Several University of Denver students congregated in the Driscoll Student Center on Wednesday to watch the 2006-2007 AUSA Senate Candidate Forum.
Many DU students and various leaders of student organizations attended the forum, including members of the Black Student Alliance and the Greek Caucus, among others.
Common platform themes represented in all academic areas were: the focus on increasing diversity on campus, improving relations between students and faculty members, supporting more athletic events, gaining more publicity and student participation in the wide variety of student organizations around campus, and increasing student unity.
The audience watched as presidential and vice presidential candidates took the stage to make their speeches and answer questions.
Presidential and vice presidential candidates Lauren Brooks and Kat Walsh expressed their strong commitment to current projects and new goals if they are elected for the 2006-2007 term. Brooks and Walsh addressed their willingness to revamp the Driscoll Student Center in order to make it a place where both off-campus and on-campus students feel comfortable going.
Brooks and Walsh want to create a mailbox service in Driscoll in order to compel students to utilize the student center to its maximum potential. Other goals are to encourage cross-referencing between organizations, and incorporate diversity in every aspect of DU.
Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates Molly Brown and Ryan Myers also expressed a similar concern for the remodeling of Driscoll in order to make it a more effective student center, as well as their hope to increase communication between senate and students. They also expect to implement a Judicial Council as part of AUSA Senate.
One audience member asked, “Everyone is talking about diversity within groups, organizations and events. What about diversity in classrooms and dorm rooms?”
Myers replied that diversity is an issue which should be dealt with from immediate arrival to campus, starting with freshman orientation, and that it will be an ongoing process and strong priority for both Brown and Myers.
Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates Aaron Schwarzberg and Megan Cartier continued the forum, speaking about their specific goals. Communication and collaboration between student organizations, senate members, students, and faculty was an important goal, as well as increasing diversity and making the campus a fun and exciting place to be.
Schwarzberg and Cartier also continually stressed the importance of student feedback in the senatorial process.
“We’re going to look into the interests of the students. After all, we’re here to represent you and we will do just that if we are elected,” Schwarzberg said.
Schwarzberg and Cartier acknowledged DU’s continual increase in tuition and therefore emphasized the importance of all students being able to reap the benefits of every possible opportunity that DU presents.
Other hopeful Senators spoke at the forum as well, including Senatorial Candidate Joe Pellar, representing AHUM/SOCS, and Senate Representative Phillip Harris from NATS, Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering explained their goals for a more unified, friendly and welcoming campus. Harris emphasized the importance of not only student unity, but academic discipline unity as well.
“We should have a dean’s roundtable where all deans from every academic department are in the same room. No discipline is separate from itself, and we should encourage cross-curriculum understanding on campus,” he said.
The importance of increasing support for different athletic departments was a another issue in the Candidate Forum. Julie Markham, a representative for the Sophomore Class sector, agreed that an athletic support community should be strongly encouraged at DU in order to enhance school spirit.
Terrel Love, a candidate for On-Campus Senator, addressed his issue of wanting more student participation in the various student organizations that DU has to offer. Funding for these student organizations is strongly dependent on the number of active members in them. Therefore, Love wants all students to know that they are highly encouraged to participate in organizations such as Black Student Alliance, Latino Student Alliance and Queer/Straight Alliance in order to increase both the amount of diversity within these groups, as well as student participation.
Voting for the Senators and Presidential Candidates began yesterday and continues until Wednesday.
