On Friday, Feb. 28, Student Media hosted its annual student body president and vice president debates. Each year, Technician and Nubian Message pose questions to the presidential and vice presidential candidates in order to gain a better understanding of their platforms and promote them more widely to students. This year, three candidates participated in the vice presidential debate:

• College of Humanities and Social Sciences Senator Erinn Foote, a second-year studying political science and philosophy;
• Wilson College of Textiles Senator Hannah Stoltz, a second-year studying fashion and textile management; and
• Inter-Residence Council Vice President of Media and Marketing McKenzy Heavlin, a second-year studying electrical engineering.

One candidate did not attend the debate: College of Engineering Senator Powell Braddock, a first-year studying engineering.

A complete video of the event can be watched on the Technician Facebook page.

All — A lot of students don’t know what Student Government does. How will you educate them?

Heavlin said his campaign will make information both accessible and digestible for students through social media posts. Heavlin also said he would like to have Student Government volunteers go out into the community to interact with students and learn about their concerns. Foote agreed with Heavlin’s ideas for social media and said she would also like to bring back monthly updates in the vein of Student Body President Emeritus Jess Errico and Vice President Emeritus Meredith Spence-Beaulieu’s monthly update graphics. Stoltz agreed that utilizing social media as a way to connect with students is a priority, and pitched her idea of “30-second Thursdays” to keep students informed.

All — On the establishment of an SG Justice Department: What are your thoughts on consolidating multiple oversight groups?

On the spring election ballot, students will be posed a question about the establishment of a new Justice Department within SG. If passed, this group would provide oversight over the whole of SG, similarly to other groups like the committee on Government Relations and Oversight (GRO) and the Special Review Committee (SRC).

Heavlin and Foote agreed they would move to consolidate groups in order to have less bureaucratic walls put up and work more evenly distributed. Stoltz took a different angle, saying she’d like to see the groups broken up even more.

“GRO already has enough to work on,” Stoltz said. “They have so much going on, and I feel like we definitely need to kind of divide it up a little bit more so it doesn’t get so bogged down.”

All — How can graduate students count on you to represent their interests?   

Stoltz said student fees should be waived for graduate students, and suggested looking into an initiative which would also provide healthcare; however, the university’s Graduate Student Support Plan already provides some health insurance to graduate student workers. Heavlin said his campaign hopes to create an embedded mental health service, open to both undergraduate and graduate students, which would employ counselors associated with individual colleges to better understand the workloads and experiences of students in each department. Foote said she and her running mate have three main goals: to reevaluate student fees, work with University Transportation to secure parking passes for graduate student workers, and establish a “grad student bill of rights.”

Stoltz — You hope to run more sustainability initiatives. What would those look like?

Stoltz proposed switching to the use of aluminum cups at sporting events. Foote said she would continue to advocate as past sessions have for the university’s divestment from the fossil fuel industry, and suggested the installation of more compost bins around campus. Heavlin agreed with Foote on divestment, and said his campaign would move to expand composting efforts across campus and along Hillsborough street.

“We want to work with the Sustainability Stewards, because … they’re making a lot of good progress on campus expanding composting and recycling locations,” Heavlin said. “We want to work with them to make sure that it gets expanded to where it needs to be expanded.

Foote — How do you hope to address the power differential between grad students and their advisers?

Foote reiterated support for a graduate student bill of rights, which would allow graduate students to request a new adviser if they face discrimination. It would also standardize the process of stipend changes should graduate students move between programs during their time in school. Heavlin said he and his running mate would implement faculty bias programming, and have already reached out to the deans of some colleges about this. Stoltz said her campaign is ready and willing to support grad students with any major concerns.

Foote — University Housing plans to resolve issues this fall with random vacancies not being assigned to waitlisted students; this will lead to more students being assigned off the waitlist. Do you think this is a sufficient fix to the housing problem at State? If not, what other steps do you hope to take?

Foote said University Housing’s adjustment is not sufficient, and if elected, she plans to form a specific housing task force and work with Pack Essentials initiatives to best address housing insecurity on campus. Stoltz agreed and said she would work with University Housing to find a solution to housing insecurity. “Ten percent of students at NC State face housing insecurity, and we should be working that down to zero,” Stoltz said. Heavlin also agreed and proposed a solution through a “host homes” program, which “would allow Raleigh community members with extra bed space that meet certain requirements to offer this space to NC State students.”

Stoltz — Do you believe counseling services at NC State are currently sufficient to serve the entire student body? If not, what do you plan to do that would expand these services?

Stoltz said her campaign would focus on breaking down the stigma which surrounds those seeking mental health assistance by partnering with the Counseling Center to generate more initiatives for the university. Heavlin spoke about a clause which he and Flowers would add to course syllabi that would allow professors to excuse absences for mental health reasons. Foote said while she would like to increase funding for the Counseling Center, this would put financial pressure on students in the form of fees, and her campaign would instead seek to encourage alternative counseling initiatives from groups such as the Mental Health Ambassadors.

Heavlin — Explain your rationale for adding a question to housing applications that asks if someone is comfortable living with an LGBTQ+ person. Can you see any issues arising as a result of this, and if so, how would you address them?

Heavlin said it is important to ensure all NC State students are housed in a comfortable space and hopes a question such as this on housing applications would help alleviate feelings of unsafety. Stoltz disagreed entirely with this policy’s approach.

“I simply believe the question is absolutely horrible,” Stoltz said. “I think we should not normalize this behavior.”

Foote agreed with Heavlin’s sentiment, but believed he was going about it in the wrong way. She said sexual orientation is a protected class at NC State, meaning no student can be forced to disclose this information about themselves. Foote said she and Brohaugh would instead work to overturn existing policy which does not allow for gender-inclusive housing.