In an unprecedented Zoom format, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at DU hosted their annual Presidential and Vice Presidential (VP) debate on Friday, April 24 to a virtual student audience. It was moderated by The Clarion’s Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Hannah Branit and Incoming Editor-in-Chief Kiana Marsan.
Addressing issues like Fall quarter and COVID-19, divestment from fossil fuels and gender-based violence, the candidates debated for one of the most coveted spots in DU undergraduate leadership. Only two teams stand on the voting ticket for the 2020-2021 school year, which opens on Monday, April 27 and closes on Friday, May 1.
Ryan Hyde, presidential candidate, is a third-year geography and public policy student who currently serves as president pro tempore of USG and uses his passion for sustainability to work on environmental research on campus. He runs alongside second-year Dajah Brooks, a business analytics and marketing student in PLP who currently serves as the treasurer of African Students United and USG’s sophomore senator and sustainability chair.
Hyde and Brooks’ platform consists of four pillars: stability, accountability, sustainability and student engagement.
“Each pillar builds on itself to create an overall safer and unified campus, which we have created through actionable items over the past year and hopefully over the course of next year,” stated Hyde at Friday’s debate.
Hyde and Brooks also stated that, if elected, they would be addressing inclusive excellence, the ongoing mascot discussion and the US presidential election.
On the other ticket, presidential candidate Abdul Ayad is a third-year computer science and mathematics major who currently serves as the inclusive excellence senator for USG and the diversity committee external chair as well as holding several positions in various affinity groups. Ayad’s running mate, June Churchill, is a third-year physics major who has served as the president and VP of the Queer Student Alliance (QSA) and currently works as a member of the diversity committee and the USG student organizations committee.
On their platform, Ayad and Churchill focus on the three main points of “diversity and inclusive excellence, student voice and engagement, and reducing the cost of living.” The team has worked actively through affinity groups in their years at DU and wishes to bring a larger voice to marginalized communities on campus.
“On top of DU’s high tuition, students are nickeled and dimed every quarter,” said Ayad. “The lack of free printing, $100 parking passes, and textbooks and access codes cost hundreds of dollars just for one quarter and all make DU very unaffordable. This is unacceptable and we will work to fix it. We’ve also noticed that student engagement is lacking, so we want to hear voices and listen to their concerns.”
The candidates also addressed various hotly-contested issues that have surfaced in constant debate over the past few years at DU.
In terms of the high cost of attending DU, both teams proposed a “tuition lock” for students that will not fluctuate every year due to the 2-4 percent tuition increase that universities across the nation all experience.
The candidates also addressed the issue of gender-based violence on campus, a heavily discussed topic in the past school year since the @wecandubetter Instagram page was released during winter quarter.
VP candidate Churchill stated that she and Ayad “do not believe in performative activism” which extends to issues of gender-based violence. Ayad built on her point, proposing to reform campus safety so the office would be under the supervision of the Office of Campus Life and working more closely with Title IX offices.
Hyde and Brooks petitioned for a student advisor to hold a campus safety position, creating education outreach programs and reforming the Title IX office to be more welcoming for survivors.
Both teams also expressed their support for continuing to push for DU’s divestment in fossil fuels and making buildings more accessible for LGBTQ+ students.
The candidates also addressed the unclear, upcoming fall quarter that may be online or experience heavy disruption due to COVID-19 concerns. Hyde addressed the need to have conversations about and address tuition costs to “make sure that students are one feeling like they’re justifying the cost of going to DU.” He and Brooks also emphasized the need for housing resources for study abroad students that had their programs canceled and mental health support due to the anxiety of the pandemic.
Ayad and Churchill expressed similar sentiments about keeping the community involved in any fall quarter decisions and also discussed “provid[ing] free or discounted summer housing for students who are impacted” by coronavirus.
The voting for next year’s USG president and vice president is currently underway. All DU students should have received an email on Monday morning from USG detailing the voting process. The ballots will also include voting on open senator positions.
For more detailed information about the candidates’ platforms, click below:
