The Student Government Election Commission hosted a debate between the presidential and vice-presidential candidates on Monday in the Holiday Forum.

Around 55 people attended the debate, many wearing ticket shirts in support of their candidates. The debate was moderated by public relations senior Sebastian Canales, the vice-chair of the election commission.

Three tickets participated in the debate:

Inspire: Political communications junior Byron Hansley is running for president, and biological sciences junior Amber Salone is running for vice president. 

Innovate: Political science and screen arts junior Anna Cate Strong is running for president, and political science junior Gigi Powers is running for vice president.

Challenge: Biological sciences junior Munjed Isa is running for president, and kinesiology sophomore Mayce Brown is running for vice president. 

Graduate students’ issues

Isa said his administration would monitor the state Legislature for policy changes for graduate students. Isa said graduate students receive low pay, are overworked, and have a lack of balance in their lives. He said he would work in conjunction with the Legislature and university to assist graduate students. 

Powers said their administration, which puts heavy emphasis on sustainability, would produce sustainability certificates for graduate and undergraduate students. 

“Graduate students are an integral part of LSU’s campus, we all know them as instructors, we rely on them for half of LSU’s operations and oftentimes they go unnoticed and, quite frankly, they need to be thanked for,” Powers said. 

Strong said they would institute graduate forums and work for graduate student healthcare. She said they want to give graduate students a seat at the table. 

Hansley said that graduate students are the backbone of the university. He said he would implement a department within the executive branch specifically for graduate students. He said this would allow them to be represented within the executive branch. 

Candidates’ top policies

Strong spoke about Innovate’s community policy called Geaux Sixty, where students could become more involved. It’s a 60-tradition challenge for students to immerse themselves in the university. By completing 30 of LSU’s most known traditions, students can earn an extra cord at graduation, Strong said.

Powers also proposed a physical space for students to gather for clubs, meetings and organizations, so students can find their place on campus. 

Inspire proposed an involvement questionnaire to connect students. Hansley explained students would be matched with organizations that best fit their passions and desires based on their survey answers. Salone said her favorite was their Traits of Trust policy. Meetings would be held once a month to hear from students and address their concerns directly, Salone explained. 

Challenge proposed a better transportation system and enhancing the TransLoc app. Isa said they want to have more buses that are active on the route and update the app to show driver breaks. 

Brown said the Challenge ticket’s leadership program is her favorite. Brown said students from all different backgrounds can participate in workshops and programs to learn about other students while aiming to fix bigger issues on campus. 

Making LSU safer

Challenge was asked about their support for the Blue Light system, a policy which has received criticism in SG and is a policy the Title IX Office hasn’t pursued. Brown said the blue light system has been successful at other universities. She said it would be used in conjunction with the LSU Shield app. Brown said that not all students have phones, or they may lose them, so this would add another means of contacting police. 

Isa said they would work closely with LSUPD and BRPD. He said there are issues of police responding to petty issues instead of serious crimes. 

“We had an intramural soccer game recently where five cop cars showed within five seconds of a call, rather when there was a shooting, they’re very slow, so we definitely need to increase what we do with LSUPD and BRPD,” Isa said. 

Powers said that they would implement phone charging stations around campus. She said this would improve safety by making sure students will be able to charge their phone to contact people. Strong said they would want orientation for incoming freshmen to include more information about safety resources. 

Hansley said they would expand LSU’s safe ride program. He said they would seek to provide resources to survivors of violence, through mental health resources and academic accommodations. Salone said they would emphasize communication with students to see what they would like implemented. 

Oil funding, rumors and SG experience

The candidates also faced questions specific to their campaigns.

Innovate was asked how they will overcome differences of opinion and potential struggles based on rumors that Powers wanted to run for president rather than vice president and would form her own ticket to do so. 

Both Powers and Strong dismissed this rumor. 

“We’re sitting up here now,” Powers said. “Anna Cate and I have a great working relationship. I don’t think we need to discuss what a rumor is because rumors are rumors.”

Inspire was asked if their lack of experience in the SG senate would hinder their abilities as president and vice president. 

Hansley said that as the director of finance for the executive branch, he has been able to work closely with the Senate chair of budget and appropriations, giving him insight into how the Senate functions. He said he also frequently attends Senate meetings, letting him observe how they operate. 

“I think that through sitting and having those conversations, just understanding, we’ll be able to collaborate,” Hansley said. 

The Reveille reported in February that Isa said his campaign received funding from various oil companies. (Isa declined to provide specifics.) Challenge was asked in the debate how this funding strategy reflects the type of leaders they are.

Isa dismissed the criticism over the oil funding as “nonsense.” He said that he doesn’t have the funds by himself for the campaign, which caps at $4,000.

“I would also like to clarify that my family is entirely in Palestine, and my father and immediate family are the only people in America, that’s all I have and the working connections that we do have,” he said. “If that’s the only money I can get then that’s what we’re gonna have to work with.”

Brown said that where they get their money from shouldn’t be a reflection of what they’re trying to push for the campus. She said they need money to run a campaign, saying that if that’s where they can get the money then that’s where they need to get it.