Debate at a glance

HUSC candidates discuss campus issues one week prior to election.

Three presidential teams prepared to duke it out in the Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress (HUSC) presidential debate, which was held on the blustery cold night of Feb. 25 in the Anderson Center. While students and faculty took advantage of some last minute microphone adjustments to pile slices of pizza onto their plates, Sophomore Kyle Kvamme—acting as moderator for the debate—bade the audience give their attention to the candidates for presidency.

Sitting front and center facing the audience were the three teams. From left to right, with president then vice presidential nominees mentioned: Juniors Deziree Brown and Katy Campbell, sophomores Allissa Heim and Jenny Peredia, and junior Don Allen and sophomore LaMae LeDoux.

As the teams introduced themselves, they were each allotted some time to briefly explain the platforms their campaigns are based on. Deziree Brown and Katy Campbell wished to better represent the diversity on campus and the 25 percent of students of color.

Allissa Heim and Jenny Peredia wished to stay the course of the previous administration while adding a few new ideas of their own, one of which is a monthly HUSC report to let the student body know what HUSC is doing.

Don Allen and LaMae LeDoux immediately addressed the lack of students actually in attendance at the debate, stating that, “there should be standing room only” at this event instead of fifty students spread around the room.

LeDoux said, “Their campaign would focus on community and cost.”

After the teams concluded their introductions and campaign platforms, the formal portion of the debate began. The format for the formal portion was rotational; the moderator asked a question that each team had a minute to respond to, then each team would have the option of asking a question of the other teams, or responding to something another team said. The topics of discussion included the Commuter Committee project, how athletes were being represented within HUSC, how diversity would be approached and the potential problem of cliques within student government.

Once the formal aspect of the debate concluded, members of the audience lined up to ask their own questions of the candidates. One question that stood out as affecting all students on campus regardless of their involvement in any student organizations was the issue of printing fees. The team of Brown and Campbell had little to say on the topic, other than that it was important and would be addressed somehow, while Heim and Peredia stated that HUSC was currently working on a solution with the school, but that effective change takes time. “We also want this printing budget thing, too,” Heim said. “But you can’t expect it overnight.”

The microphone was then handed to Don Allen. “There are 1,808 students that will not graduate from Hamline, that will drop out, that have printing fees and their transcripts will not be transferred because of that printing fee,” Allen said. “So I think it’s important that every academic year, every student at Hamline, undergraduate and graduate, receive a hundred dollar printing credit on their accounts.”

One of the questions asked came from current president Lucas Dolan, who asked how the candidates would accomplish all the plans and goals. Peredia and Heim responded briefly that their five point plan to Connect, Empower, Advocate, Collaborate and Inform would increase the number of people involved with HUSC to make it a more viable tool for change. “We realize that HUSC can’t do this on our own,” Heim said. “We need administrative support and student body support, so we really want to collaborate with everyone on campus; students, faculty, staff and administration, everyone; we need everyone’s help in order to accomplish these goals.”

Allen and LeDoux then had their turn at the question. Allen voiced concerns over the Hamline Plan, and how it forced students to spend money on classes that weren’t applicable to their majors. “If you’re an English major, you shouldn’t necessarily have to take natural science, you shouldn’t necessarily have to take art class, or even Logic for that matter, which I hate,” Allen said.

Brown and Campbell were the last to respond to the question, which was altered to “Why do you think you’re the person for the job?”

“It’s infuriating when I tell people I’m running for HUSC president and they say, ‘What’s HUSC?’” Brown said. Brown and Campbell’s approach would be to expand awareness of HUSC throughout the student body.

After two grueling hours of tedious debate, Professor Aaron McKain asked for an explanation regarding the length of the debate. “At what point have they [the candidates] met their obligation to participate in the debate, or how do we know when the debate is over?” McKain said.

Moderator Kvamme explained that as long as there were two teams available to answer questions from the audience, the debate would go on until the time allotted for the room ran out (11 p.m.). Knowing that time was limited, current Vice President T. Corbin Concliffe reached out to the candidates, stating that time was a resource that you never had enough of while in office, and asked what his current administration could do to begin implementing some of the ideas they had for their term.

Peredia and Heim responded first. “Right now you guys [current student administration] are having meetings with administration often,” Heim said. “I think setting a framework for that, literally setting up meetings for next year, saying to the board of trustees when you have that meeting that these are the dates, the two Tuesdays of next semester when we need you at GA [General Assembly] would be a great help.”

When handed the microphone, Allen simply stated that he wanted the current administration’s vote.

Brown and Campbell responded by requesting a list of all the projects and plans the current administration had going and what they hadn’t yet been able to address.

To wrap up the debate, each team was given two minutes to prepare their two minute closing statements. Heim and Peredia went first, thanking everyone for attending and explaining that regardless of who wins the election, the most important part was the students’ attendance and involvement in HUSC functions. They drew on their previous experience within HUSC, using their knowledge of how the system works to promote change within the organization.

Brown and Campbell followed them by thanking the crowd. “You don’t have to come from HUSC to lead HUSC,” Brown said. “We’re coming straight from the student body so we know what the student body wants.”

Allen finished the night by walking out in front of the tables and addressing the crowd from a closer proximity. “You [the crowd] need someone with a business sense to go into these meetings with these administrators and say ‘hey’,” Allen said. “I can talk their language. I want you to vote for someone that will represent you with authority. My name is Don Allen. Vote for me.”