During Sunday night’s Student Association presidential debate, candidates James Franco and Tyler Rossi discussed SA’s “sanctuary campus” bill, mental health and SU community outreach in the city, among other topics.

The Daily Orange spoke with students following the debate to get their thoughts on the upcoming SA elections and the debate.

 

The Daily Orange: What will candidates still have to prove in the coming weeks?

Colin Spaulding, sophomore mechanical engineering major: How well they can relate to the students. That’s really the big thing. … Connecting with the students because a lot of people are unaware of what SA does. I think that’s their goal.

 

The D.O.: What was the most important issue discussed at the debate?

Kristen Unangst, junior finance and supply chain management dual major: I thought the sanctuary campus was a really important question because it did address something that’s a global issue as well as an issue campus-wide, and so feelings about that I thought were really telling as to what they’re feeling about the candidates.

 

The D.O.: Was there anything you would’ve liked to hear from the candidates that you didn’t hear?

Kiara Bunting, junior advertising major: (Rossi) talked a lot about diversity, but he really only talked about it in the sense of he and his vice-presidential candidate. So I’d like to see how they plan on incorporating that into the whole community of Syracuse because they don’t represent the whole community. Two people just can’t represent an entire Syracuse community. (Franco) and (Angie Pati) have talked to me about how they plan on incorporating the opinions and the ideas of a diverse group of people in the community and it’s very tangible. They want to work with different organizations and they have such clear ideas on how they want to do that, and I just wasn’t sure that (Rossi and Roy Tin) did.

 

The D.O.: Why should students care about the SA election?

Joyce LaLonde, vice president of SA and a senior policy studies and public relations dual major: Students should care about the SA election because it is one of the only opportunities on this campus that students get to voice a direct opinion on leaders of this campus. SA leadership truly does have an impact on large, campus-wide initiatives that can change the trajectory of our university. These students are meant to represent you, the student, on many high-level committees, events and through initiatives. In order to do that best, the student must engage in the election process to make sure those students will represent them most.

 

The D.O.: What was discussed at the debate that surprised you?

Kelsey Fowler, senior political science and geography double major: I was pleasantly surprised to see both candidates showcase their dedication to improving mental health care on SU’s campus. SA’s current administration has made strides with the first mental health awareness week, as well as with the creation of a mental health report. I am excited to know that SA’s next administration will also value mental health, and continue to work to increase access to mental health care on campus.

Published on April 2, 2017 at 11:20 pm

Contact William: wgmuoio@syr.edu