The annual SGA debate was held on Tuesday Feb. 4 in the Student Center Ballroom, an event where students got one final chance to hear from all of the major candidates ahead of elections the following day.
Mary Margaret Turton, Daniel Calhoun and Brooks Jones, the three candidates for president, highlighted the points laid out in their platform.
One of Calhoun’s main focuses dealt with inclusion and diversity. Throughout many of his responses, he reiterated how important it was to make sure everyone felt at home on Auburn’s campus.
“This is the heartbeat of my platform; this is why I am standing before you today,” Calhoun said. “I really want to be able to increase the Auburn Family. I do realize not all students feel like they are a part of the Auburn Family. Not everyone looks like I do, and I do realize that.”
Turton agreed with Calhoun and included her own take. She mentioned how important it was as a possible SGA president to listen to the voices of the Auburn students.
“The diversity of thought from students is so important about the student government, so having those individuals at the table and going a step further with Auburn Answers and by having tangible ways of letting students see the direct impact that the student government is making every single day,” Turton said.
Jones emphasized the importance of uniting the student voice so that no one goes unheard, which he said is one of the most pressing issues.
“I hope over the next year, if I’m the next SGA president, as well as the other two candidates, that we can continue to take those ideas and unite the student voice, so we can carry out each and every one of your ideas,” Jones said.
Each candidate for Miss Auburn also presented her platform to the audience. Introduced by Katherine Kennedy, current Miss Auburn, the five women took a minute to describe the reasons they were running.
After the Miss Auburn candidates, the two candidates for treasurer, Abhi Gulati and Hunter Short, went on stage to discuss issues pertaining to the finances of Auburn. During the opening statements, Short expressed how he wanted to have more of an open-door policy.
“The overall idea of this campaign is the Auburn student,” Short said. “I want to represent each Auburn student, whether they’ve been involved their entire time here all the way to graduate students or if they just walked on campus."
During the debate, the two discussed an array of topics including financial literacy, Auburn’s financial resources and other duties of the treasurer. One of Gulati’s main focuses is to have SGA become more of a resource for students.
“We currently publish most of the spending reports, but just making sure those kind of things are published regularly, that students know where to find these things, students know which organizations are getting what money and having all the organizations having a centralized source online,” Gulati said.
Riley Hambrick and Carlos Smith, the two candidates for vice president, spent a significant amount of time discussing representation within SGA Senate. Hambrick mentioned the idea early on during one of his responses.
“We should strive for debate because it is ultimately the goal to represent our students to the best of our ability,” Hambrick said. “Our students deserve the best, and in my opinion, that’s how it’s best accomplished."
Smith also expressed a similar sentiment by emphasizing how he hopes to encourage the entire student body to attend Student Senate meetings.
“I hope that I can try to get [regular student attendance] as a normal thing, not just for people within SGA but outside of it as well,” Smith said.
SGA elections will be held on Tuesday Feb. 5 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Students will be voting online for all major and minor positions as well as two referendums. Callouts will be held at 10:30 p.m. on the back porch of Cater Hall. SGA pushed back callouts so that students would be able to go to the men's basketball game.
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