Despite the looming snowstorm, candidates running for both student body president and vice president debated diversity, transparency and sexual assault at the annual debate hosted by the Technician Wednesday evening in Harrelson Hall. 

More than 50 people gathered in the former Governance Chambers, including students, members of the Student Government and the supporters of the candidates. 

Debaters included presidential candidate Chris Becker with vice presidential running mate Kelly Elder, Khari Cyrus with running mate Nate Bridgers, and Gavin Harrison with running mate Meredith Mason. 

Each pair had three minutes to give their opening statements and two minutes to answer each question. Technician editor-in-chief Ravi Chittilla and staff writer Ian Grice moderated the debate. 

Increasing diversity and encouraging acceptance on campus were some of the main topics of discussion throughout the debate.  

Becker, a senior studying philosophy and mathematics, stressed the importance of encouraging student leaders to promote diversity to as many students as possible. 

“We want to equip executive cabinet and Senate student leaders with tools necessary to start these discussions and to ask the necessary questions,” Becker said. “It’s a matter of encouraging people to have these small dialogues.”

Elder, Becker’s running mate and a junior studying political science, cited her experience creating the Social Justice Mini-Grant to help underrepresented students. 

Harrison, a senior studying biological engineering and whose campaign slogan is “tradition, unity, progress,” said inclusion is about representing the students.

“We decided diversity is having people at the party and inclusion is people feeling welcome at the party,” Harrison said. “We represent the students. It’s not just representing the students, it’s representing everyone. GLBT students, grad students—someone is underrepresented somehow.”

Cyrus, a senior studying biological sciences, said his experience as president of his fraternity has shown him that encouraging inclusion is about getting to the root on the problem rather than spending money on programs that don’t work.

 “If you look at around this room, we have diversity. But are we inclusive?” Cyrus said. “Are we making safe spaces for all students on campus? We don’t want to focus on throwing money at issues.”

The candidates outlined how they plan to address sexual assault on campus. 

Becker, who is currently the president of the Inter-Residence Council, said students need to have more discussions about sexual assault facilitated by student leaders, particularly within residence halls and on-campus housing.

“It’s important to focus on the residential body because those are underclassmen, and the earlier you can set that precedent, the better,” Becker said. 

Cyrus said he plans to keep up the already established “It’s on Us” campaign, Respect the Pack event and partnerships with the Women’s Center. 

Harrison also emphasized continuing the “It’s on Us” campaign and commended the university for already being transparent in regards to sexual assault on campus through the use of WolfAlert. 

Mason, Harrison’s running mate, said her experience serving on the NC State Council on the Status of Women, as well as her and Harrison’s experience within the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Association, will help them address sexual assault in one of areas it is most problematic—within Greek life.  

“We’re really passionate about dispelling that image and making sure Greek life is safe place for students,” Mason said. 

Candidates also addressed student fees and transparency. Cyrus offered alternatives to increasing fees, although he did not say how it would work.

“Each year organizations come to us saying how much they would ask to increase in fees,” Cyrus said. “We want to make sure we are looking at where the money is going and that it is not simply being wasted on programs that are not effective or not what students want. We want to explore other options, such as working with dining and housing, to cut costs.”

Mason, the running mate for Harrison, saw the value in having some fees as long as they are used appropriately, pointing to how each student pays about $15 to Student Government in fees annually. 

“We want to make sure that the fees we implement on students are right and they are not too much, and that the students get the most out of the $15 and we are not wasting in any way,” Mason said. 

Throughout the debate, Harrison and Mason stressed how they would not make promises to students as a way to get votes. Instead, they will start discussions on campus and come up with new, plausible ways to solve problems.  

“The only promise we will make is that we will advocate for what students want and we will advocate for that to the best of our ability,” Mason said.

All of the candidates stressed importance of increasing transparency and student awareness of what goes on within Student Government 

Becker stressed working with administrators to help reach more students. His running mate Elder said she would have more one-on-one meetings with the cabinet to ensure that people are informed as to what Student Government does.

Cyrus said stressing support and collaboration is a main part of his and Bridgers’ platform, and one way he plans on doing that is helping students realize what Student Government can do for them.

“We can utilize the HOWL that goes out every week,” Cyrus said. “As we met with organizations throughout this week what most students have not heard is that we can promote your events and your projects.”

The debate lasted a little more than an hour and then ended with questions from the audience. One student asked about a proposed $30 student fee increase from the UNC System Board of Governors intended to go toward improving campus safety. 

All of the candidates opposed the fee. Becker said his problem was not with improving safety, but with the fee and the way it is implemented. 

“Out of the 30, $25 would go to our students and $5 would go to other schools in the UNC System,” Becker said. “For the large part I agree with [student body president] Rusty [Mau] on this issue. It’s better to make sure that we are doing it through the consent of our students on our campus.”

Bridgers, Cyrus’s running mate and a sophomore studying accounting, saw another problem with the $30 fee.

“It’s ridiculous that students should be charged to feel safe,” Bridgers said.

Voting will begin at 8 p.m. on Monday and end at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. A link to vote can be found on Student Government’s website at www.sg.students.ncsu.edu/elections/candidate-information/.