Tension was palpable during last night’s SGA debate as the candidates offered final remarks ahead of today’s poll opening at 6 a.m.
Representatives from Amplify, Baker-Atchley and Engage wrestled with questions provided by campus media and the student body. SGA election commissioner Will Logan moderated the debate centered on SGA’s reputation.
“One thing that has come up over and over again during this debate is the relevance of SGA, the transparency within SGA,” Jake Baker, presidential candidate of Baker-Atchley, said. “I want to thank TVC for hosting this event because this is the first step of — I hope — many more steps that’s making SGA relevant on our campus. That’s why I’m so happy to be part of the Baker-Atchley campaign … We want SGA to be relevant to every single student.”
Christian Powers, the presidential candidate of Engage, followed that statement by stressing his party’s diverse composition.
“If you are looking for a campaign that I think truly represents students on campus, there is no better one than Engage … We were never groomed for this position…We looked for all facets of campus and grad diversity, that was the number one thing. Because if we are not truly representing the students … we aren’t doing our job right.”
Examining the administrations relationship with SGA, Lindsay Lee, Amplify’s presidential hopeful, called for students to be treated like adults.
“Amplify is really, really different because we were really built from the bottom up,” Lee said. “… We started off with a really big group of students who were talking about ideas, and things we wanted to see happen on campus and then we decided maybe an SGA campaign is the best way to spread our ideas … We are a movement about creating a better SGA that truly respects students, respects us as the young adults we are and gives us autonomy over our experience. We are being treated regularly like children at UT right now, and that shouldn’t be the case.”
Logan asked the vice presidential candidates to touch on their most valued policies, and Laura Burgin of Engage stressed her “passion project,” Smokey’s Closet.
“57 percent of students on UT’s campus are here on need-based scholarships,” Burgin said. “Smokey’s Closet … would be a literal clothes closet on campus where students can come and have business professional clothes in case they have a financial need or an emergency … The most exciting part is that this is happening right now … we’re very excited to say it will be here next fall.”
Paige Atchley, of Baker-Atchley, called for the establishment of a minute clinic to make better use of student health fees.
“Ideally we want UT to use some of your student health money to pay an additional nurse practitioner to take care of that,” Atchley said.
Cole Liles, of Amplify, highlighted the importance of connecting with fellow students.
“The most important thing I want to do is establish office hours with our senators, and that’s not flashy, I get that … It’s a simple change and it’s going to make sure our senators know who they are representing,” Liles said.
The student services director candidates also spoke briefly in the Toyota Auditorium, addressing a crowd comprised mostly of campaign members and campus media.
The debate was planned to stream live, but technical difficulties precluded its airing.
Voting runs today and tomorrow until 5 p.m.
