Student Government Candidates Debate Current Issues

By Kaitlyn Benacquisto
News Reporter

Monday evening, the three candidates for student government, along with their running mates, debated current issues affecting the university.

The candidates, Brooklyn Boreing and Ruben Becerra, Preston Nieves and Christian Sears, and Elijah Miller and Emari Shelvin, agreed that the most pressing issue facing campus is the lack of implementation of legislation that student government passes.

“When it comes to solving problems on campus, talk is brilliant, but action is what is necessary,” said Nieves of the issue.

Relationships between the student body and student government are rockier than ever amidst recent controversy involving the current president Connor Clegg and racist posts uncovered from his social media. There was a lot of talk surrounding the issue of mending the broken relationship.

“Mending the relationship with the student body is not just a suggestion, but a necessity,” said Boreing.

Another hot topic of debate was getting an immigration attorney for students. It was known amongst students that Boreing voted against getting an immigration attorney. When this came up in the debate, Boreing said that she voted no because she didn’t see it realistically working out, even if it passed in the Senate. However, Miller disagreed with this.

“Under my administration, we will bring in an immigration attorney,” said Miller. He disputed the idea that it could not be done, saying that he had gone through all the documents, and could find nowhere stating that it was breaking any rules. He used University of Texas and Texas Tech as examples of Texas universities that had hired an immigration attorney for their students.

Candidates were also asked their thoughts on if Clegg should be impeached or resign. All three seemed to agree that if Clegg truly represented the student body, he would respect their wishes and step down.

“What Connor did was controversial, but the decision is crystal clear,” said Miller.

Other questions posed in the debate regarded topics such as a diversity liaison, social media usage, transparency in office, sexual assault on campus, and free speech.

The students who attended the debate expressed their support and opposition for candidates through claps and snaps of approval, and audible sighs and murmurs when a candidate said something they didn’t agree with.

Student government elections will be Feb. 19 through 22. Voting can be done online or on the second floor of the LBJ Student Center.

Featured image by Aaron Derton.