re also advocating for safer passageways on campus through increased fob access, allocating and extending resources and ensuring that everyone on campus is protected from things going on in the community.
The second category was diversity, inclusion and engagement. Each pair of candidates agreed that moving forward, they would like to work closely with campus and community groups that focused on activism for marginalized groups. Each pair has specific experience, either through campus involvement or work, with groups that highlight the importance and impact of diversity and meaningful engagement.
When questioned about international student concerns, Halvorson said that they hope to lean more on the international student representative in SGA, and to coordinate programming to help international students address financial concerns like healthcare, student loans and graduate school.
Abukar agreed, saying that international students need to be catered to more during school breaks, and the school should feel like a home away from home for them, rather than a financial burden.
Olmsted touched on accessible housing in the summer for international students, aiming for summer housing prices to be “reasonable instead of absolutely exorbitant.”
The third category was campus safety and sustainability. This had each of the candidates bringing up concerns with safe skyway usage and travel, food waste from dining services and communication with public safety.
Olmsted said that to reduce food waste, they want to stop serving foods that students don’t eat repeatedly and instead, investigate what food options students are eating and serving those more often rather than throwing ignored food away consistently.
He also looks to possibly establish a permanent eco-anxiety group around campus. “As we move forward, climate change is so, so intense,” Olmsted said, “it’s important that we create avenues for students to deal with that.”
Halvorson and Davies have several ideas planned to promote sustainability on campus: promoting green2go, allowing students to take leftover food from DS home at the end of every day and partnering with biology students to increase plants across campus for health and beautification purposes.
Abukar wants to emphasize the impacts of food waste on both students and the environment and highlight sustainability staff that are working diligently to make campus more eco-friendly. “By getting ahead of this, and tackling this head on, we can implement things like compost bins and connections with eco and sustainability reps,” she said.
The last category was communications, financial accessibility and future preparedness. All three pairs discussed the importance of open dialogue across campus, especially coming into an election year.
Halvorson emphasized their passion for civic engagement and implementing opportunities around campus surrounding students engaging in democracy. For them, this means promoting dialogue on campus, bringing in community leaders and creating service opportunities for students.
Olmsted stressed the importance of executive support for students voicing their concerns, saying that SGA needs to actively provide backing for students. Huynh added that SGA meetings are open to all students, and SGA is a safe space for students to provide constructive feedback and voice their opinions.
Abukar added that they would like to implement voting incentives across campus and in classes, and to promote a sense of openness in the way that political crises issues are discussed on campus. “By having these uncomfortable conversations, we realize there is more to the world than just Moorhead, Minnesota,” she said.
The debate provided a platform for each pair of candidates to promote their visions for the future of the campus and the community. Elections are on Tuesday, Feb. 13, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., where each student will receive an individualized email where they may vote for the candidate of their choice.
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