The annual ASG election debate was held last Thursday from 5-7 p.m. in the Bookcliff café. Fee Allocation Committee chair Zach Beach, Court Justice Benjamin Dunham and current ASG President Ariel Diamond all served as moderators for the debate.

Students running for senator positions were first on the evening’s agenda, with an introduction of each candidate and a small statement about the position they are running for.

Adrienne Barlow and Kaemen Chiles, Student Trustee candidates, followed senator introductions with their own and were questioned about their intentions for running for Student Trustee. Both students focused their answers on improving campus safety and keeping resources open and available to students.

Presidential debates began shortly after with a formal introduction presented by each candidate and their running mates. Vice-presidential candidates Lyndsey Karp, Sammie Martinez and Alex Forsett were met with questions about past leadership experience, their biggest personal achievements, how they plan to expand health and safety campus-wide and the qualities that make them the best candidate for Vice President.

Presidential candidates Jack Bryan, Caleb Ferganchick and Connor Boe were questioned first on their guiding principles and leadership styles.

“We were a little nervous,” Ferganchick said. “Being on stage, we told ourselves we’d just be honest with everyone and just really try and express what we’ve been talking about for a couple weeks. Afterwards, it was really incredible. A lot of people came up to us and told us we were really strong speakers and they supported some of the stuff we supported.”

Ferganchick and Martinez focused on diversity in leadership as well as helping organizations avoid a general lack of money through improving the biennial budget process. Boe and Forsett showed a concentration on “safety, sustainability and student needs” along with an open line of communication with clubs and organizations. Bryan and Karp were set on working toward open dialogue between student leaders as well as community input and outreach.

“I think everyone’s got a lot of good ideas in theory,” Bryan said. “I just didn’t hear many specific examples from the other candidates, which is something that’s a little frustrating. I feel like that’s something that my partner and I really bring to the table – real-life, hardworking, start-from-scratch things that we can get done and that we’ve already started.”

Questions regarding priorities in spending, funding and what their cabinet will achieve within the first 50 days in office were also touched upon.

“I think it went extremely well despite a few distractions,” Boe said. “I think every candidate had a great answer. I just think we were a bit stronger coming off the edge. I think they were all extremely well-articulated, and they know exactly what they want out of the university, though I don’t agree necessarily with the direction they want to go.”

Each candidate had their own ideas for what the future of CMU should look like, all of which would set about significant change in the university as it continues to grow.

“The thing about a small campus is that you know pretty much everybody,” Ferganchick said. “I’ve had classes with some of the candidates I’ve worked personally with some of the candidates, and I don’t really have a doubt in my mind that any of the candidates would do a good job leading the university. I think we all just have different leadership styles and different ideas. I think it’s really up to the students at this point to figure out what they want.”

arildefonso@mavs.coloradomesa.edu