As candidates for all elected student government positions began campaigning Tuesday, Student Body President candidates are preparing for a debate to be held on campus in the Student Senate Chambers in Witherspoon Student Center on March 24.
Campaign signage inundated campus Tuesday. Although candidates were allowed to talk about their intentions to run for their chosen offices, they were not allowed to officially begin campaigning or say things such as “vote for me” until Tuesday, according to student government advisor Eileen Coombes.
Student Body President candidate and junior in biochemistry Leo Verceles-Zara said he had people calling him all day Tuesday asking him where his campaign signs were. Verceles-Zara said he is taking an alternative approach to the campaign by “thinking outside the box.”
“Yes we are going to have signs, most likely starting next week, but they’re not going to be those stationary signs that everyone sees laying on the ground. They are going to be something new.”
Verceles-Zara did not say exactly what “something new” will entail, but did say that his signs will be big and in highly trafficked areas.
Chandler Thompson, a junior in economics, is also running for Student Body President. Students could be seen wearing yellow and red trucker hats with “Chandler SBP” on campus Tuesday. But hats are only one aspect of her campaign strategy.
“I am going to try to meet as many people as I can and tell them about my ideas and what I want to make happen at N.C. State,” Thompson said.
Kelly Hook, current Student Body President and senior in political science, said her campaign strategy mostly revolved around her campaign team.
“Probably the biggest thing was that on voting day I had a large amount of people willing to help me out. I had a really great team helping me on voting day and throughout the whole campaign,” Hook said.
Hook went on to say that name recognition is “probably how you win.”
The Student Body Presidential candidate debate hosts, WKNC and the Technician, plan to ask questions “solicited by students,” according to debate moderator and senior in English, Chris Cioffi. Students who have questions are invited to send them to the Technician editor-in-chief.
The debate will be aired live on WKNC at 8 p.m., but students are invited to attend.
Candidates will first be given a chance to introduce themselves, and student questions will immediately follow.
Verceles-Zara said he has been keeping up with University news and events in order to prepare for the debate.
“I don’t really know what kind of questions they are going to ask at the debate, but I am assuming they are going to ask me questions based on my platform. I definitely need to know my platform very well,” Verceles-Zara said.
Thompson said she is preparing in a way similar to Verceles-Zara. She has been keeping up with campus restructuring in particular.
“I am very motivated in the University already to keep myself informed on what’s going on. Especially with the restructuring announcement made yesterday, I am making sure I understand what possible changes might be happening at the University,” Thompson said.
Hook participated in the Presidential debate last year. She said the debate was interesting, but that questions could have been focused more heavily on aspects of student life.
“I think [the debate] revealed who had been previously involved in the University and who was passionate. The questions could have been more relevant on student life rather than on University policy,” Hook said.