Three of the five Student Association presidential candidates, along with one pseudo candidate, took part in the latest SA debate Tuesday night, hosted by The Kumquat, a satirical campus publication.

Aysha Seedat, Jesse Nichols and AJ Abell all participated in the debate, with Nichols and Abell being joined by their running mates, Moke Hien and Jonathan Dawson, respectively. In addition, The Kumquat had a fake candidate participate in the debate.

Write-in candidates Tatiana Cadet and Safet Mesanovic were not in attendance and Jane Hong, Seedat’s running mate, was not there because she was out campaigning, Seedat said.

Candidates began the debate by introducing themselves to the audience of about 35 students. They laid out their different platforms and different ideas for both SA and Syracuse University before moving on to a question-and-answer portion of the debate.

Abell said in his opening statement that SA should serve as a magnifying glass for students and help them find the different resources located throughout campus.

Seedat discussed her campaign platform of support and safety. She also highlighted her experience as director of student life for SA and programs she has helped to implement throughout her time on the job.

In Nichols’ opening statement, he also highlighted his past experiences, mostly through Hendricks Chapel, and said he wants to create both a mentally and physically healthy campus.

In the moderated Q&A session, candidates were asked what SA is and how they feel about the current association and president.

Abell said he thinks SA and current president Boris Gresely have “done a great job,” but said more can be done.

“People just want to see more things done and while there has been a valiant effort to do some of those things, there’s still some that are not there,” Abell said.

When it came time for the fake Kumquat candidate’s time to answer the question, the debate was interrupted by a pizza delivery from a fellow student. The fake candidate’s answers were preceded by music, such as Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode” and his solutions to solving to issues such as transparency included rebuilding the Schine Student Center to make it have glass walls.

In the most serious portion of the debate, candidates were asked about hazing in Greek life.

Abell and Dawson said that students need to be held responsible and that a better relationship with the Department of Public Safety can help prevent hazing. Seedat added that SA needs more conversation within the councils and governing bodies of Greek life. Nichols said hazing transcends Greek life itself and tackling hazing means tackling the power structure across campus.

The pseudo candidate said that he is in favor of hazing and noted Charles Darwin in his response.

When the debate opened up for audience questions, Danielle Reed, a member of Tatiana Cadet’s campaign, asked Seedat and Nichols why they were not at a debate held Monday night. The Nichols’ ticket said short notice and having class were their reasons for not being there, and Seedat said there was too short of notice.

Another audience member then asked Reed why Cadet and her running mate, Fatima Bangura, weren’t at The Kumquat debate. Reed said both had class and were on their way. Bangura arrived about five minutes before the debate ended.

Published on April 14, 2015 at 11:33 pm

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306