For the first time in three years, student body president candidates defended their claims to office to a standing-room-only auditorium Wednesday night.
All 14 candidates for president, vice president, attorney general, secretary, judicial chair and treasurer gathered at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics for the debate. More than 200 students attended the debate, most of whom were pulling for one candidate or another.
Presidential candidates Emily Hoffman, Dion Kevin and Austin Spindler spoke about the importance of diversity, community involvement and student feedback.
Austin Spindler, Dion Kevin and Emily Hoffman, Associated Student Body presidential candidates answer questions from students and define their campaign positions at the office debate Wednesday in the Overby Center. (Photo by: Ariel Cobbert)
Hoffman said the most difficult issue facing the student body from the perspective of ASB is the lack of student involvement. She said to solve the problem, ASB must reach out to more groups on campus, especially minority groups, to achieve maximum participation and inclusion.
“It takes us going and being uncomfortable … so that we can get everyone’s voice heard,” Hoffman said.
Kevin suggested ASB require students to have a certain number of service hours, similar to how the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College runs its service hours program, to ensure involvement.
“I want the students to start caring about the community more,” Kevin said. “I am kind of tired of students taking the city for granted.”
Spindler said he believes there is a lot of room for Ole Miss to grow through public forums. He plans to host town hall style meetings to increase participation and student input.
“We need to understand that the Associated Student Body is the collective voice of this university community,” Spindler said. “Each of us deserves to have our voices heard.”
The presidential candidates were also asked how they would have responded to ASB’s vote to take down the Mississippi State flag had they been elected president at the time.
Spindler said it is important to be objective to reach a decision that is best for the campus at large when there is a divisive issue to debate.
Hoffman said it takes having uncomfortable conversations with people who disagree to make the decision for what is best for everyone and not just one individual.
Kevin said there was a lot of division at the time because a lot of people felt their voices were not entirely heard. He said there needs to be more than just the senators’ voices weighing in on big decisions.
Vice presidential candidates Matt Gladden, Allison Hanby, Coco McDonnell and Elam Miller all voiced concerns about the 13 open seats in ASB Senate, which had to be filled earlier this semester.
Candidates unanimously suggested reaching out to more student leaders within colleges to encourage more participation in elections.
Judicial chair candidates Will Nowell and Bryant Carlton said they would work toward amending the university’s two-strike policy to be more reflective of Ole Miss’ restorative justice ideals.
Before the candidates began debating, all 14 students running for executive office held the election season’s first official meet and greet with the student body.
“We were hoping for at least 100 people, and that’s a low number,” attorney general candidate Dillon Pitts said. “It’s definitely a low student turnout.”
Levi Bevis, also running for attorney general, said the crowd at the meet and greet was made up of mostly campaign-affiliated students. He said he would have liked the chance to meet more new students.
“We want this debate to be very open, and want them, the students, to be involved in our election process,” Bevis said.
For many of the candidates, Wednesday’s debate marked the first time they spoke directly with their opponents.
Jordan Coopwood is running for secretary, along with Dylan Wood. Coopwood said he had not formally met with Wood before the debate, and neither of them had been given the questions ahead of time.
“Any student could submit a question for tonight, and then the ASB election committee selected the ones they’re going to use,” Coopwood said.
Students submitted questions for the candidates before the debate, which were posed by the election commissioner.
During their debate, both candidates for secretary expressed a need to create a more transparent and accessible ASB.
Coopwood asked the audience if anyone present was aware of the bills brought before the ASB Senate just one night earlier. Not one audience member had, and Coopwood said he would like to change that.
Wood said he would like to make ASB senators’ and officers’ office hours public to encourage more input from their constituents.
Jennie Jesuit is running unopposed for ASB treasurer, the position in which she currently serves. Jesuit delivered a minute-long speech in lieu of an opponent to debate with Wednesday night.
“My freshman year, I didn’t know how to get involved with funding like that,” Jesuit said. “I think I’m behind the scenes a lot of the time, and I just want to make sure people are aware of what it is we do.”
She said this was the first ASB debate she has been at school for and was excited at the chance to show her constituency how the treasury works day-to-day.
Kobe Payton, a freshman marketing and corporate relations major, said all the debaters seemed passionate and knew what they were talking about.
Payton said being African American himself, he immediately noticed there weren’t any African-American candidates.
Freshman integrated marketing communications major Ellie Greenberger said she had watched the campaign videos on Facebook, but the debate gave her a more complete understanding of each candidate.
“I thought it was really neat because I could actually see who these people are,” Greenberger said.
Elections will take place online Tuesday. Students who are unable to vote electronically on their MyOleMiss accounts can vote in Minor Hall at the ASB office.
